Our Arts & Business programs create an experience that allows everyone to use art as a tool for inquiry––personally, professionally, and within his or her organization. We believe bringing art and business together fosters collaboration, increases understanding among people, and creates a culture of creativity. All arts-based professional development programs are designed for first-time artists. Each group is led by a professional teaching artist who will guide you through the artistic process and toward new methods of investigation while improving creative intelligence and capacity.
Our unique, private loft is designed to put you in the center of an artist’s studio. The surroundings, workshops and teachers fuel a passion and new sense of purpose for creativity in your workplace. Join us to celebrate new ideas, innovative possibilities, and to get inspired!
Arts-Based Professional Development to Fuel Creativity.
Founded in 1975, Lillstreet Art Center is Chicago’s largest visual arts center. We are a large community of artists and students working side-by-side in a friendly environment that encourages and inspires artistic growth in the individual. In 2003, we relocated from our original location on Lill Ave. in Lincoln Park, to our current 40,000-sqft facilities; a former gear factory at 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. Our new facility is a beautiful, spacious center, boasting state-of-the-art equipment, expanded course offerings and a café. We support the arts through education, an artist-in-residency program, artisan gallery, studio space, and a non-profit outreach program ArtReach.
Our new, private space Lillstreet Loft is located just a few doors down at 4437 N. Ravenswood Ave. The 2,000-sqft loft is home to our arts-based professional development program Ignite, as well as several public arts programs. The loft is also available for private rentals for up to approx. 100 people.
Lillstreet Gallery enhances the educational mission of Lillstreet Art Center, the institution in which it is housed, by offering students and visitors an opportunity to explore and be inspired by the work of emerging and established artists. It also supports the endeavors of those artists by providing a retail venue for their distinctive, hand-made ceramics, jewelry, and textiles. Thematic exhibitions and special events punctuate our ongoing display of functional art, creative toys, cards, art books, and DIY projects for sale in the Artisan Gift Shop. Gallery exhibitions change on a monthly basis.
