Sixty in 60 EP 2 South Side Community Arts Center from Andrew Roddewig on Vimeo.

In May of 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt officially dedicated the South Side Community Art Center(SSAC) at 3831 South Michigan Avenue as part of the Federal Art Project. Since that date the SSCAC is the only remaining Federal Art Project community center to remain, in operation.

For over seventy years the SSCAC has been a home to artists ,and few people are more aware of the home atmosphere then current Executive Director, Faheem Majeed. Faheem was an unofficial Artist, in residence before becoming Executive Director. Faheem believes that the SSCAC is home to everyone and is always willing to talk about the center, the history of the neighborhood or anything that comes to mind.
Faheem sat down and talked with us about the SSCAC and his philosophy behind operating one of the most significant yet often overlooked cultural centers in the city.

The South Side Community Arts Center hosts a wide variety of exhibits and last month featured installations, projections and performances to highlight an ongoing project entitled “1.99 Real Housing”. Below is a special feature; a interview we conducted with 1.99 Real Housing Exhibition and the Real Cities: A Symposium on Brazilian Urbanism Coordinator Drea Howenstein, and Curator Marcelo Aflalo.

1.99 Real Housing is a multidisciplinary and multicultural approach to developing solutions to the growing problems of human migration out of the countrysides and into urban environments. In collaboration with the School of the Art Institute Chicago, Architecture for Humanity, and the Village of Igarai, 1.99 Real Housing is creating a platform for ideas that utilize advanced sustainable architectural design solutions in conjunction with local materials and methods.

For more information on Real Cities: A Symposium on Brazilian Urbanism, 1.99 Real Housing and how you may become involved, please visit: http://saicarted.ning.com/profiles/blogs/real-cities-a-symposium-on