Southside Art League

The Southside Art League was organized in 1964 as a non-profit organization with 59 charter members who met in a variety of places - church basements, the backroom of a firehouse, and other local spots. The current spot was acquired in 1990 and became the Southside Art League's permanent home and remains so to this day. There are two historic buildings - both were renovated and include office space, gallery space, and classroom space. Southside Art League has instructional classes that include oils, watercolors, pastels, acrylics, drawing, and portraiture. It also hosts workshops and demonstrations. The gallery is open from 11am-3pm weekly from Wednesday through Saturday. It is an opportunity to review art and in many cases also purchase it. I'm constantly amazed at the quality produced by the Southside Art League. Main exhibits change quarterly. The exhibit from January-March 2022 in the Off Broadway Gallery is called "Make Me Laugh." The current featured artist is the late John Manicke and most of the art is for sale with proceeds actually going to Southside Art League. Member artists can display and sell their works. They are required to pay a small monthly fee and work in the gallery one day monthly. Current membership is around 200 and the Southside Art League is self-supporting with individual/corporate memberships, gallery dues, and class/workshop fees providing the majority of the support. I can't quite say I'm a regular at Southside Art League, though it is becoming more the case since I transferred my healthcare down to Franciscan and spend more time in this area. I find the classes to often be affordable and the public art has a wide range of pricing. Gallery space is beautiful. The main floor is quite accessible. From what I understand, there's still plans to renovate some upstairs space and due to the historic nature of the buildings I kind of doubt that accessibility will be as strong once that's complete. We'll see. Overall, this is a tremendous space for art on the southside. I definitely recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

"To encourage artists in their work and to promote appreciation of art in the community."I stopped in on Thursday to check out the artwork on hand at the showroom in Greenwood. The building is divided into an entryway and two showrooms. The entryway has a display case with some pottery and jewelry that is for sale. There is a sign-in for guests and a chance to discuss any questions you have with the host/hostess.Beyond the entry, the room on the right displays the artwork provided by members of SALi (Southside Art League). The artwork in this room changes every three months at the beginning of each new quarter. Within this room, there was a wide range of painting styles using different mediums. I was pleasantly surprised at how high the quality was. The room on the left displays the artwork of a single artist, but only for a month. On the day I visited, the artist provided a wide variety of art pieces from paintings to 3D pieces, to jewelry and medallions. The featured artist is sometimes local, but occasionally is someone the league agrees to bring in.All the pieces on display are for sale.It was a fun way to spend a rainy lunch hour!FYI: Classes are available in watercolor, oil painting, pastel oil and acrylic mentoring, drawing for children and adults, and photography and Photoshop.Review #163