Resident Artists

Douglas Wiltraut

When Douglas Wiltraut was in first grade, one of the girls in his class read his palms and said that he would grow up to be an artist. Little did he know how accurate the girl’s prediction would be.

Today Doug is one of America’s foremost painters in egg tempera and dry brush watercolor. A graduate of Kutztown University, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in painting, he is the president of the National Society of Painters in Casein & Acrylic Inc. and has been the recipient of numerous honors for his work, including the Butler Institute of American Art Award, the Today’s Art Medal, the Knickerbocker Artists Gold and Silver Medals of Honor and the Ralph Fabri Medal (a three-time recipient).

In 1999, Doug was awarded the Adirondacks Wilderness Award with the Rouse Gold Medallion, followed by the Trails & Streams Medal in 2000, both in the “Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors.”

Doug was also the subject of a feature article on egg tempera painting in "American Artist" and "The Artist’s Magazine," and his acrylic paintings were discussed in an article in Palette Talk. He conducted the Brandywine Workshop in egg tempera painting for American Artist and his work was included in the “American Artist Golden Anniversary Exhibition” and the Berman Museum of Art inaugural exhibition. In 1998, Doug received the Arts Ovation Award from the City of Allentown.

Artist Statement

“The people of the Lehigh Valley are extremely lucky to
have a facility like the Banana Factory for artists and
the community at large to benefit from.”

-Douglas Wiltraut