The Sioux City Art Center began as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project in 1937 when the Art Center Association of Sioux City, the Sioux City Junior League, as well as other community supporters, received a grant of $3,000 to create the first art center. After the Federal Assistance Program ended in 1940, the Sioux City City Council voted to fund the Art Center and established the Board of Trustees, the City’s fiscal governing board for the Art Center in 1941.