South Side Community Art Center’s

South Side Community Art Center has been instrumental in launching the careers of many nationally and internationally established artists, starting from the era of the Works Program Administration to the present. Poet Gwendolyn Brooks wrote and taught at the Center, photographer Gordon Parks had his first darkroom in the Center’s basement, and Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett shared what they learned from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with other artists who could not afford the tuition. These names are just a few of the many artists who have contributed to the Center’s rich legacy. These artists over the years have also been instrumental in keeping the doors of the Center open when the WPA (Work Progress Administration) funding was discontinued.