The professional painting, “East on Main,” by local artist Sherri Burritt was among the works displayed in June at the Illinois Arts League’s June membership show at Peoria Heights Village Hall. Photo by Elijah Sansom

It started with a simple mission: give artists of all backgrounds and skill levels a platform to showcase their talents and learn the beauty of self-expression.

Fifty-five years later, the intent behind the Illinois Art League has remained much the same, though membership numbers and the organization’s presence across central Illinois has grown exponentially in the ensuing decades.

The currently 105-member strong art league showcases members’ works at a variety of venues throughout the greater Peoria area each year. The next stop: the Peoria Public Library’s gallery, where dozens of members’ works in a variety of mediums will be displayed for the greater community.

Leslie Walsh, co-president of the league, attributed several reasons behind the league’s venerability, including the all-inclusive approach that gives newcomers and experts a platform to share their creative visions with the greater community.

“I do think we are a little different from some of the other arts organizations that are out there,” Walsh said. “Everyone has the opportunity to grow.”

While most of the league’s artists hail from the Peoria area, Walsh said there are a few who participate periodically from the southern portion of the state as well.

The requirements, Walsh said, are minimal. Individual memberships are $30 annually, while family rates run at $50 each year.

While members frequently gather together to create artistic works in their medium of choice — including painting, photography, pottery and anything else in between — the league also hosts a range of other opportunities for members.

Monthly board meetings are held to discuss and plan upcoming events, and workshops conducted by guest professional artists across the country are held periodically as well. Case in point: Salt Lake City-based artist Elizabeth Robbins most recently held a fine arts workshop.

Walsh, who joined the league a few years back, said she feels she has grown tremendously as an artist.

“I’ve really come to enjoy the experience,” she said. “I was one of those frustrated artists out there, and this has been a way for me to grow. The art league has been a good way for some of us to get ourselves out there and finish up some of the pieces that we might have been working on for quite some time.”

Trisha Noack, manager of public relations for the Peoria Public Library, said the art league’s member exhibit has been a perfect compliment to the organization’s community-centered programming efforts by way of its gallery.

“Peoria Public Library offers a space where local artists can show their work to the community,” Noack said. “It offers an opportunity for the community to view works of art in a beautiful gallery that is open to the public six days a week and is free.”

Not all public libraries have made such concerted overtures toward the arts — a reality that is not lost on Noack.

“This is a somewhat unique circumstance,” she added. “(It) fulfills the library’s mission of being a community center.”

The Peoria Public Library is one of two venues this year showcasing members’ works. The other site, Peoria Heights Village Hall, hosted a separate membership show throughout June.

AT A GLANCE

WHO: Illinois Arts League members

WHAT: annual member exhibit show

WHEN: during regular library hours throughout July; gallery walk at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 23; closing reception at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 26

WHERE: Peoria Public Library main facility’s gallery, 107 NE Monroe St.