Our History

The Art Center Association of Sioux City was first incorporated in 1914 as the Sioux City Society of Fine Arts by John C. Kelly, John McHugh, W.P. Manley, T.A. Black, Alice K. Lawler and Cora E. Henderson. The Society’s mission was to “promote and cultivate the fine arts, and foster art in all its branches; to promote the welfare of art in the City of Sioux City.” From its inception to the opening of the Sioux City Art Center in 1938, the Society curated exhibitions, organized art classes, and developed a permanent collection. Classes were held in various community buildings, as well as in Grandview Park during the summer months. Exhibitions were displayed at the Sioux City Public Library, the Woodbury County Court House, and in retail spaces throughout the downtown.

In 1937, the Art Center Association of Sioux City, along with the Sioux City Junior League and other community supporters, petitioned federal government to establish a WPA Art Center in Sioux City. They received a grant of $3,000, of which only half was used because citizens, businesses, and local union members volunteered their creativity and labor to create their art center. The WPA Art Center opened its doors in February 1938 in the basement of the Williges Building on Pierce Street.

After occupying four temporary locations, the Art Center Association of Sioux City mounted a capital campaign in the early 1990s to build a new permanent location. The Association raised seven of the nine million dollars, while the City of Sioux City provided two million. Margaret Ann Martin Everist the visionary that led the effort to make the new home possible donated three million. As a result of the private/public partnership, the Art Center’s 45,000 square-foot facility opened to the public in March 1997. To support ongoing projects of the Art Center, Margaret Ann created the M. A. Martin Everist Foundation. The foundation has supported everything from exhibitions, educational programming, and the opening of the Art Center’s first permanent collection gallery to commissioning Touched by the Sun, the large bronze sculpture by Michael Dunbar that sits on the Art Center’s front lawn.

In September 2018, the Association’s second successful capital campaign reached its goal, when the Gilchrist Learning Center opened its doors. Named for the largest donor to the campaign, the Gilchrist Foundation, this 11,000 square-foot facility houses all of the Art Center’s educational classrooms. The transfer of the class spaces to the Gilchrist Learning Center then led to a renovation of the primary Art Center building, resulting in additional permanent collection galleries, a new collection storage vault, a library/meeting room, and a renovated Junior League Hands On! Gallery.