We honor and remember Hackensack’s own artistic legend, and CMDE Board Member, Ruth Bauer Neustadter.

Ruth was a visionary mixed-media artist, a passionate dancer, choreographer, and a tireless champion for local arts. She was instrumental in founding the art gallery at HACPAC, which now proudly bears her name.

Ruth’s legacy is permanently woven into the fabric of our community. We send our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and everyone who has been touched by her brilliance.

Ruth was a special education teacher at East Side High School in Newark for many years. Ruth advocated fiercely for her students, supporting disability education and rights and developing lifelong meaningful relationships with her students. Ruth followed her moral compass and rallied for climate change, social justice, antiwar efforts, and children’s rights all over the world.

In a world full of conformists and copycats, Ruth paved her own way and encouraged the community to join her through every journey. Where some saw garbage, Ruth saw art, meaning, and value. May we all remember the wonderful and beautiful life and work of Ruth Bauer Neustadter. Ruth’s legacy lives on in the lives she touched, the arts she championed, and the community she nurtured.

Let us honor her memory by continuing her work: by fostering inclusivity, embracing creativity, dancing, and supporting one another with the same compassion and dedication she showed us all.

Send your stories/memories of dancing with Ruth to info@cmde.org

Circa early 50s. From the left: Unknown, Judy Schwartz (Shirley’s best friend and early Studio teacher), Ruth Bauer Neustadter, Mimi (her sister), unknown, Shirley Ubell. The Ubell’s residency in Paramus.