Amy Williams knows what she’s wearing to the third annual fundraiser and silent art auction at the David Adler Music and Arts Center in Libertyville — a drop-waist flapper dress with a pleated skirt.
If she’s got time, Williams, the center’s executive director, also will get her photo taken in front of a shiny, white 1920s-era automobile outside the center’s doors.
Admission to the silent auction, set for Saturday, includes food created by local chef Briana Cardone from Mambo Italiano in Mundelein, craft beer from Tighthead Brewing Company in Mundelein and wines selected by Cafe Pyrenees in Libertyville, plus music, dancing and an art exhibition in which patrons can bid to take a prized piece home to hang on their walls. Signature cocktails created by North Shore Distillery in Lake Bluff also can be bought. The center board chose the speakeasy theme to reflect the era of David Adler, who, in 1918, bought an old farmhouse and then redesigned it during his years working as an architect in the Chicago and north suburban area.
“The farmhouse was built in 1864 and Adler redid every inch of it,” Williams said. “We thought, that was the time of ‘The Great Gatsby,’ so why not have a speakeasy theme? Anybody who walks into the Adler Center, it takes them back to that era. It really has not changed much since David Adler lived here. It’s so fitting to have this type of party here,” said Williams, a Libertyville resident.
The staff will wear 1920s-era attire and attendees also are invited to dress similarly. The event, which begins at 6 p.m., will feature staff and students from the center performing music on violin and piano, and at 8 p.m., the Highland Park Pops Big Band, a 17-piece jazz group will play. “People like to dance. It’s really fun,” Williams said. “It’s a great venue. The acoustics are wonderful.”
Thirty artists, mostly local, have donated works that will be exhibited that evening and be available to buy via the silent auction. Prices typically range from $40 to $800, and the art work includes paintings, pastels, sculpture, fiber art and photographs, Williams said. She’s won silent auction bids at past events. One of them is an oil pastel drawing of downtown Libertyville.
The Adler Center offers private music instruction on voice, guitar, piano, violin and other string instruments, as well as art classes for youngsters and adults and a summer camp for youths. The center also features a concert series in fall and winter and monthly artist exhibitions. In the early 1900s, Adler worked for the famous Chicago architect Howard van Doren Shaw, who built many private residences in Lake Forest.
Adler also designed an estate in Lake Forest, as well as a home on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in Glencoe and a country club in Lake Bluff. Adler lived in his Libertyville home, now the Adler Center, until his death in 1949. Adler remodeled the home in colonial revival style. It was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Adler donated his 23-room farmhouse and 240-acre estate to the Village of Libertyville and artists began using it for exhibits, classes and meetings in 1957.
In 1975, the Libertyville School of Folk and Old Time Music began sharing the house, and featured open stage/jam sessions and folk music classes and concerts. The David Adler Music and Arts Center was founded in 1980, and in 1983, it merged with the two organizations that regularly used its facilities. “This is a wonderful treasure for Libertyville and the people of Lake County,” Williams said.
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer.
Speakeasy Benefit Art Auction
When: 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: David Adler Music and Arts Center, 1700 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville
Tickets: $75
Information: 847-367-0707; adlercenter.org/index.php/attend/gala/
