The North Shore Art League's current exhibition, "Summer Open," has been extended through August…read more24, 2026, making it the perfect destination for an inspiring summer outing. With the exhibition now spanning nearly the entire season, there's still plenty of time to experience this wonderful showcase of local artistic talent. Admission is free, and the gallery is open to the public every day from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, even when the office is closed. Since 1924, the North Shore Art League has remained dedicated to its stated mission of "enriching the human spirit through art education and exhibitions". We found that the art gallery space of the North Shore Art League was bright, airy, and pleasant, with the exhibition thoughtfully and professionally curated. All the staff whom we had encountered were friendly and welcoming. If you are in the area, I highly recommend you stopping by the Northshore Art League, on the second floor of the Winnetka Community House, to see "Summer Open". Part of the exhibited art work were even for sale. There is a great variety of beautiful 2D art to choose from. A portion of all sales supports the North Shore Art League, a not-for-profit, 501©(3) organization.

My mother-in-law is on the board, so I'm a little biased, but we sent my daughter to art camp this…read moreweek and she's having an absolute blast! I'm so relieved because we pulled her from an Oak Park-area ceramics camp that just wasn't her thing. Great job of engaging the kids!

Total arty art school vibes…read more I was thinking about cobbling together a screen printing setup at home and realized I should probably find a refresher class somewhere. Just so happens that this Evanston Art Center had a screen printing class coming up! I signed up and walked into class expecting that all the arcane screen printing processes have been made obsolete at last. Back in the day we had to flood screens with chemikills and expose them to light like neanderthals. Welp, it turns out that is how it's still done (boohoo) but indeed some of the technology has advanced in ways I didn't expect. Anyway, great gallery, great classes, great teachers and staff!

3.5 I'd searched…read morefor museums in Evanston to avoid driving to Chicago for some culture and the Evanston Art Center came up. This place has a lot of potential, particularly upstairs - there are blank walls galore - but there's just not very much art there at the moment. Evanston is small, but had I known I could blow through this venue in 5 minutes, for a 10 minute drive, I probably would have skipped it. That said, the art that was there was great and I enjoyed seeing it.

I have been going to the Mosaic School since January 2025 and have taken 3 classes. The teachers…read moreare great, the atmosphere is welcoming, and I tell all of my friends and family about this place! Nowhere else in the U.S. is there an art school that has such a focus on mosaics. I've learned so much -- they provide the materials and the expertise. I've met some really wonderful people and friends and am already signed up for their stained glass class in September!

Just spent the most amazing weekend at the Chicago Mosaic School. I traveled over 500 miles to get…read morethere and it was well worth my time and effort. I felt the atmosphere to be warm and accepting, accommodating those with little experience and those who spend their lives being creative. It was a perfect balance of informational, historical and hands on Glass work. All my questions were thoroughly answered and I left feeling inspired and eager to utilize what I learned. I would recommend this school to any and all. An added bonus is the eclectic neighborhood, warm and charming teacher, Lydia, inclusive atmosphere and creative vibe that persisted throughout the class.

Ciao Bella Sewing is such an amazing business. There are so many class options, workshops and…read morebirthday parties to choose from there is always something to keep your child or yourself busy. Not everyone knows how to sew and Taylor, the owner, has done an incredible job bringing this talent back into the lives of children and adults! All the teachers are kind, patient, and beyond willing to help. I recommend Ciao Bella to everyone because it never disappoints! If you have the chance definitely attend, you will be incredibly satisfied!!!

My d did one of the week long summer sewing camps that meets 2 1/2 hours Mon-Fri. The instructors…read moredo all of the fabric cutting and prepping so no experience is required. On one hand this is great, but on the other hand one doesn't get experience with cutting or using a pattern. My 14 yo did enjoy it, but it was very basic and she didn't really pick up many skills. What was super is that they made a new project every day. Just know some of the sizing will be enormous as it's not really tailored to your kiddo. This is ok, just an fyi. The pj pants probably fit someone 6'4" (luckily her dad is this height!). Overall, enjoyable experience and very nice instructors. The summer week camps would be ideal for tweens. We will be back to try a more advanced class.

This was THE PERFECT event for a bachelorette party. My best friend didn't want to do the strippers…read moreand bar crawl type of things but I still had to do something cheeky for her. I'm so glad I found TAB in my research. It was without a doubt the biggest hit of the party! Vanja and Malik both clicked with our party almost immediately, it was like having new friends hanging out with us. Except one of them was an extremely attractive guy posing nude :D Don't worry if you're bad at art-- the whole thing is super easy to enjoy no matter your skill level. This fully satisfied the 'silly, a little raunchy, but still classy' vibe I was going for at a reasonable price per person. They were very responsive via email with any questions too! I can't recommend them enough.

This was such an incredible night. So much fun and laughter. And the memories will last a life…read moretime. I can't recommend them enough. If you're thinking about it, just do it. You won't regret it.

My daughter and I saw a play here that we really enjoyed and it encouraged me to get on their…read moremailing list and follow them on social media to learn about future events. But what impressed me yesterday was that my cousin passed away and the venue where my family planned to have his celebration was booked for the date we wanted. His sister called around and learned that Noyes Cultural Center rents space for special events. We got a room that was perfect for our event. We were able to bring food, music and a slideshow and the staff there were very helpful. They have a small (metered) parking lot adjacent to the entrance and additional street parking nearby, plus a park on the side of the building. They have art classes, the theater, and a lot of other offerings that we weren't aware of, making this center even more impressive.

Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone. We bought tickets to Circus in Progress (part of…read morethe Actor's Gymnasium) and found ourselves in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center for the very intimate and impressive show. What we first noticed was the large space. The building is obviously older and has the wide halls and high ceilings you can only get in an older building like this. Upstairs there is an open art gallery which we enjoyed checking out before the show. It would actually be a cool place to host a party or two there as well. There is a small parking lot. I mean tiny considering how many people can be there. But it's literally a jump off of the L and you are there. And there is public parking just a block away. Classes abound in this local arts community. There were tons of flyers, brochures and post cards for upcoming shows, classes (for ALL ages), productions and art shows. Noyes Cultural Arts Center is located in Nothern Evanston and houses a number of art-related organizations, including The Actors Gymnasium, Evanston Children's Choir, Piven Theatre Workshop, Arlen Music / Ken Arlen Orchestra, Art Encounter, Evanston Art Center and the Next Theatre Company. Next time you're in the area, take a peek inside. Or check out what's playing. Tickets are ridiculously cheap and the production we saw was a lot of fun.

I wish I lived closer! I came from Detroit twice for the 12 hour figure drawing marathon and I…read moreloved it. I am a member and f Detroit's Scarab Club and I wish we had something similar. For $25 you get 12 hours to draw/paint with top notch models in singles and pairs. Poses are usually 25 minutes or less and they always have a studio for 3 hour poses. The artists with whom you draw are often professional or retired professional artists. Plus, you get lunch!

Such a cool place and such a cool concept! I've gone to events a few times and the staff has been…read morenothing but sweet and accommodating. We need more places like this in Chicago! The atmosphere and art on the walls is also gorgeous.

We recently hosted my daughter's 7th birthday party here and had a fantastic experience. There…read morewere a number of options (ceramic painting, canvas painting, slime, and more!) - we chose canvas painting. The owner, Robin, and one of the other employees were fantastic at leading a group of 21 first grade girls through painting a mermaid tail (there were so many choices for the canvas painting - my daughter happened to choose this one). They can do them more or less complex based on the age group of the party. Robin was truly fantastic to work with. She took care of everything, including ordering pizzas from elsewhere in the mall. I brought the paper goods and cupcakes and everything else was handled. We were in a party room in the back that is utilitarian but also decorated. I definitely appreciated that there were separate tables for the art and the eating! I was perfectly happy to not be out in the front of the store with the general public. And the price was totally reasonable given everything that they did for us. Would definitely host another party here! We've also come on a random day just to do a walk in ceramic painting, which was also great. Lots of selections at all sorts of different price points. You can also do walk in canvas painting.

Our 6 year old grand-darling had a birthday celebration here, and everything I saw told me this…read moreplace is really a great kids' event venue. I'm reviewing from the POV of an adult guest celebrant, as my daughter was the event organizer and coordinator, so she can probably separately provide another POV. I met Robin, the franchise's engaging and energetic founder and owner, who runs this store and 2 others in Chicagoland (Water Tower Place and Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills). Her friendly assistant Zach was also floating about helping out in various ways. The grand-darling and 13 of her closest relatives, classmates, and friends spent an action packed 90 minutes here on a Sunday. In that time, they did the following and Robin was hands-on actively leading each activity: - got dressed in a protective gown for painting - individually picked out a pre-shaped clay object to paint, and there were many to pick from - painted the object and subsequently blow-dried it and set aside - ran around the spacious project room for a bit, like 6-9 year olds like to do (Robin didn't really need to supervise this self taught activity duh) - had a delicious pizza and fruit lunch, with both kids and adults served - had birthday cake and song, with both kids and adults served - played a fun game of Simon Says Each child went home happy with their self-painted object and party souvenir. Robin opened her store at 10am, an hour earlier than the normal 11am to accommodate this party and another later one. She also coordinated with Northbrook Court's pizza vendor, Tony & Bruno's, to open early so that our pizza lunch could be delivered right on time. We had 5 thin pizzas, and they all were very good, hot, and delicious, so kudos here to Tony & Bruno's as well, a business that Robin apparently routinely coordinates with. The daughter brought in the birthday cake and Robin served it for the group. The adults were able to comfortably sit off to the side in the spacious project room and enjoy and photograph and video to our heart's content. Great outing, Robin and Zach, and our entire extended family thanks you for a very fun and enjoyable birthday party!

We are so fortunate to have found etc music school!! Mike O'Mara is a phenomenal teacher. My…read moredaughter takes private lessons and is also in the choir. The school community is wonderful. My daughter absolutely loves the other kids. In her words: "They are welcoming and open." I personally love the choir because they tackle incredible music. Mike does terrific arrangements of a variety of music from modern to classical. When I pick up my daughter after choir practice the room is alive...there's a buzz in the air. We are a family of musicians and we have nothing but the upmost respect for Mike and his establishment. Top notch.

From the owner: etc. Music School is a new kind of music and theatrical training experience dedicated to…read morecollaboration, team-learning, and confidence-building through affirming, creative training that respects and celebrates each student! In addition to offering theater classes for students of all ages, etc. also offers private lessons in Piano, Flute, Voice, Violin, Viola, Guitar, and Music Composition.