The Hyde Park Art Center is a gathering and production venue for artists and the larger community to explore ideas, effect social change, and build new networks. The Art Center is a platform for today's and tomorrow's creative voices, fostering new work and connections. Since its foundation in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has evolved from a small group of eccentric artists to a distinctive Chicago arts organization with societal influence. "Art should be found where people work and live," proclaimed the Art Center's first executive director, acclaimed painter Harold Hayden. Artists created the Fifth Ward Art Guild as Hyde Park Art Center in 1939. The Guild renamed itself Hyde Park Art Center in 1940. To know the Art Center was part of the scene added to Bruce Thorn's idea that the arts were a regular and vital aspect of life.
Some opened in 1968, bringing a new generation of Chicago Imagists and paving the way for future Imagist works. 30 by 30 by 30 was the Art Center's 30th anniversary show. 1970-1973: Monday through Friday classes for youth and adults. An outreach program to parks, community centers, retirement homes and schools was launched shortly after. The Art Center turned 55 in 1994. It's not just another pretty face, it's a communal art project that pairs artists with patrons. In 1998 it was named one of 16 nonprofit groups by the Clinton Administration as a model for working with disadvantaged youth. 2006 through 2014 The Art Center moved into 5020 S Cornell Ave, its first free-standing home and the Art Center turned 75. The Guida Family Creative Wing opened in 2015. Over the next 4 years the center accepted MacArthur's Creative and Effective Institutions Award and it became 8 decades old. The Art Center now hosts 20 exhibitions, 200 studio sessions, 45,000 visitors, and 200 free activities and can't wait to see you there!