Sam Guard on the Park Ridge Artist's Colony
Speaker Sam Guard spent his early childhood at 720 Garden (at Fairview), where his father made early live broadcasts for WLS Radio. His mother helped to plan the addition to Park Ridge Community Church.
Their house, later the Pantry Restaurant and most recently an insurance agency office, had also been the home of artists Walter Marshall Clute and his wife Buelah Mitchell Clute. A family friend during Guard’s childhood was the noted artist and designer Alfonso Ianelli, whose works ranged from the Art Deco Pickwick Theatre to “the Rock” at Chicago’s Prudential Building. Guard would return as an adult for many visits to the Ianelli studios at Northwest Highway and Elm in Park Ridge,
The colony hosted painters, sculptors, architects and the silversmiths of the Kalo Shop, many of whom attained national or international recognition. Both men and women made their marks in the art world. Their work spanned a number of art movements, from the American Arts & Crafts Movement to Modernism. One of these artists, Albert Krehbiel, was named Illinois State Historical Artist in 2008.
Many thanks to Mr. Sam Guard for his presentation.
