WCC was founded in 1856 as “the Worcester Employment Society”, one of a Federation of Women’s Exchanges, a northeastern U.S. network promoting the artisanry of immigrant women as a means of helping them and their families settle in the United States and central Massachusetts. As one of the first educational craft centers in the nation, it indicates how old is the idea of yoking the arts and human services philanthropy.

It was effective. Thousands of immigrant families were helped by the Center’s production and marketing of their handcrafted wares—lace, cloth, metalware, and pottery. Today the Center is a flourishing and nearly (75%) self-supporting leader in its field, attracting 25,000 visitors annually to its activities, offering more than 200 courses in wood, clay, glass/enameling, textiles, metals, and photography. It teaches 2,500 students in its 26,000-sq.ft. building, with eight public studios, including a new 8,000-sq.ft. new one, and a 1,600-sq.ft. gallery offering exhibits annually for master artisans and emerging artists. Here you will also find one of the nation’s top retail crafts stores. WCC is, as you might imagine, a leading advocate and provider of visual arts education in the Worcester and Uxbridge schools...all in all, a great enhancer of quality of life.