Mr. Claire Vanderhoof Dorst was born June 4, 1922 in Plymouth, Wisconsin along with his fraternal twin Clark. His family eventually moved to Freeport, Illinois where he attended high school and worked in the Union Dairy, serving ice cream. After his high school graduation, he bicycled out to Idaho, along with his cousin, to join his older brother Hugh in Pocatello. He had only been working at the railroad yard there for several months when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
The following month, he and Hugh volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and were sent to San Diego for boot camp. Following training, he was shipped to New Zealand to guard the coast against possible invasion. During his service in the Marines, he was transferred from the First to the Third Marine Division and saw action on Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, and Iwo Jima. He was stateside on VJ Day and was assigned the unenviable task of Shore Patrol duty in downtown San Diego during the raucous celebrations. He received an Honorable Discharge in September of 1945.
Pursuing his interest in art, Claire enrolled in Beloit College in Wisconsin on the GI Bill where he was a student of Frank Boggs. It was here that he met Mary Crowe and they were married in 1950. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, he obtained a job teaching art at public schools in Cresco, Iowa. He also began studies at the University of Iowa, which granted him a Master's degree in Art Education in 1953. He then taught art at the campus school of Wayne State Teacher's College in Wayne, Nebraska. In 1959, he obtained a faculty position in the Art Department of Carthage College in Carthage, Illinois. After several years there, he was granted a sabbatical to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. After getting this degree, he returned to teaching at Carthage at their new campus in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Claire moved with his family to south Florida to become one of the first faculty members of the Art Department at the newly formed Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. There he worked for over twenty-five years, serving as chairman of the department and rising to the rank of full Professor. Upon his retirement in 1990, he was granted Emeritus status by the University. Along with his academic endeavors, he taught painting in private classes as well as teaching at the Armory Art School in West Palm Beach, the Lighthouse Gallery in Jupiter, the Ft. Lauderdale Art Museum, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, and lately at the Sugar Sands Park in Boca Raton. He traveled extensively throughout Florida, giving painting demonstrations to local art groups on behalf of the Grumbacher and Windsor-Newton companies. He was consistently highly rated and well liked by his students because of his ability to always bring something positive to his critiques.
In addition to his outstanding teaching ability, Claire was a practicing artist and was talented in oil, acrylic, and watercolor painting as well several printmaking techniques from serigraphs to etchings to monographs. During his tenure at the University of Wisconsin he became familiar with the art of the Abstract Expressionists, and their free flowing approach informed his work from then on. He became one of the first painters in the south Florida area to exhibit works in the abstract expressionist style, but even in his figurative work there was a spontaneity grounded in this loose and easy philosophy. Claire was the founding president of the Palm Beach Watercolor Society and was active in the organization to the end. He was also a member of the Gold Coast Watercolor Society and a signature member of the Florida Watercolor Society. He not only entered and won prizes in many competitions and exhibits sponsored by Florida museums and galleries, Claire was also widely known on the art show circuit, participating in numerous 'sidewalk' shows across Florida and beyond. In 1980, he authored the book "The Artist's Guide to Sidewalk Exhibiting" published by Watson-Guptil Press. This work distilled his experiences in this sales venue, as well as the wisdom of fellow veteran sidewalk artists, to help others make a living from selling their art.
Claire V. Dorst was preceded in death by his father Martin, his mother Mary, his brothers Clark and Hugh, his sister Mary, and an infant daughter. He is survived by his wife Mary, his daughters Sherry and Robin, his son Neal, and his granddaughters Sienna, Lena, Molly, and Rebecca, as well as his brothers George and James and their children. Contributions may be made to the Claire Dorst Art Scholarship Endowment at the FAU Foundation.