Rose Basile is originally from Newark, NJ. College days were at Boston University for her undergraduate degree and she later returned to Boston University on a fellowship for her Masters in Education and Psychology. Upon graduation she taught in the public schools of Rhode Island, the Newton school system and also at Rhode Island College in Providence.

After 20 years of teaching she moved to Chatham in the late 1910's where she owned and managed her own rental properties. Art has always been important and a strong influence in her life, since three generations of women were in the art world: in fabric design, art education and her favorite Aunt Jennie, a New Jersey folk artist Rose started watercolor painting in her high school days...