Founded in 1932, the Community Art Center has established an excellent track record of youth development with a diverse population of low-income children and teens. The Art Center is a neighborhood institution committed to our mission of nurturing children and young adults with limited access to financial resources so they achieve personal and cultural growth, and have a positive impact on their world through joyful experiences in the arts. We do this by offering a creative, fun, safe and vibrant learning environment, accessible during the hours when youth left alone are most likely to get into trouble.
Through our nearly 80 years in operation we have served close to 8000 Cambridge youth, providing a total of approximately 3000 program hours per year through our School Age Child Care Program (SACC) and Teen Media Program (TMP). The Community Art Center provides year-round programs for over 250 youth annually, and over 1500 people participate as audience members at our public events which include seasonal Community Celebrations, Parent/Teen Nights and our annual “Do It Your Damn Self!” National Youth Video and Film Festival, the oldest youth-curated film festival in the nation.