The Prairie Arts Council  (PAC) was formed in 1992 when the newly named Carnegie Center became available as a home location. PAC would have space for an office, an art gallery and storage. The building was opened in 1905 as the Rensselaer Public library funded with $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie. The library, then the Jasper County Library, moved to a new building in 1992 and deeded the structure to the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (now Indiana Landmarks) to be managed by the Jasper Foundation, a community foundation, and occupied by the Foundation, the Rensselaer/Remington Chamber of Commerce and the Prairie Arts Council. The building was later deeded to the Jasper Foundation that continues to own and operate it; the Chamber of Commerce moved to other quarters and PAC occupied the main floor where it established the Lilian Fendig Gallery and office space.
In 1998, a grant from the Lilly Endowment enabled the Jasper Foundation and the Prairie Arts Council to completely renovate and restore the building, establishing needed accessibility, replacing worn out infrastructure systems and creating comfortable and efficient quarters as well as a large, well-lighted gallery space designed for effective display of artworks.