Recognition for Rita Curtis has been growing steadily.  "The Writer" was given full page coverage in International Artist magazine and won a major award in the 15th National Oil Painters of America show. Her paintings have received awards in national competitions including The Artists magazine, Raymar Art, and BoldBrush. Landscape awards include Artists' Choice in Paint Annapolis (Maryland) and Best of Show at the Solomons (Maryland) plein air festival. Curtis was the featured Artist at the 28th Annual Oxford Fine Arts Fair. Rita Curtis  is included in the historic book by Gary Pendleton100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic published in 2014.

Though Curtis is an impressionist painter, her background is classical. She studied with modern masters at the Art Student's League of New York, intellectual history at New York University, and literature and art in Perugia, Italy. Her illustrations are in World Health Organization manuals around the globe, and images and color from travels to Africa and Asia suffuse many of her paintings.