Marc Fogel's hometown of Oakmont celebrates his return to the U.S.
OAKMONT, Pa. (KDKA) — For over three years, the greater Oakmont community has pushed for Marc Fogel's release from a Russian prison. Now, there's a sense of joy as they get ready to welcome the history teacher back home.
Tom Mosser is the man behind the paintings of Marc Fogel that have been broadcasted throughout the news and social media.
"We're bombarded with imagery and sounds, with videos, and we're constantly sliding left and right. This was a great hook to get people's attention," Mosser said.
They're images that became etched in our minds here in western Pennsylvania as the Butler County native, who lives in Oakmont, sat in a Russian prison after trying to enter the country with medical marijuana prescribed for chronic back pain in 2021.
"It just became a passion project right from the beginning," Mosser said.
When Mosser learned about Fogel and realized he was friends with one of the family's attorneys, he immediately decided to do something.
He commissioned a show with 90 artists who created pieces that represented Fogel's story.
"To see the outpouring of gratitude from everybody and community from everybody has been pretty remarkable," Mosser said.
His projects never stopped until Tuesday morning when he got the news from the legal team that Fogel was released.
"I had chills and goosebumps all day," Mosser said.
Those are the same feelings across Allegheny County and in Oakmont Borough for Council President Nancy Ride, who, with the rest of the members, wrote a letter to former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the fall of 2022.
"There wasn't too much we could do, but we wanted to show our support," Ride said.
Now, they're looking forward to eventually celebrating Fogel's newfound freedom.
"I think it depends on him and his family; we'll follow their lead, but I know a lot of people would like to do something to honor him," Ride said.
As for Mosser, he's getting ready to showcase new artwork made up of squares from 50 artists to form a portrait of Fogel at the Butler Arts Festival this weekend, something that was already in the works but will mean that much more.
"We all wanted this American, this Pittsburgher, to come home, and we used our skills, our creative skills, to make that happen and it was really fulfilling," Mosser said.
Plans for any potential homecoming events in Oakmont and Butler are just getting started.
The new portrait will be unveiled Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Butler Art Center.
