The Chicago Commission for the Encouragement of Local Art was created by the Chicago City Council in 1914 at Harrison's behest. Its purpose was to support local artists by purchasing some of their paintings and sculptures, and then displaying these works in the public schools, city hall, and other municipal buildings of Chicago. The Commission had seven members, three of whom were selected by the Art Institute of Chicago, one by the Mayor of Chicago, and one each by the Municipal Art League, the Friends of American Art, and the Palette and Chisel Club. Harrison was appointed to the Commission in 1924 by Mayor William Dever, and served through the end of 1944. This series contains items relating to the Commission, including yearbooks from 1915 and 1925, a list of the works purchased by the Commission from 1914 through 1943, and a letter to the Committee on Finance of the Chicago City Council dated January 2, 1945, in which Harrison recounts some of the history of the Commission in connection with his resignation over the fact that many of the paintings purchased by the Commission were being hung in the offices of the Board of Education rather than the public schools as Harrison had intended.