Community Art Center, Inc. Archives

Unknown artist

Community Art Center is a neighborhood institution founded in 1937 in the Port-neighborhood of Cambridge. It was founded by a group of parents who sought to improve access to education and arts-rich experiences for children and youth. As a nearly 100-year-old institution, Community Art Center continues to advance its mission -- to cultivate an engaged community of youth whose powerful artistic voices transform their lives, their neighborhoods, and their worlds. The Art Center believes in the power of young people. The Art Center believes in the power of artistic expression. The Art Center believes in taking care of oneself and one another. The Art Center believes in creating positive change in its neighborhood and beyond.<br><br>Community Art Center's extensive photographic archive provides a unique visual history of the organization that began during the Great Depression, as well as the Port community served by this unique arts organization. This rare, multi-generational photographic collection produced by Cambridge youth documents the everyday lives of Black and Brown children and families. Many of the images were developed by youth in the darkrooms of the organization's early photography programs. Represented here is a small sample of the collection.