Don Reitz
| Don Reitz | |
|---|---|
Don Reitz in 2009
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| Born |
Donald Lester Reitz November 7, 1929 Sunbury, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 19, 2014 (aged 84) Clarkdale, Arizona |
| Alma mater | |
| Employer | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| Website | donreitz.com |
Donald Lester Reitz (November 7, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American ceramic artist, recognized for inspiring a reemergence of salt glaze pottery in United States. He was a teacher of ceramic art at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1962 until 1988. During this period, he adapted the pottery firing technique developed in the Middle Ages, which involved pouring salt into the pottery kiln during the firing stage. The method was taught in European ceramic art schools, but largely unknown in United States studio pottery.
In 1982, Reitz was in a serious car accident involving a truck and was hospitalized for several months. While recovering from his injury, he began to create a series of ceramic pieces that came to be known by a collective name, Sara Period. In 2007, Reitz suffered a heart attack and would undergo close to a dozen surgeries, including a valve replacement. He continued producing works with the help of studio assistants.
Reitz died on March 19, 2014, at the age of 84 of heart failure and was eulogized by The New York Times and the American Craft Council. His works are featured in several museums including the Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Ceramic Art, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Reitz was born on November 7, 1929, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, just over a week after Black Tuesday. He was raised in Belvidere, New Jersey.
In 1948, he enlisted in the United States Navy, and served for five years as a diver. He later had several other occupations including working as a butcher. He spent his days as a butcher and would paint at night. He attended college utilizing the G.I. Bill. He went to Kutztown State Teachers College, where he studied abstract expressionism and only discovered his passion for working on the potter's wheel in his last semester. He graduated from the college in 1957 with a bachelor's degree in art education.
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