Our Mission

The mission of the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) is to continue to establish the organization as a resource for the art’s community locally and abroad.

As the oldest African American Art Center in existence SSCAC takes pride in its past and present contributions to the development and showcasing of emerging and established artists.

Since the inception in 1940, the SSCAC has also been committed to educating youth in the fundamentals and advanced techniques of various mediums. Serving the Bronzeville Community and the metropolitan Chicago area the center has offered a variety of classes in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, photography, crafts and graphic design.

As the sole survivor of 110 community art centers created by the Works Progress Administration, the SSCAC has a well-documented record of relationships with various prominent American artist and arts movements with in American history. These include the Arts Craft Guild, Works Projects Administration, Harlem Renaissance, Muralist Movements, Afri-Cobra and OBAC. Artist include: Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wright, Nat “King Cole”, Margret Burroughs, Gordon Parks, Samella Lewis, Archibald Motley, Charles White, Bernard Goss, George Neal, Eldzier Cortor, Elizabeth Catlett, William Walker, Richard Hunt, and David Driskell.

The South Side Community Art Center is a not-for-profit organization that exhibits and showcases a variety artists and offers educational opportunities to our surrounding community