The Chaffey Community Museum of Art was founded in the spring of 1941 by Francis and Helen Line of Ontario, California in memory of their daughter Barbara who died of leukemia at the age of eight. The Permanent Collection began with nine paintings now designated as the Barbara Line Memorial Collection. The Lines wanted to stimulate interest in and enjoyment of art in the Chaffey Community, which at the time was roughly defined as the eastern part of Los Angeles County and the western part of San Bernardino County. Much of the geographic area had been influenced by founder and early pioneer George W. Chaffey.