Patty Kuzbida

Born Patricia Dobson on January 19, 1948, in Frankfurt, Germany, where her father was stationed as a US Army veterinarian. Patty was the middle of three "army brats." Her childhood was scarred by her dad's alcoholism and rage. "My parents would fight and break stuff. I guess mosaics are now my way of putting it all back together." To escape the drama at home, Patty became an avid reader at a very young age.

When her parents divorced, Patty moved to her mother's hometown of Baltimore. A free spirit, Patty attended the University of Maryland for two weeks before quitting to work as a waitress. She later returned to community college to earn an associates degree and worked as a lab technician most of her life—first at a VA Hospital and also in private medicine. "I love science, especially microscope work, and just how colorful the human body is inside." Her first marriage produced two children, who attended private schools on full scholarship. Her daughter is an artist who works for Google and her son recently received his PhD from Harvard, studying the history of debt in America. In 2002, Patty married her great love, Gregory Kuzbida. Semi-retired, she came to work at the admissions desk of the American Visionary Art Museum, where "I was surrounded by creative people and art." There, she broke records for Fan Club membership sales. Patty began making art as personal gifts to people, "just to please, not to show off." Working as a faithful volunteer at the GBMC Hospital Nearly New Sale, Patty developed an eagle eye for materials. "I like breaking once-expensive china sets I pick up for nothing secondhand. You can tell that they were thought 'too good to use' so I give them new life outside the cabinet." Patty now resides in a retirement community in Florida. A playful wit, she is semi-proud of her community's ROGUE reputation "for the State's (Florida's) highest STD rate." "I still follow the news in physics, love seeing the latest pictures from outer space, helping others wherever I can, eating dark chocolate, and playing pickle-ball."