Watercolor of PAL by Steve Curl

The Pacific Art League of Palo Alto was founded in 1921 as the Palo Alto Art Club by a widely talented group of people who recognized a need to meet other artists, to work together, and to discuss and critique each other's works. The Art League is a non-profit Public Benefit Organization, classified as a 501(c)(3) organization.

Founding members included: Alexander Phimister Proctor, nationally famed sculptor whose works appear throughout the United States; Elizabeth Norton, sculptor, painter, and woodcut maker, whose sculptures are found in libraries and parks of Palo Alto; Professor A. B. Clark, head of the Stanford Art Department and an accomplished architect; Mrs. A. B. Clark (Grace Birge); Birge Clark, architect, designer of many Palo Alto schools, homes, and other buildings, and son of Professor and Mrs. A. B. Clark; Mr. Frank Duveneck Jr. (the son of internationally known artist, Frank Duveneck); Mrs. Josephine Duveneck (Josephine Whitney-her uncle is the Whitney of the Whitney Museum); Mrs. W. H. Shockley (May Bradford); Mrs. Theodore Hoover (Mildred Crew Brooke), wife of the engineer brother of Herbert Hoover; Mrs. O.L. Elliott, painter, poet, and wife of the then Stanford Registrar.

Other notable members included: Mr. Pedro de Lemos, curator of the Stanford Museum; Mrs. Pedro de Lemos; Mrs. C. B. Wing, (Marian Colt) still life painter; Professor Bailey Willis, head of the Stanford Geology Department;  Mrs. Bailey Willis  (Margaret Delight Baker); Mrs. J. W. Martinie, devotee of arts and crafts; Mrs. Jerome Thomas (Mary Denison Wilt), whose interests were designing and printmaking; Mr. Charles K. Sumner, architect; Mrs. Charles K. Sumner (Alice M. Holly) watercolorist; Ms. Stella McKee, art teacher at Palo Alto High School; Ms. Kate Matheson, art teacher at Castilleja School; Mrs. W. D. Briggs; Mrs. Frances Browne (later Mrs. Wenzel); Mrs. O. B. Foster; Mr. James Swinerton, famous cartoonist and painter; Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Lyon.

The Club first met in members' homes and then moved into a new wing of the Palo Alto Library. It was there that classes were first held, meeting weekly for sketching portraits from live models. Early in the Club's history, members gave exhibitions of their works. A side door affording access from Bryant Street was cut into the Library wing to permit friends of the arts to see the works of the membership.

More studio space was eventually needed, and the Club moved to 340 Melville Avenue, initiating classes in woodcutting and bookbinding and monthly programs with speakers and art demonstrations. In 1939 the Club became a nonprofit membership corporation and bought the Melville building. Instructors for the growing Club included members of the art departments of Stanford and nearby high schools as well as free-lance artists.

By 1952, overcrowding in classes and monthly program meetings necessitated another move. The former Unitarian Church at 855 Cowper Street was purchased by the Club with a loan from the Lucie Stern Trust Fund and fund raising efforts of the Club's membership. The older wing of the church, designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1906, was restored while structural changes were made in other parts of the building. This additional space housed an exhibit gallery and studios where children's art classes were given on Saturday mornings. Again seeking space to accommodate its membership of over 800, the Palo Alto Art Club in 1965 purchased the building at 668 Ramona Street, the present home of the Art League. A Palo Alto landmark built in 1926, this building was originally Winsor's Cabinet Shop. The exterior design combines the visually interesting stylistic elements of Spanish Colonial Revival, Mission Revival and Craftsman.

In December 1984, the increase in classes and membership participation, along with the expanded regional exposure created by Pacific Prints, provided the impetus for the Club to change its name to The Pacific Art League of Palo Alto.

The Pacific Art League celebrated its 80th Anniversary in 2001.