South Side Community Art Center

Category: Arts and Culture

Originally built in 1893, black artists convinced local administrators of the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Arts Project to convert this building into a studio space and gallery in 1940. At its dedication the following year, Eleanor Roosevelt attended as the guest of honor. This space became a cultural home for black artists such as Margaret Goss Burroughs, Hughie Lee-Smith, Archibald Motley, Jr., Elizabeth Catlett, and Charles White and remains an important venue for up-and-coming artists today.