Click Above to View the Don Getz Gallery
Brief Biography
Born in 1934, in the small northeast Ohio town of Salem, Don Getz took to art at the ripe
age of five, drawing steel trucks and cars of customers at his father's steel fabrication
business. Getz, Sr. was artistically inclined; able to create almost anything to order from
metal. Don's mother also had a flare for art which influenced her son.
Getz worked in commercial art for 23 years, as an illustrator and producer of TV
commercials; turning to a career in fine art in 1977, He began painting for relaxation in
1962 and quickly began to teach others. He founded the Boston Mills Artfest in 1972,
directing the two weekend event for 25 years. In 1978, he was instrumental in the
founding of the Ohio Watercolor Society, serving as the founding president until 1988.
In 1980, Getz organized the Boston Mills Artist Workshops, offering up to 40 summer
classes in the final year of 1984.
In 1985, Getz was granted signature membership in the prestigious American Watercolor
Society. He has designed and supervised the production of the annual AWS Exhibition
Catalog since 1985, is a life member of AWS and serves as 4th V.P. of AWS. He also
served Knickerbocker Artists-USA, as a director, for several years in the early 90's.
Don is also responsible for creating a series of poster paintings of the Adirondacks
since 1986, for the Arts Center / Old Forge, NY. This series has become highly
collectable and serves as an annual fundraiser for the art center. Getz presently serves
as curator of a series of educational art exhibitions, Art @ M.D. Garage, in a restored
1940 era gas station owned by the National Park Service, in the heart of the Cuyahoga
Valley National Park, where he and wife, Judie, reside. Getz is also an advisor to the
NPS "Artist-In-Residence" Program at CVNP.
Signature Member:
- American Watercolor Society (A.W.S.)
- Knickerbocker Artists-USA (K.A.)
- Midwest Watercolor Society (M.W.S.)
- Ohio Watercolor Society (O.W.S.)
- Whiskey Painters of America (W.P.A.)
Contact Information for Don Getz: