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Latest news from the Oak Park Art League ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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Dear Friends of OPAL, August greetings and warm welcome to our newest members and newsletter subscribers — and sincere thanks to everyone supporting the Oak Park Art League. Your involvement makes OPAL a welcoming space where art, connection, and creative wellbeing flourish. In July we marched for OPAL with pride in the Oak Park parade, our bake sale on the 18th sold out - heartfelt thanks to the volunteers who made it a success!
And we’re preparing for a change to our registration and membership system this month to improve your experience with our classes and programs. We’ll be in touch with more about that in the weeks ahead. We’re one month away from HOUSE of OPAL, our fashion fundraising gala and celebration of OPAL’s 105th anniversary! We need your presence and support to make this milestone memorable. Please purchase your tickets or consider making a donation so we can continue offering the classes, exhibitions, and community programs that sustain our creative community.
We look forward to Summer 2 classes - today is the final day to register -workshops, our guest curator exhibition Breaking the Silence, featuring artwork by veteran artists, and related community events in the month ahead. Whether you’re new to OPAL or have been with us for years, your participation keeps our organization vibrant and welcoming. Please consider volunteering, bringing a friend, or joining an upcoming program to help us continue building community through art. Warm Regards,
Bryan Northup Grayson
Executive Director
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Take a look at what is happening at OPAL in AUGUST
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The Oak Park Art League is rolling out the red carpet again this year for HOUSE of OPAL 2026, our 105th Anniversary celebration fashion themed gala fundraiser, this time at
The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association.
We are taking last year’s theme further down the runway and hosting a
bigger fashion show (call for designers still open) as the centerpiece of the evening.
Expect good food and drink, silent auction and online raffle as well as a chance to dress in one of our three fashion categories that reflect our long history
1920's ~ OPAL Origins | 1970's Era | The Future |
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The Sawyer, MI lake home is nestled in the charming woods, and a quick 5-minute walk to Lake Michigan beach. This beautiful and spacious home accommodates a maximum 8-10 guests. Total package valued at $2,000.00
Raffle tickets $100.00 per ticket More details and
Buy your raffle tickets now! $100.00
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If you’ve ever walked past our gallery on Chicago Avenue or attended an event and thought, I’d love to be part of something like that, well this is your invitation. |
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The Oak Park Art League has partnered with La Romita School of Art in Umbria Italy to form a group artist retreat in June 2027. Currently we are sharing this opportunity and gathering interested OPAL members to join the art adventure! |
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OPAL’s Garden and gallery was part of the Garden Club of
Oak Park & River Forest Garden Walk on Sunday June 28. You can still enjoy BLOOM: Art of Flowers, Foliage & Fruit in the gallery through August 2, and our Summer Sculpture Exhibit in the courtyard garden through August 30. |
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Japanese Papermaking (Washi) Workshop Sunday, August 23, 2:00–4:00 PM with Mami Takahashi Create handmade paper using traditional East Asian fibers while learning about the differences between Eastern and Western papermaking traditions. Add texture with natural inclusions and embossing to produce unique sheets of Washi that are beautiful on their own, yet also great for drawing, printmaking, collage, and book art projects. Beginner-friendly and all materials provided. |
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will take a summer break from Aug 7 - Sept 10
We return with a new weekly evening session
WEDNESDAYS 6:30 - 9:30pm
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Thursdays, 9am - noon
Sundays, 10am - 1pm
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BLOOM runs through August 2, one last chance to come see the exhibit! UP NEXT:
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Exhibition dates: August 7 – September 6, 2026 Some things don't have words. Not because they can't be described, but because language wasn't built to hold them. The weight of a deployment. The quiet after a discharge. The distance between who you were before and who you came home as. Art can hold what words can't.
Breaking the Silence brings together 30 original works by Chicago-area veteran artists — paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed media created by people who know that experience firsthand. The exhibition takes its name seriously: this is not art about veterans. It's art by veterans, made on their own terms, in their own voice. EXHIBITION EVENTSBreaking the Silence Opening Reception
Saturday Aug 8, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Join us for the first night of a month-long exhibition of veteran-made work. Come see the show and meet the artists who made it. Artist Talk & Poetry Reading
Sunday, August 16 | 12–2 PM Artist Talks, 2–4 PM Poetry Reading
Join us for an afternoon of artist talks, a chance to hear directly from the veterans whose work fills the gallery followed by OPAL’s quarterly poetry reading, open to all. Gallery After Dark: Artist Workshop, Drawing from the Exhibition
Thursday Aug 20, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
OPAL’s Gallery After Dark, welcomes professional and veteran artist Michael Bever gets you started on the basics of observational sketching, then set you loose. Choose a piece in the show that pulls you in, find a spot, and sit with it. No group pace, no shared subject, just you, a sketchbook, and whatever in the room speaks to you.
A special thank you to Wounded Warrior Project for partnering with us on this event. Breaking the Silence Closing Reception
Sunday Sep 6, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
A month ago, Breaking the Silence opened its doors for the first time. Since then, veterans, families, and visitors have walked through this gallery and sat with the work. Join us for one last evening with the exhibition at the @oakparkartleague before it comes down.
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SATELLITE EXHIBITS
CALL FOR ARTISTS
The Oak Park Art League offers artists a chance to display their work outside our main gallery, in local businesses we have partnered with to provide more exposure for artists.
OPAL Members are eligible to exhibit in these venues, please sign up for this opportunity. |
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This is where you will find all the opportunities we come across or that come in especially to be shared with the OPAL artist community. |
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As funding for arts and nonprofits continues to decline, your membership and support is more crucial than ever.
Join us in safeguarding this historic, creative sanctuary—renew your membership today and help ensure OPAL thrives for everyone who needs it. Thank you!
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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. Board of Directors
President: David Baker
Vice President: Mia Garcia Hills
Secretary: Ginger Brent
Treasurer: Shira Slack
Directors:
Margot McMahon Barbara McClure
Dave Palomares Colleen Campbell Staff
Bryan Northup Grayson, Executive Director
Katrina Petrauskas, Programming Coordinator
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GALLERY HOURS Thursday & Friday 1-5 pm
Saturday 10 am-4 pm
Sunday 1-4pm
Monday -Wednesday Closed or by appointment
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Land Acknowledgement
Each exhibition, program and class associated with the Oak Park Art League (OPAL) takes place on the traditional homelands of the Council of Three Fires - the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa -
as well as the Menominee, Miami, and Ho-Chunk Nations.
OPAL recognizes that the region we now call Chicago and Oak Park was the traditional homeland of many Indigenous nations,
and remains home to diverse Native people today. The land we walk was, and remains Native land.
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Thank you to our generous sponsors
Oak Park Art League is partially funded by the Oak Park Area Arts Council, in partnership with the Village of Oak Park, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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