Naperville, IL Artist Announces Two Upcoming Solo Shows: "Between the Lines" Based on Her Dad's WW II Letters at Schoenherr Gallery; and a Second Show at Wheaton Library...details here...

"Between the Lines" is a Solo Art Exhibition by Marilyn Dale at Schoenherr Gallery October 21-December 5.2025 --details below; She'll also be appearing at Wheaton Library in another solo show throughout the month of October.

"Spring Peeks Through the City College"; ink, collage, and mixed media by Marilyn Dale. "Meet the Artist" reception at Wheaton Library, 225 N. Cross Street, Wheaton, IL is on October 12, 2025, from 2-4 PM to view her month-long solo show there...

Introducing artist, Marilyn Dale --

She is a contemporary painter whose original works have been juried into multiple galleries and exhibitions in 2024 and 2025. Her pieces range from intimate small-scale sorks to bold statement paintings.

She served as the president of the Naperville Art League and taught a variety of art classes at North Central College continuing education, the Naperville Art League, and DuPage Art League. Dale earned a Certificate in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also led the Art & Environment Committee for her church for over 10 years as well as designed large scale works for a number of churches across the US.

The Wheaton Public Library’s Arts & Culture Center will feature Marilyn's work throughout the month of October 2025. The display, located on the library’s first floor, will showcase approximately 20 of her original paintings.

The Arts & Culture Center serves as a community-accessible gallery dedicated to introducing regional artists to the public. Marilyn’s vibrant and evocative works will be open for viewing during all regular library hours (Mon–Thu 9 AM–9 PM; Fri–Sat 9 AM–5 PM; Sun 1–5 PM).

Exhibition highlights include oil and mixed-media compositions such as We Never Surrender, What Secret Does She Know, Gold as Ice, and Night of the Soul — all originals featured on marilyndale.com. The selection spans a range of styles and subjects, offering visitors a compelling glimpse into Dale’s artistic vision.

MARILYN'S SECOND SHOW -- 10/21/21 THROUGH 12/5/25...

Schoenherr Gallery, North Central College, 171 E. Chicago Ave, Naperville, IL 60540Exhibition Dates: Oct. 21 to Dec. 5, 2025. For hours, see: https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/galleries 

Reception: November 11, 2025, from 6 pm to 8 pm (free, open to the public)

Between the Lines is a moving solo exhibition that translates over 500 World War II-era letters into evocative mixed-media paintings.

These deeply personal letters were written by the artist’s father, Chester, to her mother, Irene, while he served in the Pacific Theater in 1944 and 1945. Though never overtly romantic, his letters—written nearly every day when possible—reveal a quiet emotional intimacy, even as he shielded her from the horrors he was experiencing. Six months after the war with Japan ended, the couple married.

The letters had been saved for decades, surviving a shed fire and a move, then sat untouched for 25 years following Irene’s death. When Dale retired as a marketing executive in early 2024, she returned to her first love—artmaking—she finally turned to the project that had long lived in the back of her mind: transforming her parents’ wartime correspondence into an exhibition. Several months into the work, she realized the timing held deeper significance—2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in the Pacific, officially declared on September 2, 1945—also Irene’s birthday.

In Between the Lines, Dale incorporates many of the actual letters, personal photographs, devotionals, and wartime ephemera into the layered surfaces of her paintings. The work explores three emotional currents that run through the correspondence: longing (for love, family, and normalcy), faith (in survival, in God, and in the power of prayer), and comradery (the enduring, unspoken bond between soldiers who endured the unendurable together.)

Between the Lines is both an act of remembrance and a quiet revelation of how love took shape not in grand gestures, but in daily words, faithfully written across oceans and silence.

Schoenherr Gallery, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Naperville IL 60540, is open to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-7pm and Saturdays from 11 am to 4 pm. (Check for any changes: https://northcentralcollege.edu/galleries).

More information is available at www.marilyndale.com/letters.