Work and Art
“My house is a two-family, and my apartment isn’t that big, but
in the summertime, it’s huge.”
The brick patio becomes her dining room and the wooden
patio next to the pond becomes her living room. “My two little
Adirondack chairs are where I sit when I want to be quiet and
have a cocktail and just look at everything.”
Getting the garden to the point where she can simply sit and
enjoy it takes about a solid month of work. The promise of the
annual June Newport Secret Garden Tour, which she has hosted
for about twenty-five years, always motivates her to get it done.
Although she now works as a realtor, Ritterbusch taught
elementary school for nine years and she believes strongly in
the value that art programs contribute to public schools. Since
1984, the tour has raised more than $1 million for art, music,
theater and other cultural programming in Aquidneck Island
public schools.
“My father was very artistic. I think this is my way of
painting. I paint with plants and fish, I guess.” �
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY/JUNE 2020 107