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In the spring of 1930, Alice Chase Sullivan, daughter of renowned artist William Merritt Chase and a talented painter herself, had a fortuitous conversation with her hairdresser about art. The enthusiastic hairdresser offered his shop's back room as a meeting place and studio for local artists. Soon, about fifteen artists – both fine art painters and commercial artists – met weekly in "the studio" to paint and critique each other's work, the beginning of the Douglaston Art League.

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The League's first president was sculptor Trygve Hammer. Over time, the Douglaston Art League evolved into the Art League of Long Island, and eventually the National Art League. Initially, members gathered in private homes for art discussions, poetry readings, fashion shows, and demonstrations. As membership grew, the group needed larger exhibition spaces. In 1935, they held a memorial show for William Merritt Chase at the Douglaston Zion Church Parish Hall, featuring nearly 50 of his paintings. By the mid-1940s, membership had exceeded 100, and annual exhibitions were held in Flushing.

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The League's dream of a permanent home emerged in the early 1930s. A building fund was established in 1934, but it wasn't until 1955 that the League, under the leadership of President Louise Gibala, acquired its current building for $15,000.

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With a building, the League could expand its instructional programs and exhibitions. As its reputation grew, it attracted artists from across the country. In 1968, recognizing its national reach, the Art League of Long Island was renamed the National Art League.

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The 13 Original Founders:
• Alice Chase: Daughter of William Merritt Chase
• Helen Chase: Daughter of William Merritt Chase
• Charlotte Blass
• Alma Ward Bristol
• Lafayette Bersonnet: Architect
• James Boudreau: Head of Pratt Institute
• Lucille Boudreau
• Aubrey G. Grantham: Architect who designed the Zion Episcopal Church behind the League, after a 1925 fire burned it down.
• Trygve Hammer: International Sculptor
• Earl Oliver Hurst: Illustrator, Cartoonist
• Ralph McLemore
• Robert Robinson: Saturday Evening Post Illustrator
• Dean Wolcott

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About the First President of the National Art League
Trygve Hammer was a Norwegian-born sculptor. One of his notable works Is located in a Tenafly, NJ town park, a climbable bear sculpture dedicated to President Theodore Roosevelt's memory and love of the outdoors.