John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art 2019, Artists and American Communities: Part 10

Maséqua Myers, executive director, South Side Community Art Center. The South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) is the last of 110 community art centers started by the Works Progress Administration. Founded in 1940 by a team of artists that included Margaret Burroughs and Eldzier Cortor, SSCAC offered early support and instruction to writers and artists, such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Gordon Parks, in fulfillment of its mission to support the work of African American artists and to educate South Side residents on the significance of arts and culture for life. In recognition of the center’s decades of relevance to its Bronzeville neighborhood, in 2017 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named it a National Treasure, ensuring SSCAC’s survival for the next generation of Chicago residents. At the John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art, “American Communities, Then and Now,” held on February 8, 2019, SSCAC director Maséqua Myers discusses the center’s legacy and its continued relevance for 21st-century artists and residents in Chicago.