Hyde Park Art Center, University of Chicago open new South Side arts hub with ribbon cutting this Saturday

Photo: An artist’s rendering of the new Hyde Park Art Center is shown above.

Mayor Richard M. Daley will officially open the new Hyde Park Art Center at 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Saturday, April 22 at 9:30 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the newly designed Art Center, creating a new cultural destination on Chicago’s South Side.

Joining Mayor Daley will be Sen. Barack Obama, state senators Kwame Raoul and Emil Jones, Jr., aldermen Toni Preckwinkle, Leslie Hairston and Arenda Troutman and Henry Webber, the University of Chicago’s Vice President of Community and Government Affairs.

The 32,000-square-foot building is being provided rent-free by the University of Chicago, and it represents the first time in its 67-year-history that the Hyde Park Art Center has a home of its own.

“This move was made possible by an incredible partnership and is what I consider to be a model for how south side communities, government and the University can work together to make great things happen,” said Henry Webber, the University’s Vice President of Community and Government Affairs. “Driven by Chuck Thurow’s (HPAC’s long-time executive director) inspired leadership, this new world-class building and the programs it will make possible bring so much vitality and energy to our community and the city — I’m thrilled to be part of this excitement.”

The building triples the Art Center’s capacity for exhibitions and studio classes, and will house a long-term artist residency program co-sponsored by the University of Chicago. Designed by the internationally recognized Chicago firm Garofalo Architects, the new building features the world’s largest outdoor, digital façade, an 80-foot high glass projection system dedicated to experimental artworks.

Following the ribbon cutting, Daley and Thurow will lead a press tour of the new building. The Art Center will open its doors to the general community for the first time at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29, when a weekend-long celebration called “Create Move” kicks off. The center will be open continuously for 36 hours, until 9 p.m. Sunday, April 30.

For more information, visit http://www.hydeparkart.org or call Deborah Halpern at (773) 363-1587.