OAK PARK ART LEAGUE

Hello OPAL community!

June was full of opportunities to share OPAL with the broader community. We had a great response at the 50th Day in Our Village, making art with so many, representing OPAL’s mission and the volunteers who helped out had a great time!
Our annual Evening Under the Starry Night fundraiser was a wonderful event, even with some rain, that not only raised funds to nurture OPAL’s programming and historic building but highlighted the vitality of our trajectory into our second century.
Our reception for We See You affirmed that OPAL is “a welcoming center of artistic inquiry, creative expression and art appreciation” and values creating space for a diversity of artist’s voices.
In a couple of days the Oak Park July 4th parade will showcase the diversity that makes Oak Park a place we all love, and OPAL will be among the groups marching! You are invited to join us!

We’ll be trying something new for July and August, beginning July 5 the gallery will change hours for the summer to the following:
Thursdays & Fridays 1-5pm
Saturdays 10am - 4 pm
Sundays 1-4pm
CLOSED Monday - Wednesday
In the event of exhibition pick-up and drop-off days, which land on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the gallery will be open during regular hours. Classes in the studio will meet as usual.

Some more recent additions to the website to note, a “become a sponsor” page - If you or someone you know is inspired to support the success of an exhibit and participating artists, or our operations in general, you or your business can sponsor an exhibition and show your support for the arts in this community.
Host your next special occasion at OPAL, we are renting the space for outside events!

There is much more in store this summer at OPAL that you can explore below. I hope you include OPAL in your summer plans and I look forward to seeing you in the gallery or studio soon.

Thank you,

Bryan Northup
Executive Director

UPCOMING EVENTS

4th of July parade

Happy Independence Day! Walk with OPAL in the parade Thursday, July 4, 2024 - 10:00am

LASTEST NEWS

Art for ALL!

With generous grant funding from the Mammel Family Foundation, the Oak Park Art League has partnered with St. Angela School in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago to facilitate a visiting art instructo

Host your event at OPAL

The Oak Park Art League is a unique space suitable for hosting a variety of events, from birthday, showers, meetings, photo shoots and more. We are now renting OPAL for outside events through Peerspac

Thank you COOK COUNTY ARTS

We’re thrilled to announce that OPAL received a relief grant from the @CookCountyArts Nonprofit Relief Grant program! Public funding for the arts is critical to our community well-being, and this

ONGOING EVENTS

Family stARTs

Join us 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 10am - noon

All materials are supplied and free of charge. No advanced registration required. Just stop in! This drop-in event takes place between 10am-12pm on selected

Monthly Critiques

OPAL offers multiple opportunities for artists to get friendly feedback from fellow artists.

Exhibitor’s Critique, 11am - 1pm the Saturday following the exhibit Reception

Open Critique, 3rd Thursday of

Writer’s Circle

Next meeting July 21, workshop with Hila Ratzabi, pre-registration required

IN THE STUDIO

Summer 2 Classes are open for registration!
Pastel Painting, Oil Painting, A new Architecture class +

New Summer Workshops

We have been working to add new workshops for the summer including a watercolor workshop with Tony Armendariz, Architecture workshop with Paul Dolick, Experimental drawing workshop with Pia Cruzalegui

Figure Drawing

Sundays 10am - 1pm & Thursdays 9am - noon

There are now two figure sessions per week for drawing from a live model. These are 3-hour, non-instructional figure drawing sessions. Work on your figure-dr

IN THE GALLERY

Congratulations to the judge’s selections for WE SEE YOU!

1st - Ruby Figueroa, Carrusel

2nd - Susy Chan, Persimmons & Characters

3rd - Mercedes Cardenas, Untitled

UP NEXT - Poetry of Place: Landscape and Sacred Space

Drop off work: July 2, 3 (1-5pm)
Exhibition Dates: July 5 - Aug 2

One highlight of our Starry Night event was Oak Park poet Hila Ratzabi reading for us. The author of the poetry collection There Are Still Woods, will be reading for us again at our Poetry of Place Artist Reception on July 12, 7-9pm.
She is also offering a poetry writing workshop on July 21 exploring landscape, both outdoor and in the artworks in the July show.

AKG Micro Gallery

Up next in the micro gallery, a solo exhibit by Alex Brightbill-Velazquez

Join our Summer Exhibition!

We are inviting artists to participate in our street-facing installation in front of OPAL in August. Anyone interested can pick up a donated political yard sign and reuse it to create a brand new

Artist In Residence

Now through August 2024, experience the sound installation MY WORDS ARE HARD TO HEAR by Mami Takahashi in the new OPAL residency space upstairs. Visit our new page with more details and a portal for

VOLUNTEERING

Thank You Volunteer!

Getting ready for a party takes a lot of preparation, cleaning and set up. I want to thank Pamela Penney for coming to help me make OPAL look its best for guests at our Starry Night fundraiser. Bathrooms, windows, TLC, check! Thank you Pam!

There are so many facets to keeping OPAL a warm and welcoming place to be and belong. Getting involved in even a small way makes a big difference. Check out our opportunities and needs here -
Join in the fun and volunteer!

OPAL Shop

Discover new OPAL designs on swag you can wear and use to spread the word about the Oak Park Art League and help raise funds for our beloved organization. Find original artworks too!

Oak Park Art League

Founded in 1921, OPAL is one of the longest, continually-running nonprofit arts organizations in Illinois, fulfilling its mission by offering high-quality art education, lectures, artist demonstrations, critiques, and monthly exhibitions in our historic gallery.

Our Mission

The Oak Park Art League's mission is to be a welcoming center of artistic inquiry, creative expression and art appreciation in Oak Park and the surrounding communities. Through the offering of dynamic public arts programming and exhibitions, our goal is to engage the beginner to professional artist in creative practices allowing for the refinement of their creative voice.

Board of Directors

President: Linda DeViller
Secretary: Maria Gedroc
Teasurer: David Baker
Buildings & Grounds: Lou Thetard
Community Outreach: Margot McMahon
Shira Slack
Ginger Brent
Thomas Yates

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Thank you to our generous sponsors