Born in Bronx, NY Joseph Amarotico studied at the American Art School in New York City with Rafael Soyer and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Franklin Watkins, Walter Stuempfig, and Hobson Pittman. He exhibited extensively including at the Academy (1959-69), the Corcoran Gallery of Art (1963), the American Federation of Arts, Pearl Fox Galleries in Philadelphia and Mickelson Galleries in Washington, D.C. His work is in the permanent collections of the Academy, George Washington University (D.C.), Glassboro College (NJ), and the Washington D.C. district court. His preferred media was acrylic on rag board or canvas and he taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1966 on and served as their painting conservator from 1968 on.