On the cover of this week’s Seven Days is Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, whose likeness crowns the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. In our illustration, she is holding a sign asking for donations.
At the risk of overexplaining, the image — tied to this week’s cover story — suggests the growing number of unsolved problems under the golden dome this year is sufficiently alarming to evoke human emotion from the wooden monument on top.
The gag belies the artistry of the rendering. Notice the careful shading that defines the folds of Ceres’ toga; the realism of her left hand wrapped around a bundle of wilting wheat. Instead of standing serenely, this symbol of bounty looks sad, her furrowed brow and downturned mouth expressing just the right degree of concern.
It’s the work of Burlington illustrator Marc Nadel, whose caricatures have delighted readers of Seven Days for almost two decades. Since he started freelancing for us in 2009, Nadel has captured the essence of almost every Vermont politician — and candidate — of consequence, from wild-haired Bernie Sanders to tightrope-walking Gov. Phil Scott. In 2011, he drew nine potential contenders for the top job in Burlington, each suited up for a road race, to illustrate a story headlined “Run, Someone, Run.”
With the rigor of an expert draftsman, Nadel nails the likeness of his subjects, not all of whom are elected officials, and adds telling graphic details that expand the story. Donald Trump got the treatment when he filled Burlington’s Flynn in January 2016, long before anyone thought he could win the White House. Nadel drew the future president as “Fat Elvis” — one of the best covers we have ever published.
Memorably, he also gave us naked governor Peter Shumlin being chased by bears; mayoral candidates Joan Shannon and Emma Mulvaney-Stanak both reaching for the key to the Queen City; and former Burlington police chief and thespian Jon Murad playing Hamlet, contemplating his badge in lieu of a skull.
Simply put, Nadel is one of a cherished group of visual artists in Vermont who, despite being totally out of our league, regularly contribute to Seven Days — because, like us, they want the paper to look as good as it reads. The value of their work far exceeds what we can pay.
Nadel started drawing at age 3 in his native Brooklyn. He learned to read young, too, because he wanted to understand what was in the “bubbles” of the comic books he loved so much.
He studied art in college but didn’t click with his teachers, most of whom were minimalists. So he sought additional instruction and, at the School of the Visual Arts, met the brilliant caricaturist David Levine of the New York Review of Books. Levine took Nadel under his wing and invited the painfully shy young man to attend weekly painting sessions with some of New York’s greatest working artists at the time, including presidential portraitist Aaron Shikler, who also mentored Nadel.
Luckily for Seven Days readers, Nadel loves what we do and almost never says no to an assignment.
At 18, Nadel drew his first cartoon for money. The year: 1968. The subject: the recent assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy Sr. Flatbush Life published it, and Nadel soon became a regular contributor to the Nation, BusinessWeek and other publications. Between underground newspapers and glossy magazines, there were plenty of opportunities back then for a politically astute and versatile young artist. Kids liked his style, too, so he found work at the Children’s Television Workshop, which produced “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company.”
Nadel was so busy in the 1970s that he passed up a chance to go to Columbia Journalism School.
Parenthood — and the crack cocaine epidemic — pushed Nadel and his wife, Nancy, to leave New York City in 1988. She was raised in Vermont, so they moved into her family home in Burlington’s New North End. While their son, James, grew up, Nancy taught art at Lyman C. Hunt Middle School; Marc was grateful to get a regular paycheck from Highlights magazine and later taught what he coined “sequential art” at Champlain College.
Luckily for Seven Days readers, Nadel loves what we do and almost never says no to an assignment. We know he’s not doing it for the money. Nadel spent a full three days on this week’s drawing — one to sketch it out in pencil, another to ink in the details and a third to color. In the burgeoning era of AI, behold the work of a truly dedicated old-school artist.
This article appears in May 13 • 2026.
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