Restored South Side Community Art Center Set To Open Next Year: ‘A Miracle Of A Place’

SOUTH SHORE — The nation s longest-running center for Black arts will unveil its restored and expanded facility next year, supporters said Friday as the project hit a construction milestone. The South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan Ave. in Bronzeville, is undergoing a makeover that will restore the center s existing building and add an expansion to more than double its square footage. The project will expand the center s galleries, restore its third-floor ballroom and create classrooms for community arts education, public archives and an accessible entrance. A small section of the wood paneling inside the South Side Community Art Center, seen here in August 2020, features dozens of holes where artworks have hung over the years. Credit: Maxwell Evans/Block Club Chicago One of the hallmarks of the center is its wood-paneled interior, which bears thousands of holes marking the placements of artworks over 85 years. The art wall will be recreated in the new space.