Community Art Center, Inc.

The Community Art Center is a nonprofit in Cambridge’s Area 4 neighborhood that has used the arts to empower young people since 1937. It runs intensive, year-round programs for youth ages 5 to 19, aiming to develop artistically, academically and socially engaged young leaders. Children ages 5 to 12 attend the School Age Child Care program, a hands-on arts curriculum, while teens join the Teen Media Program or the Teen Public Art Program, designing projects across Cambridge.

Generations of local families have passed through its classrooms learning drawing, writing, dance, photography, pottery and video, and some staff grew up at the center themselves. Media and design labs bring newer technology into traditional art forms. The center’s Circle of Support provides wrap-around services, including mental health help, transportation and up to three meals a day, so young people in crisis have their basic needs met.

What to Know

• It organizes the Do It Your Damn Self!! National Youth Film Festival, the oldest youth-curated film festival in the country.
• Its Port Arts Fest brings art-making, activities, music and food to the neighborhood.
• The center has partnered with Lesley Art and Design students on creative projects.
• Its archives document the center’s early years.