Peoria Art Guild History
Historical Ties To Peoria, IL
Peoria has a rich history of arts and craftsmanship dating back to the early 1800s, but it wasn’t until 1878 when a group of women, known as the Ladies Art Society, introduced Peoria to the fine arts. The group met at the Spurck Building, located on Main and Madison, where they sponsored art exhibitions and lectures for the community. The Society established the community's first art classes, which included painting and drawing. In 1886, the Ladies Art Society changed its name to the Peoria Women’s Club.
Similarly, another group called the Saturday Men’s Sketch Club was established in the early 1800s. Six men met every week to paint, draw and exchange ideas. This group attracted the attention of the Peoria Women’s Club in 1888, stating “...their artistic lady friends, seeing their good work, begged so hard to be admitted to the sacred precincts of art, that their request was finally granted.” In 1904 the Sketch Club and the Women’s Club were renamed the Peoria Art League. The Art Leagues meetings were held at the Peoria Public Library and paintings by Hedley Weycott, one of the original members of the Saturday Sketch Club, still hang in the library today.
In November of 1913, largely due to lack of its own building and fluctuating economy, the Peoria Art League joined forces with a couple other groups involved in literary, science, and museum endeavors and later changed its name to the Peoria Society of Allied Arts. Feeling a need for a building of its own, the group worked to seek funds and support to build a cultural center next to the Peoria Public Library. However, the Peoria merchants and businessmen were not totally supportive of the proposal, mainly because of the rumblings of World War I, and funding for the building fell short of society’s expectations.
The Peoria Society of Allied Arts never lost sight of building a cultural center in Peoria, and began fundraising again. In 1965, a new center, Lakeview Center for Arts and Science, opened its doors and included the original fine arts group with other cultural organizations, such as the Historical Society, Peoria Symphony and other science groups. It was in this building that the Peoria Art Center established the first sales and rental gallery in Peoria.
In 1969, under the chairmanship of Mr. and Mrs. William Bibo, the first annual Junction City Fine Art Fair was established. It was also in this year that the Peoria Art Center chose to move from Lakeview, and took up residence at 1831 North Knoxville and did so with Carol Fiske as the organization’s president. The move was significant because it totally separated the fine arts from the other museum and science groups and allowed the arts organization to move in a more art-oriented direction. Nearly all of the art collection that had been accumulated over the previous 20 years, as well as the school of art, was moved to the new location. Along with the move came the final name change to the Peoria Art Guild.
The Peoria Art Guild remains today a community art center, whose sole purpose is to bring art to the community through the sales gallery, exhibitions and school of art. The Fine Art Fair, previously known as the Junction City Fine Art Fair, just celebrated its 61st year. The Peoria Art Guild has represented thousands of artists from the community, as well as all over the country since its creation in 1969.
Rare Opportunities – Nationally Known Works of Art
Andres Serrano
In 2005, the Peoria Art Guild had the distinction of being the only venue in the Midwest to exhibit 18 extra-large Cibachrome photographs from Andres Serrano's AMERICA. In late 2001, Serrano began this series comprised of 100 portraits. Serrano, born in New York, is an internationally acclaimed and collected artist. He studied at the Brooklyn Museum and Art School, and started exhibiting in the 1980s.
Read: Art Guild Hosts Midwest Exhibit of Andres Serrano Work
Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, de Kooning and more!
In 2004, the Peoria Art Guild was privileged to be the host of 18 paintings and five sculptures from the private collection of Marsha S. Glazer. The Glazer collection was considered among the top 100 private art collections at this time. With the exception of pieces too fragile to make the journey, a majority of the Glazer collection was on display.
The collection included works by Louise Bourgeois, Willem de Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Jean Dubuffet, Janet Fish, Helen Frankenthaler, Alberto Giacometti, Arshile Gorky, David Hockney, Lee Krasner, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Mitchell, Henry Moore, Malcolm Morley, Claes Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Gerhard Richter, Kurt Schwitters, David Smith, and Wayne Thiebaud.
Read: Picasso, Pollock, de Kooning, oh my!
Foster Arts Center - Acknowledgements
In 1999 the Peoria Art Guild relocated to 203 Harrison Street thanks to the Cohen/Goldstein building donation and the Ellen Foster renovation gift. We are now located in the beautifully rennovated Foster Arts Building.
