BRATTLEBORO — Rita Corbin, a graphic artist and printmaker, became involved in the Catholic Worker movement while living in New York City in the 1950s.
The founder, Dorothy Day, hired Corbin to make illustrations for the Catholic Worker newspaper and they became friends. Corbin became a lifelong contributor and was one of the three primary Catholic Worker artists, along with Fritz Eichenberg and Ade Bethune.
In 1954, she married Martin Corbin, editor and literary critic. They worked on Liberation magazine with activist Dave Dellinger, and then they joined the Catholic Worker farm in Tivoli, N.Y. She began publishing the Catholic Worker calendar in the late 1960s, as well as note cards and Christmas cards.
Corbin and her children moved to Brattleboro in 1981, and she lived in the Brattleboro area off and on until her death in 2011. She also spent a few years in Worcester, Mass., and developed strong ties with the Catholic Worker communities there.
Her work has appeared in many well-known religious magazines including the Christian Science Monitor, Commonweal, Fellowship, and Catholic Digest. Her artwork has been shown at Rockhurst College in Kansas City, and the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts.
Corbin died in November 2011 from injuries she sustained in a car accident. Her children, who live in the Brattleboro area, continue to publish the calendar and cards using her artwork. Although the calendars are primarily sold by mail through the Catholic Worker newspaper, there will be some for sale at Everyone's Books on Elliot Street in Brattleboro during the holiday season.