No sleep ‘til Brooklyn for Rehoboth artist Anita Peghini-Raber

Just as Rehoboth Beach residents are saying goodbye to summer and parking meters, they will soon be saying goodbye to a popular local artist.

Anita Peghini-Raber, artist, tango dancer and owner of Anita Peghini-Raber Gallery on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth, will be taking her talents to Brooklyn.

A native of Zurich, Switzerland, Peghini-Raber said, “It’s just an expansion of me as an artist. It seems like it’s a good idea. I love driving the bridges.”

Known for her colorful style of dress, Peghini-Raber speaks three languages plus a little Italian, said she has been doing exhibitions in New York City.  Peghini-Raber said Pablo Picasso is one of her biggest inspirations as an artist. Her Picasso-inspired paintings brought her international attention.

She began painting as a child but did not pursue it professionally until fairly recently.

“I always did it for fun. I was encouraged to do it. But when I was 16 they asked, what did you want to be, and I said, ‘An artist,’ and everyone thought it was a bad idea. I saw myself sleeping under bridges. So I forgot about it,” Peghini-Raber said.

Having started a career in writing and communications, she said it was a conversation with a girlfriend about how she never did anything with her talent that got Peghini-Raber to take up painting again.

She moved to Rehoboth in 2000 with her husband, Paolo, and two kids, Marco and Eric.

“We didn’t have any money at the time. I was just hoping he would love it,” Peghini-Raber said of her husband.

The kids have now moved away from home, although she said her husband isn’t quite ready to give up his practice.

“It’s paradise,” Peghini-Raber said of Rehoboth. “But for me, it’s time to find another paradise.”

“Tango, it’s an amazing dance. People are not really familiar with it. Tango is really more like jazz. It is improv. It’s just beautiful,” she said.

Yvonne Cimone, teacher with Tango Lewes, said Peghini-Raber was one of the first people to begin attending. She said Peghini-Raber would often host tango at her Rehoboth gallery, giving the classes additional visibility.

“She helped bring the artistic community together. She does it, not just talk it,” Cimone said. “It’s our loss because she was such a force in the community.”

Despite the move, Peghini-Raber’s work will live on in the area, with her paintings displayed at Preshy’s Restaurant on Route 1, something that began six years ago. She said she has been a fan of the restaurant from the beginning, as it served the northern Italian meals she was familiar with from when she lived in Switzerland. Peghini-Raber said displaying her work at Preshy’s made people curious to visit her gallery at 49 Baltimore Ave., which will be closing with her move.

She said there is no bittersweet feelings about leaving the area.

“I love it here, and I love it there. I learned having 17 exhibitions last year that I’m home wherever I am. There’s no more drama. There’s no more hard work,” Peghini-Raber said.