George J. Kachergis was born in Watertown, Connecticut on April 11, 1917. He studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While a student he received recognition from faculty and peers in the form of honor awards and a scholarship for graduate work.
He served in Europe in World War II. At the end of the war he was one of three soldiers selected from the Third Army to receive a scholarship to study Art History at the University of Besançon in Besançon, France.
George’s first university teaching position was at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. The Art Department at Bradley University had 200 art majors. Roy Gussow, who later taught at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the School of Design at North Carolina State University, and Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, an Art Historian and the widow of Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, were fellow Art Department faculty members.
George exhibited his work extensively and was offered several teaching positions. The offers he considered most seriously, before he accepted the offer from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, were from the University of Florida in Gainseville, and the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
George Kachergis’ work was exhibited at several major museums, including The Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His work was included in major exhibitions such as the Whitney Annual Exhibition of American Painting, the International Exhibition of Watercolors, Prints and Drawings at the Pennsylvania Academy, and American Painting Today at the Metropolitan Museum. A complete Exhibition Record will be posted shortly.