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.