Chicago Art Museum Officially a National Treasure

In 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt dedicated Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center, one of about 100 centers to be established by the Depression-era Works Progress Administration’s Federal Arts Project.

Later, the center would become the first black art museum in the United States.

Just this week, the Chicago museum was recognized as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

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It’s been a long and distinguished history for the museum, which is the only one of the original 100 centers dedicated by Roosevelt that’s still standing.

Yet, this new honor has also served to highlight the fact that the South Side Community Art Center has seen better days.

According to the Associated Press, the building that the museum is housed in, a Georgian Revival-style former residence and boarding house that was made into galleries and classrooms, is in need of renovation. Its ceilings are water damaged, it’s outdated heating and cooling system prevents some artists from exhibiting in the facility, and more.

The museum’s executive director, Masequa Myers, told the news organization that the facility cannot last another 76 years, “without the support of our surrounding community and the city of Chicago at large.”

While the new national recognition will likely help the center, it will unfortunately not solve its problems as the designation does not bring with it any funding, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The new status, however, will result in tremendous assistance with future development strategy, national programming, and attracting tourists.

For those not familiar with the Chicago museum, its mission is to showcase the black experience as told through African Diasporan art.

To that end, the center has helped nurture the careers of numerous notable alumni including that of Dr. Margaret Burroughs, founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History; as well as noted artists Wiliam Carter, Charles White and Archibald Motley Jr., according to the Chicago Sun Times.

Other respected names associated with the center include Life magazine photographer Gordon Parks and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

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“For 75 years, people who walk through our doors have been able to experience something they can’t find anywhere else,” Myers told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Not only do people who come here see fantastic art from brilliant artists, they also get a chance to step back in time and experience the history of this building that has inspired generations of artists over the years.”

Beyond the art and the artists themselves, the building itself is also important. It is a rare surviving example of the architecture of Hin Bredendieck and Nathan Lerner, of the famed New Bauhaus school of design.

The Chicago building is now the 21st African-American landmark among the Trust’s 93 National Treasures.

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