Center for Community Arts (CCA) was founded in 1995 by 12 women artists and community activists. These women, 6 African American and 6 white, parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens, met around a kitchen table over a six-month period.

The group was motivated by the desire to 1) address racially charged discussions in the community, 2) provide positive activities for local youth and 3) offer a vehicle for local artists to be supportive of and supported by their community. CCA's mission statement was honed in these discussions and is one to which the organization's board, staff, members, and volunteers remain strongly committed: to foster creativity, community building and appreciation for the rich diversity of our world through arts and humanities programs that reach out to underserved populations.

Two of the organization's major programs were launched in CCA's first year. The Youth Arts Program (YAP) began in January 1996 as a weekly three-hour program on Saturday nights, run by the founders and other volunteers in a free space provided by a local church. While this program is no longer operating, we have been funded by Sturdy Bank in 2025 to provide a playground arts program in conjunction with Cape May Cares.

The Community History Program was the outgrowth of the group's efforts to save the Franklin Street School, a formerly segregated African American elementary school and one of the few buildings in Cape May that still stands as testament to the contributions African Americans made to Cape May's development. At the time of CCA's founding, the building stood vacant and deteriorating, while the city turned down numerous requests from leaders in the African American community to put it to use. Recently, the Franklin Street School renovation project, with the help of state and local agencies, has been completed, and CCA has moved into new office space shared with the Cape May division of the county library at 720 Franklin St.