Evelyn Leavens, born in 1924, is a life-long resident of Red Bank. Her first solo show was in 1952 at the Old Mill Gallery, Tinton Falls, known then for the introduction of Alice Neel and Martha Graham. In 1958, a book of her drawings, Boswells’ Life of Boswell, was published by Simon & Schuster and became #2 on the New York Times’ children’s best-seller list that year.
She has received two fellowships from the NJ State Council of the Arts and was included in the 1977 NJ Arts Council biennial at the Trenton State Museum. Her work has been shown, notably, at City Without Wall, Aljira, Tweeds, Summit Art Center, and the Morris State Museum. Primarily self-taught, she attended the Vermont Studio Center in 1987 where she studied with Malcolm Morley, Archie Rand, and Neil Welliver.