A portion of Downtown Camden is now a recognized cultural district by the SC Arts Commission.

Cultural districts are defined as walkable geographic areas with a concentration of cultural facilities, activities, and assets. They are easily identifiable and serve as centers of cultural, artistic, and economic activity.

Downtown Camden's Cultural District boasts galleries and artist studios, theaters and other live performance venues, public art, museums, and arts education centers. It's also home to quiet green spaces, bustling markets, and restaurants and eateries to keep any food lover busy!

Downtown Camden's Cultural District consists of several blocks that have organically become home to many artistic and creative spaces. 

Explore this newly designated cultural district along Rutledge Street (from Church Street to Lyttleton), Lyttleton Street, where the Arts Center of Kershaw County resides, south to York Street, which is home to the African American Cultural Center and additional historic landmarks, to Broad Street (from York to DeKalb Street). The Arts Center of Kershaw County is no doubt the artistic hub of Kershaw County, bringing arts experience and exposure to all ages, and is the City of Camden's partner in overseeing the cultural district.

But the cultural district also plays host to several gallery spaces, art studios and artisan markets, maker spaces and places of creative instruction, as well historic landmarks, beautiful greenspaces graced with public art, antique shops, well-known boutique retail stores, and restaurants, and indoor and outdoor venues for community events and celebrations. The cultural district creates an identifiable space that celebrates the art and cultural activities that our community has enjoyed for more than fifty years.

The overall vision of this cultural district is to celebrate the culture, history, and heritage of the many assets that already exist within the district while creating an environment that attracts new life, new forms of art, and even more varied and diverse expressions of Camden’s culture.