The Rye Art Center was founded in 1960 by five families and four hundred odd dollars.

The Rye Art Center's original home was an unused barn, where the organization started offering classes and held exhibitions in the visual arts. When The Rye Art Center outgrew the barn, it moved to the Rye Presbyterian Church, then to the Chrysler building on Theodore Fremd Avenue, and again to Purchase Street above the Woolworth building. In 1972, the Center moved to 51 Milton Road.

From 1984, when the building was vacated for safety reasons, until 1987, The Rye Art Center operated as a “center without walls” while a loyal and generous community organized to fund and carry out the 51 Milton Campaign — a $1.2 million campaign to restore and expand the Art Center’s home. In 1987, the facility doubled to 13,250 square feet, and The Rye Art Center became The Rye Arts Center, embracing all art forms.

The facility now includes an art gallery, children and adult arts studios, a preschool studio, a Maker Space, a performing arts room, a dance studio, a ceramics studio, a digital arts lab, and practice rooms for music instruction.

The Rye Arts Center has grown into the largest multi-arts center in the region. Our diverse programming includes classes, lessons, exhibitions, performances, and more. In addition, The Rye Arts Center works with dozens of partners throughout the community to offer a range of outreach programs.

The Rye Arts Center serves more than 35,000 residents annually in approximately 30 towns/villages, which covers a diverse region in Westchester and lower Fairfield Counties. Its programs, which cost over $1,200,000 a year to operate, are supported by tuition, memberships, private and public grant-making agencies, corporate contributions, special events, and the generous donations of individuals in our communities.

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