South Side Community Art Center

Official unveiling renovation & expansion designs, project updates, and how SSCAC will remain a beacon of Black art & culture
2025-02-22 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Apostolic Faith Church, 3823 S Indiana Ave, Chicago, 60653, United States
About this event
Be a part of history! The South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC), the country’s oldest continuously operating Black arts institution, is thrilled to announce its upcoming renovation and expansion project. Join us for a special Community Design Unveiling and explore the exciting future of SSCAC. This event will showcase the transformation of the Center with designs created by Future Firm and wrkSHäp | kiloWatt, highlighting the balance between preserving SSCAC’s rich history and introducing bold, accessible, and sustainable new spaces. Learn about the plans to expand visitor capacity by 398%, create museum-grade galleries, rooftop event spaces, and honor the building’s historic legacy. This is a unique opportunity to see how this iconic Bronzeville institution will evolve to better serve the community, support Black artists, and enrich future generations. Questions? Please contact us at capitalproject@sscartcenter.org

Between Sound & Sight Symposium: Mapping the Sonic Imprints of Charles White’s Vision explores sound, image, and history.
2025-02-15 11:00 - 15:45 | Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E 60th S, Chicago, IL, 60637, United States
The South Side Community Art Center, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Logan Center for the Arts, and University of Chicago Presents invite you to Save the Date for Between Sound and Sight: Mapping the Sonic Imprints of Charles White’s Vision, a FREE day-long symposium offered in conjunction with the February 14th performance by pianist/composer Gerald Clayton of his original suite, White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White at the Logan Center for the Arts. The symposium will explore sound, image, and history, offering a deeper engagement with Charles White’s multi-dimensional legacy. Discussions will consider White’s work with musicians and music media—such as illustrations for jazz album covers and film and television, as well as his paintings, etchings, and drawings of musicians—and ways in which his work and legacy continue to reverberate across the cultural landscape, particularly as an influence for contemporary artists. On February 14th, the evening before the symposium, Gerald Clayton will perform his piece White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White, honoring the connection between music and visual art that permeates Charles White’s artistic vision.
Free w/RSVP – Please note seating is limited – Reserve your space at the symposium here.

Reserve your space at the symposium here

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
Saturday, February 15, 2025 – Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts 11:00 AM Check-In, Welcome, and KeynoteKeynote: “Greetings from Altadena.” by Ian WhiteCharles White’s son and chief executive of The Charles White Archives 11:30 AM Panel One: Sounds of the Black Archive: Charles White’s Contributions to Film, Television, and Music MediaThroughout his career, Charles White contributed many illustrations for album jackets (mostly jazz recordings), books, television, and film. This panel will explore White’s work with/in music-related media. Examples include Vanguard Records album sleeve illustrations, an accompanying LP for the film Leadbelly directed by Gordon Parks, and illustrations for publications by Harry Belafonte and television collaborations. The discussion will include contemporary artists who also create and incorporate visual media into music contexts, or vice versa, for their projects or others. Moderator: John CorbettPanelists: Damon Locks, Cauleen Smith, and Ian White 12:30 PM Lunch Conversation 1:15 PM Panel Two: Visual & Musical Composition: Inspiration, Collaboration, & the Black AestheticAn element of inspiration for pianist/composer Gerald Clayton in creating his suite, White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White, was to explore White’s visual composition and narrative in the mural Five Great American Negroes and respond musically. This panel will explore how visual artists and musicians find inspiration in visual and sound/music practice and how these influences are rendered compositionally and as points of convergence and meaning-making. Moderator: Travis JacksonPanelists: Gerald Clayton, Angel Bat Dawid, Douglas R. Ewart 2:30 PM Panel Three: Figures in Music: Charles White’s PortraitsCharles White’s portraits of musicians such as Leadbelly, Harry Belafonte, Bessie Smith, and Mahalia Jackson are some of his best-known works. This panel will explore White’s extraordinary portraiture of music-makers and how his relationships with some of these musicians and their work influenced his compositions and activism. In particular, the panel will consider White’s portraits of Black women in music. Moderator: Melanie HerzogPanelists: Daniel Schulman, Benjamin Jones, Tammy Kernodle 3:30 PM Symposium Closing
This project is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Logan Center Jazz Forever Fund, a gift of the Revada Foundation, and the Robert S. Guttman Family Charitable Fund. The symposium is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities. The White Cities Performance is presented with Chicago Jazz Magazine, DownBeat, Jazz Institute of Chicago, and WDCB 90.9 FM.
Image credit: Photo of Charles White work, Just a Walk with Thee, from the South Side Community Art Center Collection.

Family Table: Hearth
2024-12-06 18:00 - 20:00 | SkyART South, 3026 E 91st St, Chicago, IL, 60617, United States
Join SkyART for Family Table: Hearth, an interactive dinner and performance featuring a collaborative shared soup created by two local chefs. Each chef will blend their unique traditions and cultures to create a community pot of soup for guests. Soup, made from simple, often leftover ingredients, signifies resourcefulness and sustainability, transforming what might otherwise be wasted into a nourishing meal. Central to the exhibition is SkyART’s newly imagined mobile food cart, showcased as a medium, an artist’s studio, and an artwork. This series seeks to highlight themes of social justice and community reclamation, through the experience of both service and consumption.

Harvest Festival
2024-10-26 11:00 - 16:00 | Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm, 4148 S Calumet Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Join us for a celebration of the end of the growing season, with food, entertainment, and presentations by our Youth Farmers. Kids and costumes are welcome!

Resilience & Renewal: Connecting with the Earth, the Ancestor and Your Hidden Gifts
2024-10-19 13:00 - 15:00 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Join Khadijah Kysia and Rhonda Wheatley for this hands-on workshop to explore and strengthen our resilience—our brilliance, our ability to make a way out of no way, and our capacity for self-renewal, body, mind, and spirit. Khadijah, a Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, will provide an interactive primer on herbs involving taste and touch. Rhonda, a multimedia artist and energy worker, will share tools and practices for connecting with ancestors, often a source of our resilience; for connecting with the earth; balancing our energies; and calling forth our hidden gifts. She’ll facilitate a guided meditation, discuss crystals, consult the tarot, and provide writing exercises. Bring a journal and an open mind. You are welcome to participate at your level of comfort.

All Things Wood: Ancestral Staff and Art Installation
2024-09-21 13:00 - 19:00 | Earl’s Garden Mae’s Kitchen, 6900 S Prairie Ave, Chicago, IL, 60637, United States
Join Earl’s Garden & Mae’s Kitchen for an evening of food, fun, and culture as we celebrate ten years of art and gardening. The Ancestral Staff and Art Installation is the culmination of our work with One Summer Chicago youth and young adult programs. We will unveil an installation of African staffs, made from reclaimed wood, along with portal doors and Ndebele-style mural panels. Come share in our success! Free and open to the public.

Opening Reception for ReSOURCE
2024-09-14 12:00 - 15:00 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Join us for the opening of ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago

ReSOURCE
2024-09-14 - 2024-12-21 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Join us for the opening of ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago

Visit the Virtual Experience

Garden Griots: Community Storytelling with Candace Hunter
2024-08-31 14:00 - 16:00 | Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm, 4148 S Calumet Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Join us on August 31st at Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm for a program as part of ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago.

Artist Candace Hunter will unveil a public art piece, commissioned as part of ReSOURCE, that captures the stories of Bronzeville residents, reflecting their lived experiences and voices.

This program honors the rich tradition of oral history and the griot’s role in preserving collective memory. It also celebrates our deep connection to the land at Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm, a vital source of community and cultural resilience. Come engage with the narratives that have shaped our neighborhood and contribute to the ongoing legacy of Black creativity in Chicago.

ReSOURCE is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.

Garden Griots: Community Storytelling with Candace Hunter
2024-08-31 02:00 - 16:00 | Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm, 4148 S Calumet Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Local Chicago artist Candace Hunter will unveil a decorative bench depicting stories she gathered from Bronzeville residents about their experiences living in Bronzeville.

Eselean Goree Henderson: A Practice in Clay
2024-08-05 13:00 - 15:00
Join SSCAC Archives and Collections Manager Lamar Gayles Jr. for a special program on Eselean Goree Henderson.

Join us for a conversation with SSCAC Archives and Collections Manager Lamar Gayles Jr. on Eselean Goree Henderson, a prolific Chicago-area ceramicist whose work has heavily impacted the Black artistic landscape of Chicago through her own practice and exposing many other Black artists to practices in clay.

This blended program combines a short lecture contextualizing Henderson’s life and impact with an expanded conversation with two of Henderson’s daughters who will discuss the impact their mom has made on them.

This program is a special opportunity to for the public to participate in knowledge building and critical research in documenting stories relevant to Black artists who are now ancestors.

The Power of Our Ancestors and Remembrance
2024-07-27 09:30 - 12:30 | South Chicago Farm, 9001 S Mackinaw Ave, Chicago, IL, 60617, United States
From Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, Ida B. Wells to Chairman Fred Hampton and Late Mayor Harold Washington and so many elders, we will share stories, rituals and co-create a series of individual ancestral and community vessels from found and living objects and materials and also weave a community Agon or Ancestral garment that we will co-create with organic materials, fabric, clothing and organic materials.

Please feel free to bring an item of clothing, cloth, or embellishments that evoke memory of your ancestors, relative or community loved one to contribute to this place-based installation that will be tended by our collective community members.

Erika R. Allen shares her diverse sources of inspiration, ranging from her parents’ influence on her appreciation for the arts and farming, to artists like Jonathan Green and Joseph Cornell, and writers like bell hooks and Toni Morrison. She also discusses her connection to her ancestral roots and learning from elders within different cultural traditions.

The Power of our Ancestors and Re(membrance)
2024-07-27 09:30 - 12:00 | South Chicago Farm, 9001 S Mackinaw Ave, Chicago, IL, 60617, United States
From Jean Baptiste Point duSable, Ida B. Wells to Chairman Fred Hampton and Late Mayor Harold Washington and so many elders, we will share story, ritual and co-create a series of individual ancestral and community vessels from found and living objects and materials and also weave a community Agon or Ancestral garment that we will co-create with organic materials, fabric, clothing and organic materials.

Not required: Please feel free to bring an item of clothing, cloth, embellishments that evoke memory of your ancestors, relative or community loved one to contribute to this place based installation that will be tended by our collective community members.

Erika R. Allen shares her diverse sources of inspiration, ranging from her parents’ influence on her appreciation for the arts and farming, to artists like Jonathan Green and Joseph Cornell, and writers like bell hooks and Toni Morrison. She also discusses her connection to her ancestral roots and learning from elders within different cultural traditions.

This workshop is hosted in partnership with South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC), the oldest African American art center in the United States and a Chicago Historic Landmark. SSCAC showcases established artists and nurtures emerging creators. Through educational and artistic programs, exhibitions, talks, tours, and more, the center strives to engage, educate and connect community members to African American art and artists.

Supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Adler and Adler
2024-06-08 - 2024-08-31 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Exhibiting Artist Eli Greene | Curated by Amber Nax
The South Side Community Art Center in partnership with ICI, presents “Adler & Adler”, a poignant artistic response by Chicago-based artist Eli Greene to a selection of archival images from the Adler & Adler Studio: a Black-owned photography studio in what was once the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit. Founded circa 1910 by Charles and Mamie L. Adler, the studio was one of the earliest Black photographic businesses in Detroit. Adler & Adler Studio was a place where people celebrated and immortalized the joys of everyday life: graduations, weddings, and the arrival of new family members. This site, and Black photography studios across the country just like it, were beacons of empowerment, offering Black communities new agency in self-representation. For the first time, it gave them power over how they were represented in the present, and how they would be remembered by future generations. When the Adlers passed away in 1973, they left no heirs, and the studio, along with its collection of photographs, was left behind. Some of these photographs were later discovered and sold to The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, where they now reside as a testament to the studio’s enduring impact.

Images Courtesy of The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History | Curated by Amber Nax
After being approached by ICI with the idea of responding to the Adler & Adler images, the artist, while visiting family in Detroit, photographed the old studio site, now a park, at 4215 Russell Street. Alongside the Adler & Adler images are (10) contemporary photographs of the site, a drawing inspired by the studio backdrops present in the original images, and a sound/video work. Invested in themes of memory, trace, and ghosts, Eli Greene’s response to these images explores what it means to find something that you did not realize was lost.
About the artist

Eli Greene holds a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from The University of Chicago. Through drawing, film, and performance, her practice traces the act of one thing becoming another. Greene’s recent work has been exhibited in Chicago at The Smart Museum of Art, Hyde Park Art Center, Gallery 400, Regards, Goldfinch and Produce Model. She lives and works in Chicago.
About the curator

Amber Nax (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator native to Detroit, MI. She graduated from Wayne State University, earning an Art History B.F.A with a personal concentration in Black American and African history, contemporary art, culture, and folklore. With a background in arts administration, programming, urban farming, and museum studies.
Amber deals in the archives of art. She is inspired by how an archive will reveal the past, validate the present, and inform the future.
About the partnerships
Dr. Burroughs/Gayden Curatorial Fellowship for African American Curators:
The Dr. Burroughs/Gayden Curatorial Fellowship for African American Curators, a unique initiative between the South Side Community Art Center and Independent Curators International, is a beacon of opportunity for emerging curators. This fellowship, honoring the late Dr. Margaret T. Burroughs, provides a valuable career development opportunity and reflects SSCAC’s commitment to nurturing emerging Black talent through artistic initiatives. It supports curators’ research, the actualization of an exhibition, and the development of their professional networks, offering a curatorial stipend of $1,000 and an exhibition budget of $5,000.
SSCAC:
Founded in 1940, the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) stands as a testament to the resilience and creativity of the Black American art community. As the oldest Black American art center in the United States and a Chicago Historic Landmark, SSCAC is a beacon of cultural heritage and innovation. We take pride in our rich past and continue to build on our legacy, serving as an artist- and community-centered resource with diverse programs and exhibitions. The mission of the South Side Community Art Center is to conserve, preserve, and promote the legacy and future of Black American art and artists while educating the community on the value of art and culture.
About ICI:
Independent Curators International (ICI) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit arts organization that focuses on the role of the curator in contemporary art. We support curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement.
Curators are arts community leaders and organizers who champion artistic practice; build essential infrastructures and institutions; and generate public engagement with art. We work with art spaces in the US and around the world to present exhibitions and public programs for broad audiences; and professional development initiatives for curators.
Our collaborative programs connect curators, artists, and audiences from across social, political, and cultural borders. They form an international framework for sharing knowledge and resources — promoting cultural exchange, access to art, and public awareness for the curator’s role.
The Wright:
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History opens minds and changes lives through the exploration and celebration of African American history and culture. Our vision is of a world in which the adversity and achievement of African American history inspire everyone toward greater understanding, acceptance, and unity.

3831 CINEMA: FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK ARTISTS
2024-04-12 17:00 - 20:00
Join us for Art After Hours powered by Gertie, with screenings from filmmakers Rachel Gadson and Briana Clearly!

We’re thrilled to host filmmakers Rachel Gadson and Briana Clearly for rotational film screenings as part of Art After Hours Powered by Gertie, for EXPO art week!

Sponsored by Arete Wealth & Masterworks, AAH takes place from 5-8 pm on Friday, April 12 during EXPO ART WEEK and offers extended hours at over 45 galleries and creative spaces throughout the city of Chicago. With a myriad of exciting events unfolding throughout the evening!

Rachel Gadson will screen her feature-length documentary project Dear Black Artist featuring The Seventy-Sevens. Between 2019 and the close of 2020, Gadson interviewed 77 Black artists from the Chicagoland area (an ode to the 77 neighborhoods existent here in Chicago).

Dear Black Artist integrates the findings from this interview series with a love letter to her participants. A wonderful short film has emerged from this insightful and stimulating work, and we’re excited to have our first screening of this project.

Briana Clearly will screen several of her short-form film works, which will include: The Sum of Her Parts and Bloed Susters.

EXPO ART WEEK partners annually with the city’s most prestigious institutions to feature select programming, including museum exhibitions, gallery openings, and more. EXPO CHICAGO showcases leading contemporary and modern art galleries each April at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, alongside a diverse and inventive program of talks, on-site installations, and public art initiatives.

Inaugurated in 2012, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region’s contemporary arts community. In 2023, EXPO CHICAGO was acquired by Frieze, the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art.

BENDING LIGHT ARTIST TALK: SOUTH SIDE NIGHT x EXPO CHICAGO
2024-04-09 17:00 - 19:00
Join us for an artist talk moderated by Paul Branton!

Paul Branton, artist and curator of SSCAC’s current exhibition BendingLight, will facilitate an artist talk with the exhibiting artists of SSCAC’s current exhibition Bending Light, detailing the exhibition’s themes and subject matter as it relates to explorations of color and identity.

The artists explore the impact of color on Black identity, potential, and the intricate interplay between societal perceptions and individual existence. Artists will include Eddie “Edo” Santana, Pearlie Taylor, Courtney Collins, Robert Lewis Clark, and Bryant Lamont.

As the official start of EXPO ART WEEK, South Side Night features exhibitions, tours, talks, and performances. Visitors are encouraged to explore the many galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces in this dynamic community for arts and culture. Inaugurated in 2012, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region’s contemporary arts community. In 2023, EXPO CHICAGO was acquired by Frieze, the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art.

BLACK WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS AS WORLDBUILDERS
2024-03-30 13:00 - 15:00
Join us for a conversation with several Black women creative entrepreneurs traversing fashion, vintage, and design here in Chicago.

SSCAC is proud to host a panel of Black women entrepreneurs whose business models have been crafted to be intentionally centered on fashion, style, vintage, design and jewelry – creating worlds and community within their respective businesses and practices! Featured panelists will include stylist and fashion archivist Mallory Talty, Jeneba Koroma of Limba Gal, Shari Currie of Recycled Modern, and Gilda Norris of Gilda’s Designer Boutique!

Bridging vintage and contemporary focused projects, businesses, and ventures, the panel will focus on their collective and individual experiences as entrepreneurs, the uniqueness of their practices in Chicago, their creative influences, and the ambitious decisions they’ve made along the way.

Flash, Focus: A Camera Demo Workshop with Latitude Chicago.
2024-03-10 12:00 - 13:00
Join us for a camera demo workshop to learn the basics of photography!

Latitude’s Executive Director Colleen Keihm and current Artist in Resident Anwulika Angibo will host a Camera Demo workshop here at the Southside Community Art Center in a special continuing partnership with Latitude Chicago.

Guests are invited to bring an analog or digital camera to the workshop to learn more about manual settings, lighting, and digital output methods like how to upload and change image size.

Anwulika Anigbo (b. Nigeria 1987) is a Chicago-based artist tracing the historical and somatic roots of everyday life as it is practiced within blackness through imagery and processes. Anwulika’s work chronicles and investigates self-determination, presence, knowledge production, and memory. Her work has been exhibited at The Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (South Korea), Chicago Artist Coalition (Chicago), EXPO Chicago with FOR FREEDOMS (Chicago) and the NXTHVN (New Haven). She was recently a 22-23 Fellow with the Economic Security Project, the 22-23 Artist in Residence at Chicago Athletic Association, a 21-22 Artist in Residence at the Chicago Artist Coalition, and a 2022 3Arts Ignite Fund Awardee.

Her work is included in the collection at 21c Museum, Ryan Lee Gallery, and various private collections.

Colleen Keihm is the Executive Director at Latitude, a Chicago digital lab with high-end printing and scanning equipment that operates an artist in residence program and organizes arts programming. She received her MFA at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BS in Photography at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Her work has been exhibited in Chicago at Flatland, Roman Susan, Filter Photo, and Tiger Strikes Asteroid. She has been an artist in residence at Hatch Projects at the Chicago Artist Coalition, Institut fur alles Mogliche in Berlin, Germany, and currently at Writing Space.

In addition to her role at Latitude, she is an educator in the Photography Department at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Honoring Hunt: Legacies in Chicago Black Metalworkers
2024-02-24 13:00 - 15:00
Learn about the artistic histories of Black metalworker artists in Chicago!

SSCAC’s Archives and Collections Manager LaMar R. Gayles Jr. will introduce visitors to different metalworkers who have worked throughout Chicago’s artistic landscape. Amongst these makers there will be special attention given to the work of famed, now ancestral artist Richard Howard Hunt (1935-2023) who made major contributions to the field of Black metalwork.

Presented as a lecture, this program will expose viewers to these histories and makers, while the second portion will invite viewers to touch and interact with a selection of metal objects from the Center’s collection. Some of the artists discussed in addition to Hunt will include Elizabeth Catlett, Ausbra Ford, Geraldine McCullough, and Ramon Price to name a few. This program will work to illustrate how Black artists in Chicago have contributed to the realm of metalworking. As time goes on we continually are losing the elders who have contributed to fields like metalworking and this program intends to create a space to honor these contributions and legacies!

Bronzeville in Reel Time with South Side Home Movie Project
2024-02-03 13:00 - 15:00
Join us for an afternoon of South Side home movies, featuring newly preserved films of Bronzeville from filmmaker Ramon Williams!

In partnership with South Side Home Movie Project, with support from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, SSCAC is thrilled to host a special screening showcasing select cinema reels of Ramon Williams. Ramon Williams, Black IBEW electrician and film hobbyist, was an early adopter of amateur filmmaking and invested in documenting the Bronzeville community in which he lived — filming major Bronzeville social and civic events between the 1940s and 1960s.

We’re honored to show a selection of these films during Black History Month, to highlight Ramon Williams’s commitment to documenting Black life on the South Side, and the lasting legacy of Black cinema’s power to visualize Black life in real time.

We’ll be joined by SSHMP Assistant Director, Saroop Singh (fka Justin Williams), Bronzeville Historical Society President Sherry Williams, and PhD student in Cinema and Media Studies at U Chicago, Avery LaFlamme for a live dialogue about Ramon’s cinema work and legacy in the Bronzeville community.

Donated to South Side Home Movie Project in 2020, the Ramon Williams Collection encompasses 302 film reels, their largest donation yet, representing never-before-seen visual records of Bronzeville authored by one of its few citizens with a movie camera! What was Black social life like during that time? How did Black folks present and fashion themselves? What were significant events that took place in the Bronzeville community? We hope you’ll join us to find out!

*Complimentary refreshments will be provided for attendees.

3831 HOLIDAY POP-UP!
2023-12-16 12:00 - 16:00
Join us for our 2nd annual 3831 Holiday Pop-Up, with some of the city’s most talented Black creatives!

Come through to support some of Chicago’s most gifted and talented Black creatives as we move into the Holiday season.

3831 Holiday Pop-Up is a mini pop-up market hosted in our historic Burroughs gallery, that features vendors working across a variety of businesses from jewelry to candles, books, and more!

*This event is free and for all-ages, so we encourage you to bring your family!

Image courtesy of Reformed School.

Check out our incredible list of vendors this year:

-Reformed School
-Red Elephant Candle Co.
-Lingua Nigra
-Da Book Joint
-Keith Connor

A BLACK ARTIST RECEPTION AT 3831
2023-12-09 12:00 - 16:00
A day celebrating Black artists and your hard work throughout the year! We’ll also be joined by artist Cory Perry for a special performance.

The South Side Community Art Center has hosted innovative, ground-breaking, and forward exhibitions and programs throughout 2023, which would not have been possible without the array of Black ingenuity and talent from the artists we’ve been incredibly grateful to work with!

Join us for our first annual Black Artist Reception, celebrating the amazing artists we’ve supported and collaborated with over the year! We’re thrilled to kick off this program with a performance by current exhibiting artist Cory Perry, an Artist Talk moderated by current exhibitions curators Gervais Marsh and Rikki Byrd, with artists Cory Perry and Nnaemeka Ekwelum, followed by a reception with light bites and bubbly! 🥂

Current exhibiting artist Cory Perry will perform: how my Mother cried when her flowers bloomed.

This performance is an ode to resilience, an embrace of memories, and a testament to the enduring spirit that emerges from the confluence of grief and celebration. Black Artist Reception attendees are invited to watch the performance, which will be screened from our Burroughs Gallery, SSCAC’s Instagram Live.

One meaning of a procession is “continuous forward movement.” Another definition is “a ceremonial or funeral procession.”
I’m captivated by how these two, forward movement and death, are intertwined and what can be gleaned. “how my Mother cried when her flowers bloomed” is a participatory art performance/procession that symbolizes living with grief and celebrating life while in the mundane world. I don’t believe that grief is ‘baggage’ we carry along, rather, it looks like an intangible companion that moves with us through life. Grief, as a queer physician, prompts introspection by asking “how can we navigate these physical and mental spaces without the people closest to us?”

The performance will begin at the artist’s dwelling place in Chicago, serving as a symbolic starting point. From there, it unfolds as a procession to The Southside Community Art Center gallery space, inviting the audience to journey alongside the artist through the intricacies of sorrow and celebration. This performance piece delves into the intricate layers of queer grief, highlighting the mundane spaces it appears, inviting the audience to explore the diverse facets of grief within the LGBTQ+ community and the methods of transcending its barriers.
Grief is not something to overcome but a companion to embrace throughout our life. It helps us navigate the delicate balance between mourning the loss and cherishing the legacy of departed loved ones as motivation to keep moving forward.

Following the performance, curators Rikki Byrd and Gervais Marsh will moderate an artist talk with current exhibiting artists Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum and Cory Perry regarding their exhibitions Through A Lens of Beauty and Wonderment: Notes on Collaborative Friendship & All of Living is Risk.

Iteration(s), with Jared Brown and Briana Lynn
2023-12-02 13:00 - 15:00
Briana Lynn & Jared Brown will intuitively combine sound, improvisation, and omni-directional text to create a composition unique to SSCAC.

Meditating on this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial’s theme : “This is a Rehearsal,” Briana Lynn and Jared Brown will re-iterate their experimental collaborative composition to the South Side Community Art Center (originally performed last year). They will collaboratively write, perform, and produce poetic sound-based activations utilizing individual and collective narratives, altered voice, color, and speculative explorations that blur the lines between realism and fact, as a means to alter physical space and the viewer’s consciousness.

Collaboratively they are asking questions such as: How do built environments and architectures influence our attunement to sound and perception of time? How might the state of our bodies shift or feel in altered environments? What does it mean to engage with Black poetics as a multi-dimensional object, taking up space?

The composition intuitively combines samples, improvisation, omni-directional text written by Briana Lynn and an electronic produced score by Jared Brown.

Photo credit: Daniel Delgado

Haus: An Introspective of House Music, Architecture + Queer Culture at 3831
2023-11-18 13:00 - 15:00
Join us for a special roundtable talk on the iconographic and cultural reference to House as a ‘revolutionary Black Space’!

South Side Community Art Center is thrilled to host an informative and reflective roundtable panel, discussing both the iconographic and cultural reference to House as a ‘revolutionary Black Space’.

This dynamic panel will be moderated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara, featuring Boogie McClarin, Antonio Robles Levine (BLESSTONIO), Duane Powell, Frederick Dunson, Meida Teresa McNeal, and Skyla S. Hearn.

The panel will explore central themes such as “The House” as a revolutionary Black space; Architecture (Bauhaus), House Music, Queer Culture, and South Side Community Art Center’s history in relation to such themes.
Expanding upon Floating Museum’s Chicago Architectural Biennial’s theme for this year “This is a Rehearsal” framework, this program intends to highlight how SSCAC, or any other home/house or space in Chicago’s South Side, has served as a place of rehearsal or refinement of craft during the height of house music.

Trail-blazing performer, educator, philosopher, builder and guide, Boogie McClarin explores movement and music for liberation, transformation and celebration. Prolific, award-winning, and ubiquitous, Boogie McClarin has been an integral force in Chicago’s arts and culture for two decades, performing for a broad array of artists including: Chicago Dance Crash, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chip E, Darryl Pandy, Hieroglyphic Being, Ni’ja Whitson, Orisha Dance Chicago, Kirby Reed, Ron Trent, Lisa Johnson Willingham, Trio Mokili (featuring Makaya McCraven and Junious Paul) and Oveous. She has appearances in videos by Kafele Bandele, Mr Greenweedz, and most notably in the Terry Hunter remix of the House music anthem, “In The Beginning There Was Jack” by Chuck Roberts ft Monique Bingham. A pioneer in dance education, Boogie McClarin began to cultivate her unique curricula and pedagogy while teaching “Hip-Hop/Funk/House” in 1999 at The Old Town School of Folk Music (eventually becoming “Chicago House” and “Urban Social Dance” in 2007).

Boogie McClarin continues to lovingly share her approach to dance in Chicago, nationally and internationally. She has produced shows, workshops, lectures and writing for classrooms, universities, theaters and public spaces.
Recent projects include work with Free Street Theater (“50 in 50” and “Still/Here”), Forward Momentum, and the Chicago House Music Festival.

Antonio Robles Levine (@Blesstonio) is a Chicago-based DJ, classically trained musician, event/music producer, and dancer. Antonio is fascinated with club culture and has spent years studying and curating events in Chicago and Santa Barbara. His multicultural background lends him an attuned, eclectic ear ready to sonically compel audiences and create electric and magnetic dance floor experiences. As a club dancer committed to fostering an inclusive, dance-focused environment, Antonio believes in the legacies of clubs and dance floors as brave spaces for “queerness, blackness, transgression, community, inclusivity, freedom, liberation, inspiration, and radical joy” (Honey Dijon), where dancers and DJs are equal, active participants in protecting these sacred spaces of movement. Antonio was the co-founder and resident DJ of Fortune, a party series that centered dance as liberation and holds a safe space for the TQLGB+, Femme, Non Binary, BIPOC, and disabled communities.

BLESSTONIO was nominated in the Chicago Reader’s 2022 “Best of List” for Best House Music DJ. Fortune won 2nd place in The Chicago Reader’s Best Dance Party category.

BLESSTONIO currently holds DJ residencies at Blind Barber, The Charleston, and AAJA Radio in London. He was an honorary guest DJ at the Frankie Knuckles Tribute two years in a row (Sept 2022 & Sept 2023) in partnership with The Chicago House Music Festival, DCASE, Rebuild Foundation, and The Frankie Knuckles Foundation. He recently sat on The Museum of Contemporary Art panel in discussion with house music pioneer and The Warehouse founder, Robert Williams. He has opened up for The Blessed Madonna, Ron Trent, and Ron Carrol.

Duane Powell‘s love for music started an early age growing up in the 1970’s being exposed to Chicago’s rich soul music scene.

As a historian, Powell created the interactive lecture series Rear View Mirror Sessions sharing his vast knowledge about the history of music legends at UChicago Arts, Stanford University, Detroit Institute Of Arts and Chicago Public Library. With his knowledge of the music industry, Powell became a fixture on the global music scene and began speaking about his knowledge of the business on panels and workshops including The International Soul Summit (ATL), Urban Organic (Detroit), I Got Soul Conference (Dallas), Chicago Artist Resource and the Chicago Cultural Center.

As a DJ, Duane has spun at and held residencies at many of the most popular venues and galleries around the city including the House Of Blues, Virgin Hotel, Museum Of Contemporary Art and Navy Pier. In addition, he has opened for many heavyweights in music including opening for Frankie Beverly & Maze at The Taste Of Chicago and has shared the bill with many legendary DJ’s and Grammy-winning producers in the dance music world including Joe Claussell, DJ Spinna, Steve “Silk” Hurley, Maurice Joshua, Josh Milan, Timmy Regisford, Ron Trent and more. In 2019, he was named Chicago’s best House Music DJ by the Chicago. In 2022, he was chosen to represent Chicago as a featured DJ for the hugely global Boiler Room TV.

In 2022, with his Sunday Service he opened the stage at The Chicago Gospel Fest and in 2023, he was invited to bring Sunday Service to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in D.C.

Frederick Dunson is the Executive Director of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation.
Serving others and giving back to his community has always been important to Frederick Dunson. Born on Chicago’s West Side, he attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help Grammar School, St. Ignatius College Prep and Columbia College where he majored in Arts & Entertainment Management & Public Relations. He was employed at the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County for nearly 34 years. He received numerous commendations and acknowledgements for his public service and retired in December of 2014.

Since then he has continued his service work as Founder, President & Executive Director of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation – NFP, formed to honor famed Grammy Award winner Frankie Knuckles, Frederick’s best friend and business partner to continue Frankie’s legacy through charitable endeavors. Dunson and Knuckles who were partners of their production company D/E Entertainment held some of the most highly anticipated and attended events for 13 years at some of the most renown and venerable venues here in the city of Chicago.
Founded in December 2014, the Frankie Knuckles Foundation – NFP is a not for profit educational, and cultural organization dedicated to the advancement of Frankie Knuckles’ mission as the global ambassador of house music through media, conservation and public events continuing and supporting the causes he advocated. The FKF is a recognized 501c3 and focused on these initiatives: music in schools, LGBTQ youth homelessness, AIDS research / prevention & diabetes research / education.

Frederick currently serves on the Board of the Empowerment Center for Better Living where he attends and is a member as well.

Skyla S. Hearn, a proud Chicagoan by way of the Great Migration (Mississippi), is an information professional who is most concerned with supporting community efforts to further substantiate first-person-centered perspectives to strengthen their own documentation and to contribute to incomplete overarching records.
Addressing efforts to establish personal, community and cultural heritage archives, Skyla founded ActivelyArchiving and works closely with creators on local, national, and international projects; and is a co-founder of The Blackivists.

Institutional work includes inaugural Manager of Archives for Cook County Government under the Board President and Commissioners; Director of Archives and Special Collections for DuSable Museum of African American History; Adjunct Assistant Professor for the Museum and Exhibition Studies (MUSE) Graduate Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Skyla is currently the Lead Processing Archivist for the Johnson Publishing Company Archive at the Getty Research Institute.

Towards legacy building, she proudly co-edited the zine publication Our Girl Tuesday: An Unfurling for Dr. Margaret T.G.Burroughs alongside Tempestt Hazel and Sarah Ross with an introduction by Mariame Kaba, published by Sojourners for Justice Press.

Meida Teresa McNeal is Artistic and Managing Director of Honey Pot Performance. She received her PhD in Performance Studies (Northwestern) and her MFA in Choreography & Dance History (Ohio State). Awards include an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in New Performance Forms, Field Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago, 3Arts Award in Dance, Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist, and the Links’ Hall Co-Missions Fellowship.

An Independent Artist and Scholar at the intersection of performance studies, dance, and critical ethnography, Meida teaches at University of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Meida also works with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events’ Executive Administration team as the Senior Manager of Arts & Community Impact Investments building and implementing artist recovery programs and creative placemaking grantmaking initiatives. Prior to this role, Meida worked with the Chicago Park District as Arts & Culture Manager supporting community arts partnerships, youth arts, cultural stewardship, and civic engagement initiatives.

Dr. Burroughs Legacy Day
2023-11-04 13:00 - 15:00
Join us for a family friendly afternoon of celebrating and learning more about the legacy and art practice of Dr. Burroughs!

We’re excited to share this day viewing specially selected works by Dr. Burroughs from the SSCAC Archives and Collections Department, as well as rotational screenings of interviews and talks featuring Dr. Burroughs, and locally published print works and projects exploring her practice and legacy. Dr. Burroughs artwork coloring sheets will be available for a fun family activity!

Margaret Taylor-Burroughs (November 1, 1915 – November 21, 2010), also known as Margaret Taylor Goss, Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs or Margaret T G Burroughs; was an African-American artist and writer and a co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History. She also helped to establish the South Side Community Art Center, where at the age of 23 Burroughs served as the youngest member of its board of directors. Dr. Burroughs was also prolific in her dedication to teaching creative writing and art at Stateville Prison for over 25 years paving the way and creating an inspirational example for what is now the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project.

She was a prolific writer, with her efforts directed toward the exploration of the Black experience and to children, especially to their appreciation of their cultural identity and to their introduction and growing awareness of art. As an artist, Burroughs worked in many mediums, including sculpture and painting, but she is most renowned as a printmaker.

Working primarily with linoleum block prints, Burroughs crafted a lasting body of art that includes striking images of African American leaders, history, and ordinary life.

Through a Lens of Beauty & Wonderment: Notes on Collaborative Friendship | Opening Reception
2023-10-07 12:00 - 15:30
Join us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our fall/winter exhibition with curator and artist Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum!

…Notes on Collaborative Friendship (First floor Burroughs Gallery) is the culmination of Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum’s doctoral research on friendship, artistic collaboration, and decolonial Black political thought. Through a series of intentional and creative partnerships between him and eight other US-based artists/scholars, this project experiments with the rigor of collaborative friendship as a creative methodology in contemporary art making and knowledge production. It also affectively explores alternative ways to represent Black Studies scholarship within and beyond academic spaces of learning.

Collaborative artist interventions in the exhibition include: Lishan AZ, Shenequa “SHENEQUA” Brooks, Stephen Hamilton, Noor Jones-Bey, Mercy Emelike, Carmen Neely, and Cordelia Rizzo.

*Co-sponsored by Northwestern University’s Department of Black Studies.

Nnaemeka (Emeka) C. Ekwelum is a transnational and multidisciplinary researcher, educator, and artist/curator from Boston, MA. He currently lives in Chicago, IL, where he is a Ph.D. candidate in Black Studies (African American Studies) at Northwestern University. Emeka’s scholarly and creative interests converge at the intersection of history, critical theory, creative expression, curatorial practice, and political education. His dissertation project–“On Artistic Collaboration & Decolonial Black Political Thought”–examines the critical role(s) of beauty, wonderment, and friendship in contemporary and craft art collaborations between and amongst Black creatives. Prior to returning to graduate school, Emeka held a professional career as an educator in his home state of Massachusetts, formally and informally working with youth and adult learners across a range of cultural contexts in the Boston/Greater Boston Area. His teaching philosophy, interpersonal values, and political commitments are a reflection of his academic training in Comparative Ethnic Studies (Columbia University, B.A.) and Arts in Education (Harvard University, Ed.M.), drawing on theories of Black feminist and political thought to interrogate ideas of power, privilege, and personhood through art and artmaking.

3831 Activation | Friendship Meditation: A Rehearsal
2023-09-29 18:00 - 19:30
Join us for an evening of “rehearsal” with Anna Martine Whitehead and Damon Locks !

Presented with Chicago Architecture Biennale, during Chicago Exhibition Weekend.

Locks and Whitehead will activate the basis of their friendship — rehearsal. They think there is something to learn about relationships, energy, and faith from dreaming new worlds together.

They’ll share with you what they think, and they’ll invite Nnaemeka Ekwelum into the conversation, and then they’ll see what you make of all that.

Image courtesy of DJ Schaller.

Anna Martine Whitehead is an artist, performer, educator, and freedom dreamer from Virginia. She teaches with Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and she makes work about black queer portals.

Image courtesy of Ricardo Adame

Damon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist/musician. Since 2014 he has been working with the Prisons and Neighborhood Arts Project at Stateville Correctional Center teaching art. He is a recipient of the Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Achievement Award in the Arts and the 2016 MAKER Grant. In 2019, he became a 3Arts Awardee. He teaches in the Sound Department on improvisation at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Damon leads the Black Monument Ensemble and is a founding member of the band The Eternals.

Featured Image (Above), courtesy of William Frederking.

Telling Your Story: Grant Writing Workshop for Artists Part ll
2023-09-09 12:00 - 14:00
Join our second workshop with Lauren Woods for a partnership with ILA’s flagship program, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals) Coaching Series!

After the wealth of information exchanged in our first session of “Telling Your Story” workshop, we invite you to join ILA, SSCAC, and Lauren Woods for an afternoon writing session, specially catered to Black artists, and creative entrepreneurs. Set time aside with us to work on your next grant application, artist statement, or mission/vision statement. We’re excited that Lauren shared an abundance of knowledge that can now be applied tactically in real-time. Join us for an afternoon of building and growing together.

ILA’s flagship program, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals), is an ongoing effort to advance our mission of educating, celebrating, and elevating Black artists across Chicago. These monthly activations serve as an opportunity for working creatives to connect with subject matter experts in their area of interest. G-to-G coaching sessions are presented in a lecture/interactive format, with ample opportunity for group discussions among teaching artists and attendees.

ILA, founded by Rachel Gadson, believes in the power of Black artists and exists to inspire and promote their creative works. Through educational experiences, empowering events, and intentional programming, we are creating a generational web of growth and expansion within the arts.

Lauren M. Woods is a program manager for the Building Collective Power strategy at The Chicago Community Trust. In this role, she is responsible for leading grant making initiatives that support local journalism, media, and civic storytelling in the Chicago region. Prior to joining the Trust, Lauren managed the district-wide Service-Learning Initiative at Chicago Public Schools and directed the Midwest educational partnership strategy for an international nonprofit, WE.

As an artist and fourth generation Chicagoan, Lauren believes in the transformational power of narrative and storytelling to activate community and spark systems change.

As a young Black girl from the south side of Chicago, my city and environment have always been cultural influences on my creative spirit. I thrive off of creative expression and connection, and as an artist, one of my biggest challenges in advancement became access and resources.
As I’ve learned to progress, I now seek to be the connection with ILA as a trusted resource. Creating community through connection to help Black artists get the opportunities they deserve is the backbone of our impact.

-Rachel Gadson, ILA Creative Studio Founder

Telling Your Story: Grant Writing Workshop for Artists
2023-08-26 12:00 - 14:00
Join us in a workshop with Lauren Woods for a partnership with ILA’s flagship program, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals) Coaching Series.

ILA’s flagship program, G-to-G (Getting to Our Goals), is an ongoing effort to advance our mission of educating, celebrating, and elevating Black artists across Chicago. These monthly activations serve as an opportunity for working creatives to connect with subject matter experts in their area of interest. G-to-G coaching sessions are presented in a lecture/interactive format, with ample opportunity for group discussions among teaching artists and attendees.

Telling Your Story: Grant Writing for Artists will be led by Lauren Woods of Chicago Community Trust. This workshop, specially catered for Black artists, and creative entrepreneurs will focus on effective strategies for grant writing methods. Participants will learn how to meaningfully communicate their arts practices, missions, values and artist statement as it relates to securing funding, and additional purposes relevant to artists and creative entrepreneurs.

ILA, founded by Rachel Gadson, believes in the power of Black artists and exists to inspire and promote their creative works. Through educational experiences, empowering events, and intentional programming, we are creating a generational web of growth and expansion within the arts.

Lauren M. Woods is a program manager for the Building Collective Power strategy at The Chicago Community Trust. In this role, she is responsible for leading grant making initiatives that support local journalism, media, and civic storytelling in the Chicago region. Prior to joining the Trust, Lauren managed the district-wide Service-Learning Initiative at Chicago Public Schools and directed the Midwest educational partnership strategy for an international nonprofit, WE.

As an artist and fourth generation Chicagoan, Lauren believes in the transformational power of narrative and storytelling to activate community and spark systems change.

Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour with DJ Finding Ijeoma
2023-08-18 18:00 - 21:00
Join us for a night of dancing this Friday for our 3rd Bronzeville Art District (BAD) Trolley Tour of the summer, with guest DJ Finding Ijeoma! She’ll be dj’ing alongside our current video works on view in the Burroughs gallery, as part of ‘Black Light Cinema Project’!

Alexandria Eregbu is a creative anthropologist. Her practice spans across art, music, and poetry in order to consider objects, stories, and experiences that address justice and the humanities. As the founder of FINDING IJEOMA, Alexandria uses her lifestyle and storytelling platform to realize meaningful forums that celebrate African-American experiences, including— DJ sets, exhibitions, product design, programs, and intimate gatherings. Alexandria’s work has appeared on screen in Candyman (2021, directed by Nia DaCosta), performing for musicians and festivals such as Sudan Archives and Englewood Music Fest, on radio and television. Alexandria’s writing has been published by the University of Chicago Press, Sixty Inches from Center, Terremoto Magazine, Candor Arts, and Green Lantern Press. Alexandria is a 3Arts Teaching Artist recipient and current faculty at the School of the Arts Institute of Chicago.

Every 3rd Friday until September you can take a ride on the Double-Decker Bus for art and entertainment in the Bronzeville neighborhood! 2023 Summer Tour Schedule and participating Bronzeville locations include:
Blanc Gallery, Bronzeville Artist Lofts, Gallery Guichard, Faie Afrikan Art and South Side Community Art Center
