South Side Community Art Center
Tucked inside a stately 1893 mansion on South Michigan Avenue, the South Side Community Art Center is the only WPA-era community art center in the country still operating in its original building — and it has been shaping African American artistic life since 1940. Walking through its gallery rooms feels less like visiting a museum and more like stepping into a living conversation between past and
A WPA Treasure That Refused to Close
Opened with support from the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, the SSCAC quickly became the first Black art museum in the United States not affiliated with a historically Black college. Of more than 100 community art centers the WPA launched nationwide, this is the sole survivor still open in its original building.
The center earned Chicago Landmark status in 1994, and its permanent collection sits alongside rotating exhibitions by emerging artists, creating a dialogue across generations of Black creativity. Sculptors, painters, printmakers and photographers all find a home here.
Come for the Art, Stay for the Community
The SSCAC is free to enter and runs educational workshops, artist talks, and community events throughout the year. On the third Friday of each month from June through September, the free Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour stops here, rolling visitors between the neighborhood's top galleries on a double-decker bus — no parking headaches required.
The center sits near the Indiana Green Line stop, making it an easy anchor for a full Bronzeville art crawl that continues to Gallery Guichard, Faie Afrikan Art, and Blanc Gallery just blocks away.
South Side Community Art Center on video
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