The Artists Association of Nantucket is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to fostering the growth of the visual arts on Nantucket. The island's transformation from a fishing community to a summer retreat began after World War II. It had attracted artists for many years - John Steinbeck finished East of Eden here, Eastman Johnson, Tony Sarg, Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin, and Charles Green Shaw worked here. In 1945, local artists and craftspeople formed an association "to develop Nantucket as a recognized art center, and to promote the education and interest of Nantucket artists." They established the only gallery on the island, and set high standards, with loaned exhibitions from the Whitney and the Metropolitan museums in New York, and guest speakers such as Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder.