Born in Cleveland, Ohio George Vander Sluis studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Broadmoor Academy, later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Vander Sluis is noted for his acrylic paintings. Aside from his personal artistic endeavors, Vander Sluis was an excellent teacher. From 1940-43, Vander Sluis taught at the Broadmoor Academy during the winter sessions. From 1945-82, he also taught at Syracuse University as a Professor of Painting and Drawing. In 1970, he was made the associate Dean of the School of Arts and was also a Chairman of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. In 1951 and 52, Vander Sluis was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. Later, in 1975, the Ford Foundation granted him the title, "Outstanding Educator of America." Later, for his lifetime of achievements in fine art, Vander Sluis was awarded the Jurors Award and the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery Award of 1958 and again in 1969.

Exhibitions: Art Institute of Chicago, 1941; University of Nebraska (solo); Cleveland Museum of Art, 1940; Kansas City Institute, 1942; Denver Museum of Art, 1942; Artists West of the Mississippi, 1940-41; Corcoran Gallery of Biennials, 1947, 1957; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; "American Paintings 1945-57" Minneapolis Institute of Art, 1957; "Contemporary Painting and Sculpture", University of Illinois, 1961; Syracuse University; "125 Years of New York Painting and Sculpture" New York State Expos, Syracuse, 1966; "American Art" White House, Washington DC, 1966; Cincinnati Art Museum; "The Door" Museum of Contemporary Craft, New York City, 1968Royal Marks Gallery and Krasner Gallery in New York, 1970s.

Works Held: Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, New York; Everson Museum of Art, New York; Cleveland Museum of Art; Rochester Memorial Art Gallery in New York; State University of New York, Albany; Hamiline University; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute; Utica, New York; New York University; Brookings Institute, Washington DC; St, Lawrence University.

Murals Held: On Barns in Central New York State, grant from New York State Council for the Arts, 1960s; Outdoor wall mural for Hotel Syracuse, granted by City Walls New York and New York State Council on the Arts, 1971; Federal Art Project of the Works Process Administration granted a mural for the Post Office, Riffle, Colorado, 1940.

Further Reading: A Show of Color: 100 Years of Painting in the Pike's Peak Region, Robert L. Shalkop, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1971.; John F. Carlson and Artists of the Broadmoor Academy, David Cook Fine Art, Denver, Colorado, 1999.; Pikes Peak Vision: The Broadmoor Art Academy, 1919-1945, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1989.; Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 3. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds., Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.

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