Ita Bullard and her family, including her father, who was a Polish Jew, were hidden from Nazi soldiers in the countryside of France by a Christian family during the Second World War.
She married, and then emigrated to the United States, settling in New York City, where she became an artist, and raising a family with her partner for more than 30 years before moving here to the North Country in 2007. She continues to paint and has teamed up with a pair of local filmmakers, Jason Greer and Vanessa Chicarelli, who are producing a documentary about her life. The film will focus on the difficulties Ita faced when she and her longtime partner separated, because they were never legally married. Bullard is calling for the State of New York to once again recognize Common Law Marriage.
Watch Jason Greer’s and Vanessa Chicarelli’s trailer for the documentary they’re currently producing on Ita’s life story:
https://vimeo.com/840470911?share=copy
Learn more about Ita’s love of painting, and her artwork. You can watch this profile that Mountain Lake PBS’s Paul Larson did on Ita for our arts program Art Express: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-A1m8or_Ys