Allied Arts Guild was founded in 1928 and is a complex of artist studios, shops, restaurant, and gardens in
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; ...
and is used as a venue for both public and private events. It is run by the Allied Arts Guild Auxiliary to provide funds for uncompensated care and special projects at the
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford (LPCH) is a nationally ranked women's and children's hospital which is part of the Stanford University Health system. The hospital is located adjacent to the campus at 725 Welch Road, Palo Alto, Cal ...
.
History
In 1928, wealthy art lovers Delight and Garfield D. Merner of
Hillsborough bought of land at the edge of
Menlo Park to create a center for craft production, having been inspired by craft guilds they had seen in Europe.
They worked closely with architect
Gardner Dailey and artist
Pedro Joseph de Lemos
Pedro Joseph de Lemos (25 May 1882 – 5 December 1954) was an American painter, printmaker, architect, illustrator, writer, lecturer, museum director and art educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. Prior to about 1930 he used the simpler name Ped ...
to design a
Spanish Colonial Revival
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In the ...
-style complex, re-using some of the old farm buildings on the property. The Merners’ goals were "to provide a workplace for artists; to encourage the crafting of handsome objects for everyday use; and to support all peasant or folk art, especially that of early California."
[Allied Arts Guild History]
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Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...
was the Guild's photographer of record and took the first interior and exterior photographs shortly after the buildings were completed.
Some of the tiles and objects of art used to decorate the walls were brought from Spain, Tunis and Morocco. Additional tiles, mosaics and frescoes were executed by the de Lemos family and Maxine Albro
Maxine Albro (January 20, 1893 – July 19, 1966) was an American painter, muralist, lithographer, mosaic artist, and sculptor. She was one of America's leading female artists, and one of the few women commissioned under the New Deal's Federal Ar ...
. The logo was designed by Pedro eLemos, who served as the Guild's first president from 1930 to 1932, then as vice president in 1932-33.
In 1932, the Merners' interest in the Stanford Home for Convalescent Children (now Lucile Packard Children's Hospital) prompted them to invite its Palo Alto Auxiliary to provide lunch service at Allied Arts Guild for the benefit of the Home. The Merners retired from active operation of Allied Arts Guild in 1935 and leased the complex to the Home's Senior Auxiliary. The Allied Arts Guild Auxiliary now operates the complex in support of the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. The Guild premises were renovated in 2004 at a cost of $8.5 million to meet current earthquake standards and to repair structural problems. Replacements for broken roof tiles were produced by hand to match the original tiles.
See also
* Pacific Art League
The Pacific Art League (PAL), formally known as the Palo Alto Art Club was founded in 1921 in Palo Alto, California and is a membership-run nonprofit arts organization, school, and gallery. The group is located in a historic building at 668 Ramon ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Allied Arts Guild website
Gardens in California
American artist groups and collectives
Organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Buildings and structures in San Mateo County, California
Tourist attractions in San Mateo County, California
Menlo Park, California
1928 establishments in California