Hello

This is his story

His childhood was formed in three different worlds. He was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After his Portuguese-American mother and French-Cannadian father separated, Ron and his mother moved to New York with her uncle Luis Antunes.

Antunes was a Portuguese-language newspaper publisher living on the Upper East Side. He exposed Ron to abundant and diverse forms of art, music, and the cultures of people of various ethnicities, and countries of origin.

Fortier’s single mother was an aspiring Fado singer and placed her son in the care of neighbors who fled Europe during and after World War Two. Later, moving to the West Side, Ron was cared for by their new Afro-Caribbean, African-American, and Latino friends. It was there that he and his mother learned Spanish, their third language after Portuguese. 

They returned to the South Coast of Massachusetts for Ron to begin elementary school. After high school, Ron entered the BFA program at Southeastern Massachusetts University which led to his acceptance to the MFA program at the University of Miami.

As an artist, his creative experiences have included working as a set designer for Boris Goldovsky of the Metropolitan Opera. He later found employment in advertising where he remained most of his professional life.

After retiring, Ron Fortier returned to painting full-time and expatriated to Portugal where he maintained his new studio, and exhibited in Europe. 

Returning to the States, Ron began another chapter of his life and currently maintains his studio and residence in the historic seacoast town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Fortier’s work is represented by the Blackbird Gallery in Detroit Michigan and the Galeria O Rastroin Figueira da Foz, Portugal.