Born in Denver, CO, in 1959, from Charlotte and Charles Rutz, Kerry grew up in Elmwood Park, IL and attended Elmwood Park High School. By the time he graduated at 17, he was a self taught artist and intellectual adventurer, painting, teaching art history classes, sewing his own clothes, an overcoat, and a bridal gown, and preparing large graphics for Sears executive board meetings on the top floor of the Sears Tower. After graduation and for the next twenty five years, Kerry would pursue two parallel careers: a professional one as a graphic illustrator and digital photo artist and retoucher, and a personal one as a visual artist (painting and drawing). In Chicago, he worked for Capps Studio Ltd, and Graphics Access, Inc., producing illustrations and retouching photographs for advertising and corporate accounts such as CBS, GM, McDonald’s, P&G, Dannon, to name a few. In 1992 he moved to Los Angeles and worked for Metafor Imaging and Bloomoon Graphics, Inc. His unique talents quickly earned him a reputation as the “go to” artist for major clients such as Lexus, Porsche, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers Pictures and Columbia Pictures. Kerry's work with the Hollywood studios could be seen in movie posters, auto shows and dealer showrooms nationwide. Kerry moved from Los Angeles in 2001 to continue his retouching career in San Francisco, working for Imagic, Inc.. In his personal career as a virtual artist, Kerry’s paintings and drawings were the product of a continuous struggle between a jaded resignation to the social, political, and personal frustrations of life and continued efforts to use this resignation to facilitate positive change, and tell the truth as he saw it. His work can be seen on his web site at http://www.kerryrutz.com. As the retouching business was drying out, Kerry refocused his career towards Landscape Architecture: he attended classes at City College of San Francisco in 2006, earned his Bachelor of Arts in 2009 at UC Berkeley and a Master of Arts in 2011 at Harvard University. In addition, Kerry was a great writer, teacher, historian, cook, entertainer, and a friend to everyone, man or woman, young and old, healthy or dying. We will miss his joy, acceptance, fairness, friendship, creativity, humor, work ethic and immense joie-de-vivre. Kerry's own words from an amazing art exhibition of his work: "I believe that events such as birth or death are transitions. The departure of beloved friends has impacted my life, leaving gaps and holes that nothing can refill. Participating in this show has given me an opportunity to create works that seek to interpret, resolve, and heal the grief of loss. I hold a mirror up to the society I live in, challenge you, the viewer, to look at yourself, and ask you to think, change, act, and improve. I want to draw you in, touch your spirit and stir your deepest emotions."