The organization also promoted the preservation of the architectural heritage of the city at a time when many of the historically significant buildings of the French Quarter were being demolished.

Having once been the center of an important port city, the district was turning into a slum, with historically significant buildings being subdivided into tenements.

[3] Around the same time, business interests were clearing neglected buildings of historic significant in favor of more modern structures.

New Orleans writer and journalist Lyle Saxon publicized what he believed was an undesirable trend in the French Quarter and advocated for historic preservation.

The organization initially was located at the Jackson House and subsequently relocated to the Old Mortgage Building, both in the New Orleans French Quarter.

[1] In 1921 the Artists Guild reorganized as the Arts & Crafts Club of New Orleans, with Martha Gasquet Westfeldt as a charter member, officer and patron.

The club moved to the Green Shutter Tearoom located at 631–633 Royal Street in the New Orleans French Quarter.

"[2] Early in its history, the New Orleans Arts & Crafts Club moved to the Brulatour Mansion at 520 Royal Street where it remained for the majority of its existence.

[1] By 1926, the club was receiving the majority of its financial support from New Orleans arts patron Sarah Henderson, a sugar refining heiress.

[1] The New Orleans Arts & Crafts Club hosted an annual social event called the "Bal des Artistes", fashioned after the Beaux-Arts Ball in Paris, France.

[1] Instructors at the school included various notable artists such as Paul Ninas, Caroline Durieux, Knute Heldner and Enrique Alférez, among others.

Such support diminished significantly after the death in 1950 of arts patron Sarah Henderson,[a] ultimately resulting in the club's final closure on March 24, 1951.