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PDF of our Spring 2008 brochure listing all classes offered through South End Center, the Children's Art Centre, Senior Services, and Technology Education. The Children’s Art Centre (CAC) was built in 1918 at 36 Rutland Street through the efforts of settlement-house administrator, Albert Kennedy and FitzRoy Carrington, curator of prints at the MFA. The building was designed by Alexander Emerson, and the first president of the CAC was the renowned architect, Ralph Adams Cram. In the early years, young people of the South End enjoyed exhibits of art prints organized by Mr. Carrington. As time went by, children started to express interest in copying what they saw on the walls. Art classes for boys and girls were started as a result.
In the 1960s, the Children’s Art Centre joined four other settlement houses in becoming what is now known as United South End Settlements (USES). Since then, the Children’s Art Centre has been open and used during certain periods and, due to funding problems, has occasionally been shuttered for several years at a time. A capital campaign in 2000 provided funding for needed renovations, making the CAC a more modern and accessible space. Today, the CAC is re-energized with a growing calendar of programming. All children participating in the USES preschool and after-school programs attend visual arts classes in the CAC on a weekly basis, with additional instruction in dance and music offered through partnerships with the New England Conservatory of Music and a dynamic volunteer teaching staff. During the school year, the Teen Portfolio Class provides Boston-area middle and high school students with focused visual arts instruction and assistance in portfolio preparation. These days, the art on exhibit is by CAC participants. The Children’s Art Centre has resumed its role as a special neighborhood gathering place where residents of all ages explore their creativity under the guidance of experienced practicing artists. Last Update: 03/21/2008
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United South End Settlements, All Rights Reserved |
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In the 1930s, the director of the CAC
realized that South End children might grow to adulthood without ever
seeing original art – the exhibits at the CAC featured only prints - and
she began soliciting local artists and galleries for loans to rotating
shows. The CAC gained the reputation as being a “museum” for children.
It was at this time that the director put an end to the copying of the
art on display and started more sophisticated art classes allowing the
children to use their imaginations to the fullest. Among the notable
artists who received their start at the Children’s Art Centre is the
South End’s own Allan Rohan Crite. The period from the 1930s through the
1960s was the most active one for the CAC. Photographs from those
decades show dozens of children drawing and painting at cramped tables,
the young artists literally bursting through the French doors. Other
early photos depict dramas being staged in the CAC courtyard and live
music being enjoyed while the children painted or modeled with clay.
Children from all different backgrounds and ethnicities attended the CAC.
Viewing photographs of CAC children through the years gives one an idea
of the many immigrant groups that called the South End “home.”