Written by Michael Trecker
Photos by Sendra Productions

Sponsored by East Village Place

Published in Longmeadow Neighbors (March 2022)

Everyone experiments with art when they’re growing up. Whether it was painting with watercolors in art class, drawing pictures with crayons, making a picture with a stick in the dirt, or trying to learn a musical instrument, flexing our artistic muscles is something that comes naturally to humans. Despite this innate yearn to create that we all experiment with when we’re young, very few end up devoting their lives to art. Those that do have a variety of reasons for their interest, but when it comes down to it, most professional artists create because of their passion. Don Munson, a father, grandfather, husband, Longmeadow resident and painter, is one of the people who has devoted his entire life to producing artwork.

As an artist, Don has worked in a variety of spaces using a variety of mediums. Don worked as Art Director at Random House for 12 years, as well as working with other publications as a graphic artist and he received no small number of awards for his work, including the Chelsey Award for Best Art Director and the American Institute of Graphic Arts award for Best Book Design. He is also an incredibly accomplished painter, being featured in numerous museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Society of Illustrators Museum, Hopkins Art Center, and Heckscher Museum which gave him a rare solo show when he was still in his early twenties. Don has even taught courses at multiple universities, including Parsons and Westfield State. “I see no boundaries between things,” Don said. “I think they all feed each other. The teaching, the commercial work, being an art director.” He has dipped his toes in many different artistic fields throughout his career, and he believes that each and every one of them has influenced his artwork; that everything he has done and has experienced comes together when he paints, commenting that “it all just fits together.”

Don’s interest in art blossomed when he was six years old. “I remember walking home from school when we were living in Farmingdale, New York. It was a nice day in early fall, as if it was still summer, and I unrolled this piece of an apple tree that I had just drawn in school and I told my mother, ‘Mom, I have to tell you the truth. I can’t be a farmer like grandfather. I am an artist.’ That’s how it all started,” Don reminisced. He went on to study graphic design and fine art at Parsons School of Design in New York before serving in the Strategic Air Command. “When I graduated from Parsons I was 20 years old,” Don said. “Two weeks later Pat and I got married, and two weeks after that I was commanding 25 men in the Air Force.” During his time in the Air Force, he never stopped painting, and he continued his career in the craft as soon as he was out of active duty. “I have been a painter no matter what. I’m a painter. That’s what I do,” he said.

Currently, Don Munson and his wife Patricia live in Longmeadow, as they have for 21 years. Previously, they had lived in Manhattan for 27 years before moving to California where Don had been asked to open an ad agency. After a few years there, Don was thinking about taking a break from that job when he and Pat went to visit his daughter, Gwendellyn Bruns, and her husband Jay Bruns. “My daughter, Gwen, and my wonderful son-in-law had just purchased a home on Field Road here in Longmeadow and we came to visit them. Patty and I knew each other so well, of course, and I said, ‘Patty, there are gears going on in your head,’ and she said, ‘yeah I really like it here,’ so I said ‘okay, well I will go back to California and resign from that job,’ and just like that we moved here,” Don said. “There was something about it just being one very soft, congenial suburb of a big city… this was just the perfect place to move to.” The couple lived in a rental for a few months while they looked at various homes, and the one they decided on has since been housing the Munsons for their entire time in town. “Gwen’s parents-in-law helped us get a rental over on Burbank Road, which was funny because we lived in Burbank California!” Don laughed. “We looked at a number of homes in town, and one day our realtor called me and said ‘Don, you’ve got to come over right away. We just got the listing, and it’s the right house for you,’ and I asked ‘why?’ and she said “just come, you’ll see.” So I came and it was just beautiful. We have 23 windows so the lighting is just incredible. It reminded me a lot of the apartment where we lived in New York City. There was this one door on the second floor and I asked ‘where does this door lead to?’ and she said ‘that’s what I wanted you to come see’.

I opened the door and there was this set of red stairs leading up to what is now my art studio, and that’s where the name of my website, Redstairstudio.com, comes from.” On top of living here for 21 years, Don and Pat also have deep ties within the community through their daughter and son-in-law. Jay Bruns grew up in Longmeadow, going to school in town and was even captain of the football team. Gwendelyn was the co-chair of the school department that helped build the new high school. Don made a painting for the daughter of their neighbor’s second birthday, and she returned the favor by painting him an adorable piece on a miniature canvas and easel that he keeps displayed on the mantle.

Early on in his career, while he was still in the reserves for Strategic Air Command, Don had the opportunity to work with Salvador Dalí, a world famous artist from Spain, and he went on to work with numerous other famous artists as well. “I am just one of those working artists who happens to live here.” Despite his illustrious career as a painter, Don feels he “never ‘officially emerged’ as an artist, as I was just sort of thrust into it. Graham Gallery was the first gallery in New York that had me do a solo show. All of the key players have just stepped me forward in my career.” He recently published a fantastic book detailing his story titled Edmund, the first in a three-book installment. Don started teaching classes twice a month at the Longmeadow Adult Center in February, and has a lot planned for the year ahead, including a physical solo show, an online solo show, and a three-person show in September. He also added that there are “a few other venues that are looking at either doing a solo show or a few other things with me this year. 2022 is going to be my year of re-emerging!” Don laughed.