Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge, IL

The Kalo Foundation extends their thanks to Northern Trust Bank of Park Ridge for hosting this event. This program was partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Park Ridge Cultural Arts Council (website: www.ParkRidgeArt.org), City of Park Ridge, and the following major contributors to Park Ridge Arts Council - Northern Trust Bank, Miller's Pub, and Red Top Parking. Without their gracious assistance this event would not have been possible. We'd also like to extend our appreciation to the Krehbiel family and to Jane Meyer of Jane Meyer Fine Art for the loan of Albert & Dulah Krehbiel's painting and artifacts and for Jane Meyer's artistic display talents. Our gratitude also goes out to Burt Olsson and Steve and Holly Randahl for the loan of their silver items for display. We'd also like to thank the Park Ridge library for the use of their display cases for the month of May. And last, but not least, we'd like to thank the fine people that helped staff the exhibit. (click here or on the picture for photos of the event.)

News & Events

Upcoming Kalo Event:

Arts & Carafes

Wine Tasting Fund Raiser on Sept. 19th at the Park Ridge Country Club

(more info coming soon.)

Interactive Park Ridge historical map. (Please note that this map is still a work-in-progress.)

The Kalo Foundation is dedicated to preserving the rich artistic legacy of Park Ridge artisans and crafts workers whose work spanned the American Arts & Crafts Movement to Modernism. The city was home to many famous artists who helped define innovation and entrepreneurship in the arts, including Clara Barck Welles of the Kalo Shop, Albert and Dulah Evans Krehbiel of the Ridge Crafts, Alfonso Iannelli of Iannelli Studios, and many others.

The Kalo Arts Crafts Community was an industrial artist colony located at 322 Grant Place. As a “school within a workshop,” the facility trained men and women artisans while producing hand wrought sterling silver, metalware, jewelry and craft items that were sold in the Kalo Shop. Grant Wood, best known for his painting "American Gothic," lived in Park Ridge and was employed by The Kalo Shop. Albert Krehbiel and his wife his wife Dulah Evans Krehbiel operated the Ridge Crafts, where Dulah was known for her hand crafted greeting cards and decorative objects, while Albert focused on painting. In February 2008, Albert Krehbiel will be named the Illinois State Historical Artist for the murals that he painted on the walls of the Illinois Supreme Court Building. He produced the prototype for these in his studio on Center Street in Park Ridge. Alfonso Iannelli, best known for his sculptural sprites in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Midway Gardens project, was an instrumental force in bringing about the modernist design movement in Chicago.

Towards appreciation and education of the arts history of Park Ridge, The Kalo Foundation has put on two silver exhibitions, the latest being early November 2007, as well as hosting an exhibit of works of Alfonso Ianelli and both Albert and Dulah Krehbiel (April, 2007 exhibit.) For pictures from these exhibitions see Past Events.

We're also in the process of updating the historical portion of this website in order to give you greater knowledge and appreciation of the history of the arts in Park Ridge. This is a time consuming task, so we ask your patience in this. Do check back from time to time to see our progress.