Since 1937, the Oak Park Art League has been housed in this colorful former carriage house, set back on a forested lot. It's one of the oldest nonprofit arts organizations in Illinois. Informal gatherings of Oak Park artists led to the founding of the organization in 1921, and it operated for several years out of such Oak Park landmarks as the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio and the Nineteenth Century Club. The League purchased its home with the help of one of its most prominent members: Grace Hall Hemingway. They commissioned the building's original architect—also a League member—to lead the renovation. The spacious ground floor gallery hosts monthly exhibitions and other public programs, while upstairs studio space is nearly always in use for arts education.
