About the Nonprofit
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With the avowed purpose "to stimulate interest and appreciation of art in our region," ten artists formed the Hammond District Art Association in 1936. Membership was limited to Hammond and Calumet City artists. Together, they sponsored the first annual Art Exhibition of the Hammond District Art Association in the millinery department of the Edward C. Minas Company Department Store in Hammond. The ten founding artists were: William J. Bachman, Martha Ellyson, Anne Geyer, O.O. Haag, Lenore Conde Lawson, Eunice McCullough, Frank Myslive, Clyde Price, Laverne Thornton, and H. Tom Tuinman.
As time went on, the group broadened its constituency to include East Chicago, then Whiting, and later all of Lake County. The annual exhibition that began in 1936 became known as the Salon Show in 1944, and was held under the auspices of the Painters and Sculptors League of Lake County (as the group was then calling themselves) and the Lake County Federation of Women’s Clubs. Distinguished judges, substantial cash awards and talented artists became standard fare with the annual show.
In 1946, the group reorganized under the leadership of Edgar Hanford and renamed itself the Northern Indiana Art Patrons Association and continued the annual Salon Show, increasing the scope and quality with each year. By 1969 the exhibit was so large that a new site was required, and the Salon Show moved to the new Hammond Public Library. In 1969, the group incorporated as a not-for-profit educational and cultural corporation, with the name changed to Northern Indiana Arts Association.
OUR MISSION
We transform the South Shore through the arts.
OUR VISION
South Shore Arts envisions a progressive region that employs the arts to transform lives and strengthens communities