“For many, Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) warrants no introduction. The country’s oldest, independently run, and continuously operating Black arts institution has helped boost the careers of many, many African American artists.

“The $15 million addition and refurbishment project entails attaching a new, 10,000-square-foot building to SSCAC’s existing location, a stately 19th-century brick abode with bay windows.

“Since 1940, SSCAC has operated out of an old, multistory brick house in Bronzeville, located at 3831 South Michigan Avenue. The institution was founded as a WPA project, when the federal government poured copious resources into organizations around the U.S. to help put artists back to work after the Great Depression. SSCAC, having survived the Red Scare, eventually morphed into the established South Side presence it is today. In 1994, it was listed as a Chicago Historic Landmark and, in 2017, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.” (Roche, The Architecture Paper, 1/29/25)

“Dedicated by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1941, the South Side Community Art Center was one of nearly 100 art centers established by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. Since that time, it has served as a cultural and artistic hub in Chicago, fostering emerging African American artists and showcasing established talent while connecting South Side residents to art through exhibits, classes, lectures, and other educational programming. The center is the only Works Progress Administration art center still operating as established in its original building.

“The center has been instrumental in showcasing works by prominent African American artists of the 20th century, including poet Gwendolyn Brooks—the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize—and Life magazine photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks. Other noted artists whose works were featured at the center include William Carter, Charles White, Archibald Motley, Jr., Dr. Margaret Taylor Burroughs, and Eldzier Cortor.

“President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted several federal programs through his famous New Deal, but the Works Progress Administration (WPA), created in 1935, was the largest. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt focused on the Federal Art Project, a WPA program, as the center of her advocacy efforts in the New Deal. She encouraged the president to sign the executive order that created the Federal Art Project and other arts projects under Federal Project Number One, praised the projects in her “My Day” columns and speeches, and defended them against Congressional critics.

“The creation of the Federal Art Project inspired activists and artists like Dr. Margaret Taylor Burroughs, Peter Pollack, and Pauline Kigh Reed to create an art center in the South Side community. Although the Federal Art Project would pay staff salaries at the center, local leaders were responsible for raising funds to acquire and maintain a building.

“Fundraising plans began in 1938 with pledges from founding members, a ‘Mile of Dimes’ campaign, art exhibitions, and other activities. Social and civic organizations and local businesses stepped forward to support the center by sponsoring exhibitions, providing meeting spaces, and donating funds. Women’s organizations, including the Illinois Housewives Association, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, and the Federated Women’s Clubs, actively supported the effort, too.

“By the time a house was purchased for the center in 1940, the South Side—despite its somewhat fluid boundaries—was well-known for its distinct cultural identity. The chosen structure, a 3½-story Classical Revival home constructed in 1892, was built in the then-wealthy neighborhood and was well-suited to the lavish lifestyle of George A. Seaverns, Jr., his wife Clara Seaverns, and their two sons.

“Credited with transforming the home’s interior into a modern art gallery as part of the Works Progress Administration were Hin Bredendieck and Nathan Lerner, two prominent figures in the New Bauhaus school. The Bauhaus school was founded in Weimar, Germany in 1919, and its principles brought art and architecture together through modern designs that radically departed from traditional styles. While the original Bauhaus school closed due to the rise of Nazism in Germany, the New Bauhaus school opened in Chicago in 1937 under the leadership of Laszlo Maholy-Nagy.

“The building’s entry foyer and first-floor gallery were transformed using Bauhaus design principles of simplicity and functionality. The rooms included wide, vertical wood planks that ran continuously around the walls, even covering doors and some window openings with hinged panels that could be opened or closed. When closed, each room reflected an uninterrupted visual appearance.

“Once the center was officially dedicated on May 7, 1941, leaders began a full schedule of activities to accomplish its goals, including employment for African Americans, engaging young people, cultivating new talent, and raising the Bronzeville community’s cultural and artistic awareness. The center’s programming focused on activities for children and adults, including music education classes, musical performances, creative writing and poetry classes, children’s theater, and art classes.

“The center employed black and white faculty, and welcomed black and white patrons and students. However, the center primarily focused on supporting and encouraging the careers of African American artists who were routinely denied the opportunity to exhibit their work in white-owned galleries. Additionally, children’s art classes were targeted toward African-American children in support of their cultural education.

“Dr. Margaret Taylor Burroughs, a visual artist, writer, poet, educator, and arts organizer, was the youngest founding member to sign her name to the center’s original charter. Involved at the center as a docent in the art gallery as well as a teacher and exhibitor, she was a beneficiary of exposure to other African American artists. Upon her death in 2010, President Barack Obama praised her as an ‘esteemed artist, historian, educator and mentor’ who was also ‘admired for her generosity and commitment to underserved communities through her children’s books, art workshops, and community centers that both inspired and educated young people about African American culture.'” (National Trust for Historic Preservation Website )

Read the full story at The Architecture Paper and National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Future Firm helps expand Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center, the country’s oldest, independently run Black arts institution; Daniel Jonas Roche, The Architecture Paper, 1/29/25
• South Side Community Art Center: National Treasures, National Trust for Historic Preservation Website
• Chicago Center Gets Share of $1M Grant to Preserve National African-American Sites, CBS 2 News Chicago, July 18, 2018