Unless you know Anita Prentice, you’d probably be hard pressed to find an artist who hopes you’ll sit on her work. Prentice is the Fort Pierce artist responsible for about 175 mosaic benches found in St.Lucie County at bus stops, in parks, and tucked away in spots where someone might need a place to stop and ponder life’s meaning. She said, “I like the idea that my art can bring about rest for someone.”

Prentice always knew she wanted to be creative. As a youngster, she made up plays and was lucky enough to have a good art teacher in high school. In her coastal Michigan hometown she was surrounded by artists and musicians. “I always felt a yearning,” she said.

Studying theater and music in college didn’t keep her from going off on a different track. “Somehow, mosaic was a natural for me,” she said. Prentice’s work with bits of broken glass and tile began “with a fish mount in a dumpster. I refurbished and covered it with broken mirror.“ She’s quick to point out that a broken mirror is bad luck only if it’s an accident. “I break it with a purpose.”

That was 20 years ago. Her life in mosaics took an interesting turn after she did one with trees, plants, and animals on 10 feet of wall at an old swimming pool. “After the pool I was asked to mosaic Alfred Hair’s grave marker, the first of five of The Highwaymen grave markers I have done to date.”

Then came the benches. Prentice said, “Through grants, the arts council and some creative commissioners I was offered the project of 50 benches, then 50 more, and the numbers grew from there.”

Prentice’s materials list includes stained glass, tile, metal, rocks, found objects, and some of her original clay pieces. She paints the grout between the pieces, making it “an element of the design and not just filling in between the glass.”

The benches are molded, cured and assembled in Prentice’s studio in a historic building in Fort Pierce. Weighing about 1,500 pounds each, they could present a moving problem, but she said, “My contract always says whoever buys the benches picks them up and installs them.”

Prentice said she still doesn’t know where this art form will take her. “Saying yes to new projects is a vehicle. I still feel like a student. I know I will always want to stay out of the comfort zone … I will always want to challenge myself.”

Her public art can be seen throughout St. Lucie county and she does several shows each year. One of those is March 29 at Heathcote Botanical Gardens. She’ll also be on hand for Heathcote’s plant sale March 30 - 31. 

Prentice knows her St. Lucie County neighbors “really have taken possession of these benches and feel protective. What a lovely feeling for an artist.”

Workshops are available from time to time. Check the website for details, Anitaprenticeart.com .