When Chicago architect David Adler died in 1949, he left a physical legacy, his 23-room farmhouse and 240-acre estate, to the Village of Libertyville. Visual artists began to use the house for exhibits, classes and meetings, founding the Libertyville Arts Center in 1957. In 1975, the Libertyville School of Folk and Old Time Music began sharing the house, and instituted a regular weekly open stage/jam session and a series of folk music classes.

Under the guidance of William McCormick Blair, President Emeritus of the Art Institute of Chicago and long-time neighbor and friend of Adler, The David Adler Music and Arts Center was founded in 1980. In 1983, The David Adler Music and Arts Center officially merged with the two organizations that regularly used its facilities.

From small beginnings, the Center grew at an ever-accelerating pace, its activities gradually embracing a broad range of cultural programs for children and adults including art and music classes and workshops, art exhibitions, concerts and participatory dances primarily focused on ethnic and folk music, outreach activity, folk life documentation, historic preservation, lectures, recitals, tours and arts advocacy. While most programs took place in and around The David Adler Music and Arts Center, many larger concert events began to be presented at the Libertyville High School studio theater, the Libertyville American Legion Hall, and eventually the College of Lake County. Further, the community has embraced the Center as an extraordinary resource, appreciated and commended for bringing prestige to Libertyville, and enhancing the lives of children and adults alike across Lake County and beyond.