About the artist:

A resident of Princeton, New Jersey, since 1961, artist Anita Benarde is probably best known for penning and illustrating the children’s book, The Pumpkin Smasher, a Halloween classic published in 1972, and celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022. Ms. Benarde, however, was making all kinds of art, long before and long after she wrote and illustrated The Pumpkin Smasher. Her work has appeared in dozens of exhibitions in the tri-state area, and is on view in private, public, and corporate collections far and wide, including the Israeli Consulate in Stockholm, the Turkish Consulate in Bahrain, and much closer to home in galleries and offices at Rutgers University, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, AstraZeneca, and The State Museum in New Jersey. It is safe to say that Princeton has provided an air of inspiration, imagination, and encouragement that kick-started 60 years of creativity that hasn’t ceased, even now in her 90s. The volume, breadth, and depth of her creations in oils, acrylic, watercolors, pen & ink, woodcuts, monotypes, handmade paper, and book covers and illustrations are her homage to art.