Artist

I feel very lucky to have devoted my life first to my family and then to the creation of art. My earliest memory of drawing is in response to the letters of my New York maternal grandfather, Isaac Sofnas. He sent line drawings of flowers, his designs for an embroidery company. As a toddler I began returning line drawings to him. I have often wondered if my early pleasure in drawing trees and later my constant drawing of abstract dancing lines are a continuation of his lines. My deepest appreciation goes to my fifth grade teacher, Ruth Ann Angstead, who first introduced me to the magic word “create”. That word still sends chills of excitement through my arms as I say it. Miss Angstead also inspired me to write stories and poetry. The next important event in my life was winning scholarships for Saturday classes at the Kansas City Art Institute at age ten and again at eleven. Both Miss Polk, my Art Institute teacher and Miss Angstead, invited me to their homes to encourage my creativity. Returning to the KCAI for graduate work, my painting instructor Wilbur Niewald was a very important influence. He continuously talked about how one shape relates to another in a composition. The repetition of this concept puzzled me until one day when driving down the street, I became very excited by the sight of junk in the truck ahead of me. I saw a shovel, a broom and other assorted objects as shapes in a composition. I was amazed at my joy in this sight. It opened my eyes to suddenly see the world as art. To this day, it is exciting for me to see one shape relating beautifully to another. The gift of having a supportive, loving husband cannot be over emphasized. Irwin Blitt has been by my side, encouraging me for over 50 years. Together we have devoted ourselves to the privilege of parenting Chela, a great champion of human rights, who has blessed us with a wonderful granddaughter, Dorianna. It has always made exhibiting my art more meaningful when they have been with me. I am grateful for other supportive family members and friends. David Knaus, writer and photography dealer, has always been there for me, advising me and pushing me onward. My friendships with dancer, choreographer David Parsons, cellist Yehuda Hanani, composer Michael Udow, painters Tom LoCicero and Dorothy Mura have been very important to me. I am happy that I had the courage in 1977 to begin letting my hands dance on paper, one at a time or both hands simultaneously and the guts to always follow my inspirations. Rita Blitt Biography Rita Blitt, painter/sculptor International, award winning painter/sculptor/film maker Rita Blitt has created art all of her life. She won scholarships as a child to the Kansas City Art Institute and returned there for further studies after attending the University of Illinois and graduating from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Her first New York exhibit was in 1969. Blitts sculptures up to sixty feet in height have been permanently installed and exhibited along with her drawings and paintings, in museums, galleries and public places in Australia, Germany, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. Her films have been shown in numerous festivals, with Caught in Paint, a six minute documentary featuring David Parsons and the Parsons Dance Company being the big winner with invitations from over 100 festivals and the recipient of 14 awards. Blitts work celebrates her love of nature, music, dance and the spontaneous flow of movement captured in the drawn gesture. Her drawings and paintings, which sometime become sculpture, are often created with two hands at once. She says, “when those lines come from my handsĶI feel like I am dancing.” Blitt takes great pleasure in sharing her work through exhibitions, donations to non-profit organizations and giving workshops which inspire people to “let their hands dance on paper.” She also has enjoyed working with dancers to give them the freedom to improvise dance and extend their dance onto paper. Her workshop with dancers at the University of Florida has become a film entitled Visual Rhythms. The Rita Blitt Foundation has been formed to further these projects. Blitt has studios in California, Colorado and Kansas. https://videos.whiteblox.com/gnb/secure/player.aspx?sid=47403