Almost as much a school as a gallery, this lakefront institution boasts fine sculpture and many students.. Mansion of Art
The beautiful 16-room mansion was built for Evanstonian Harley Clarke in the late 1920s and sits squarely on the shores of Lake Michigan. The city bought the Clarke house in 1963, and the Art Center took up residence three years later.

In a sequence of several irregularly shaped rooms over two floors, the center has provided some fine rotating art exhibitions in recent years. Chicago-area artists such as Laurie Hogin and Margaret Wharton have held important mini-retrospectives, and other top-drawer locals such as Dan Devening and Karen Lebergott have participated in its often excellent group shows.

Curator-Teacher
Ably directed by Californian Peter Gordon (former San Jose Museum of Art curator), the Evanston Art Center is well-known locally for its art school's wide range of classes--day and evening--for children and adults.…