Don Reitz

Ceramicist
American, (1929–2014)

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Born in 1929 in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Reitz changed jobs several times before attending Kutztown State Teacher’s College, Pennsylvania, where he studied painting and earned a Bachelor’s degree in 1957. After teaching in public schools, he enrolled at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and obtained his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts in 1962. Soon after, he started working at University of Wisconsin, Madison, and he thought there for more than twenty-five years. Reitz has also always worked as a potter in his studio in Arizona. In 2002, he received the American Craft Council’s Gold Medal. Reitz died in 2014 at 84, after a long life of experimentation and intense ceramic activity.