On the day Marya Veeck’s famous father Bill died, she picked up a tiny toy figure in the street that was missing a leg, just like him. The next day, when she awoke and saw it, it reminded her of reality. “Otherwise, it was like a dream,” she says of the period following her father’s death. “You can’t believe it’s happened. You lose whole days.”

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Marya Veeck and her mother, Mary-Frances, are sitting in the kitchen of the little frame house on the north side that Marya shares with her husband, photographer Jim Matusik. Marya is one of nine children. Marya and Jim have invited 4,000 people to drop in over the weekend (they only expect about 300 to show up) for an annual holiday art show and sale showcasing their work and that of some of their friends and colleagues. While Marya chops vegetables and cuts cake, her mother is telling stories about her childhood.

“I hope you’re not going to tell about the piano recital.” They both laugh. “You cut my bangs too short,” she says to her mother. “I got nervous and butchered the piece. Beethoven was rolling. The nun who taught me piano–now she works in the prison system in Saint Louis–she came to my first [art] show. She said, “I can’t believe you did all these paintings.’ I said, “Well, I wasn’t going to make it in piano.”‘

She’s sensitive about using the name to further her career. “There was a show recently,” she explains, “of painted seats from Comiskey Park. And no one contacted me. People called to say that was outrageous. Because that’s what I do. I’m a furniture painter. But I thought–that’s wonderful. It was a testimony [to her independence from the family name]. Although some people figured that since I wasn’t included I was estranged.”

Veeck has also taught art therapy, and she’s on the board of directors for Very Special Arts of Illinois, an organization that provides art programs and creative opportunities for children and adults with disabilities. “I would like to see it not be an issue in the art world at all–although it is nice to have Chicago artists aligned with it, because artists have an understanding of disabilities,” she says. “Creativity is creativity, whether it’s disabled people or not.

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jon Randolph.