Jerry Gretzinger (born November, 5th 1942) is an American folk artist and fashion designer. He is best known for his map of an invented landscape known simply as Jerry’s Map. Jerry has been working on his map for over 60 years; it has grown to include over 3,000 unique panels, and is constantly evolving.^[1]

Jerry’s map has been shown at numerous international museums including the Palais de Tokyo, MASS MoCA, and the American Folk Art Museum.^[2]

Jerry Gretzinger was born on November 5th, 1942 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gretzinger was a bright student who excelled at school which would earn him a National Honor scholarship. Throughout childhood, Jerry never became involved in organized sports or other extracurricular activities and, “the truth was that I never felt like I belonged.” He collected oil company maps and would pour over his maps and the family’s encyclopedia.^[3] These allowed him to imagine a world beyond his horizon.

Gretzinger attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he enrolled in the department of architecture. While living in Ann Arbor following Jerry’s sophomore year, he was working at a ball bearing factory. During breaks in his work, Jerry began to sketch a map on a sheet of paper and when his drawing reached the edge of the page he continued onto the next sheet. These were the first panels of what would become Jerry’s Map.^[4]

Jerry transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where he continued his studies. During his first fall in San Francisco, Jerry applied and was accepted into the Peace Corps. In 1964, Jerry completed training and moved to Tunisia for his service. In 1966, Jerry completed his studies at the University of Michigan and that year he returned to Tunisia to be an architect and project manager working on an archeological project The Corpus of the Ancient Mosaics of Tunisia.^[5]

Gretzinger married in 1965. Nelle, his daughter was born in 1966. Three years later, in 1969, they were joined by their son, Aaron. In 1971 Jerry separated from his wife. In 1980 Jerry married Meg Staley and in 1983 they welcomed their first son together, Hank, and in 1986 their second son, Lucky.

Jerry left North Africa to move to New York City in 1971 where he set himself to start a new career. He says, “I knew that I wanted to make things, make a living from what I made, and that’s what I devoted myself to.”^[3] Jerry organized a textiles show of imported Tunisian and Moroccan rugs and began a small business selling pillows and bags he had been making. Partnering with the SoHo Designer’s Collective, Jerry began to design a line of experimental clothing. Together with his second wife Meg Staley, Jerry launched Staley/Gretzinger which expanded Jerry’s clothing line with Meg’s commercial and printmaking experience. Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s the company grew to be a commercial success. In the years following his move to New York, Jerry continued working on his map and it grew in size and complexity; as the business grew and his responsibilities increased, Jerry put the map into retirement to devote himself to the business. Jerry moved to Cold Spring, New York and acquired a farm in Maple City, Michigan.^[6]

In 2003, Jerry’s son Hank discovered the map which had been archived in their Cold Spring attic and very soon Jerry began work on the map again in earnest. In 2009, Jerry had his first show of the map at the Garrison Art Center in Cold Spring with an accompanying video documentary produced by independent filmmaker Greg Whitmore.^[7] The video was featured as an editor’s choice on Vimeo and shortly after, Jerry was invited to exhibit the entirety of the map and a reproduction of his studio at MASS MoCA. Since then, his map has been featured in numerous publications and solo and group exhibition. Jerry’s work on the map has grown increasingly abstract incorporating new elements of erasure and collage. Looking towards the future of the map, Jerry sees himself working on the map for as long as he can and is actively looking for museums and collectors to serve as permanent homes for the map.^[8]

Jerry Gretzinger's work has been included in group (G) and solo (S) exhibitions around the world.^[2]

• 2019 York College of Pennsylvania Galleries (S)
• 2019 Intuit, Chicago (S)
• 2018 American Folk Art Museum, New York (G)
• 2017 Edna Carlsten Art Gallery, UWSP | Terrain/Territories: Dreams of Place | (G)
• 2016 Aichi Triennale, Nagoya, Japan | Rainbow Caravan | (G)
• 2016 UICA, Grand Rapids, MI | Coming Home | (G)
• 2015 Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Catskill, NY  | River Crossings | (G)
• 2015 Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France | Le Borde Des Mondes | (G)
• 2013/4 Summerhall, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK | Summerhall | (S)
• 2013/4 Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont | BMAC | (S)
• 2013 ArtPrize, Women's City Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan (G)
• 2012 MASSMoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts | Press Release | (S)
• 2009 ArtPrize, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, Michigan (G)
• 2009 Garrison Art Center, Garrison, New York (S)
• 2004 City/Space, Oakland, California (G)