Hyde Park Art Center
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| Established | 1939 current location since 2006 |
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| Location | 5020 S. Cornell Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60615 United States |
| Director | Kate Lorenz |
| Curator | Allison Peters |
| Public transit access |
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| Website | www |
The Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) is a visual arts organization and the oldest alternative exhibition space in the city of Chicago. Since 2006, HPAC has been located just north of Hyde Park Boulevard, at 5020 S.Cornell Avenue, in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.
The Hyde Park Art Center, established in June, 1939, was originally called the Fifth Ward Art Center of Chicago, Illinois. In 1940, the name was changed to the Hyde Park Art Center. Its founders, who included future Senator Paul Douglas, consisted primarily of artists and volunteers committed to creating a neighborhood space for the visual arts. The Art Center's first home was a defunct saloon next door to then-alderman Douglas’ constituent office at 1466 E. 57th Street.
During and after World War II, HPAC was housed in a variety of locations, including a dance studio and an apartment building. It was forced to move often because of rent increases and gentrification, but continued to remain in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
In the early 1950s, Don Baum took charge of the Art Center's curatorial and educational departments. Famously, Baum cultivated the Art Center as an incubator and primary exhibition space for the Chicago Imagists, curating three of their seminal exhibitions, all entitled Hairy Who?, in 1966, 1967, and 1968.
In 1962, Ruth Horwich, an avid supporter of Chicago artists, joins the Art Center Board.
The Hyde Park Art Center moved into its brand new facility on April 22, 2006. A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new space took place that day, attended by Mayor Richard Daley, and several local aldermen, followed by the grand opening gala that evening. The next weekend, the Art Center hosted an official public opening in the form of a 36-hour celebration called "Creative Move."
Located just a few blocks away from its former space in the Del Prado Apartments, the new building at 5020 S. Cornell Avenue is a 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m2) space that more than tripled the Art Center's capacities, with more exhibition galleries and classroom spaces. The new building includes a 10-foot (3.0 m) by 80-foot (24 m) projection facade on the front of the building, a digital classroom, an Istria cafe, and 4833 rph, a resource space and gathering place for community members and creative individuals.
The Hyde Park Art Center celebrated its one-year anniversary in its new space with Creative Move Too, a 24-hour event in the space which once again brought in performers and organizations from around the city of Chicago, including the Jesse White Tumblers, Chicago Djembe Drumming Group, Blue Lotus Tribe Belly Dancers, and the McCormick Storybus. It also featured performances inside the Speaker Project, a performative sound installation by Juan Angel Chavez.
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