Hello

This is his story

His art reflects a childhood formed in three different worlds. Shortly after he was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, his mother and father separated. He and his mother went to live in New York City with her uncle, who lived 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.

Their East Side neighbors were recent emigrants who fled Europe during World War II. They later moved to Columbus Avenue on the West Side. His Luzo-American mother was an aspiring Fado singer and relied on their Afro-Caribbean, African-American, and Latino friends to care for Ron during her engagements. Together, they learned Spanish, their third language after Portuguese.

They returned to the South Coast of Massachusetts, where he began elementary school. Those early childhood experiences shaped him intellectually and emotionally, and directed him toward a life in the Arts. Ron entered the BFA program at Southeastern Massachusetts University and was accepted 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, and an advertising career where he remained for most of his professional life. After retiring, Ron Fortier returned to painting full-time and expatriated to Portugal, where he maintained a studio and exhibited in Europe until his marriage in 2017, when he returned to the States.

He maintains his studio and residence in the historic seacoast town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.