Rita C. Szopinski

Rita always loved art and would jump at the chance of going to any art festival. She supported artists by purchasing and displaying pieces of art in her home. In 2006, she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The diagnosis led her to Gilda’s Club of South Florida, which was founded by Gene Wilder for his wife, Gilda Radner, who passed away from ovarian cancer. During her treatment, she joined a weekly watercolor painting class. She joined several art guilds in the area and became very involved with the local art scene, eventually becoming the director of an art gallery. Rita was president of the Florida Watercolor Society in 2017, an organization of over one thousand members, where she was on the board for nine years. Rita’s art has been on display in various museums, such as the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, the Coral Springs Museum of Art, the Gadsden Museum of Art, the Art Center Manatee, the Art Center Sarasota, and the Leepa-Rattner Museum in Tarpon Springs. She is drawn to telling a story with strong subject matter and light. Rita was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan. At twenty-two, a job with the airlines moved her to South Florida. She moved to Culver City in April 2022 so she and her husband could be closer to their two sons.