To foster public conversation around critical issues in photography, CPW provides exhibitions, workshops, artists' residencies, and access to a digital media lab.
Nestled within the rural environs of Woodstock, home to one of the nation's longest-running artist colonies, the organization was intended as a gathering place for local photographers.
Over the next four decades, CPW established a distinguished record as an organization that connected photographers with engaging exhibitions, learning and printing facilities, lectures and panels, and a photography library and collection.
Through its educational programs and community outreach, CPW brings together artists and viewers of all ages and fosters opportunities for them to create photography and explore its role in contemporary culture.
After forty-five years in Woodstock, CPW moved in 2021 to a storefront space on Broadway in Kingston, NY, a budding and diverse artist community with like-minded cultural institutions.
Built in 1907, this four-story, 40,000-square-foot industrial building features a red-brick exterior, open floor plans, sixteen-foot ceilings, and windows on all four sides, with unobstructed views of the Catskills.
Once renovated, this majestic space will be used for exhibition galleries, digital media lab, classrooms, photography studios and darkrooms, community meeting rooms, staff offices, a film screening theater, and a state- of-the-art collection storage facility and study center.
The core of CPW's educational programs are the Woodstock Photography Workshops, which allow artists to explore and focus on specific topics in an intimate and personal setting.
[1] Beginning in 1978, the workshops range on topics, skills, and age level, from learning about antiquated photographic processes to expanding ones smartphone photography.
[2] Throughout its history CPW has brought in many notable artists and educators to lead workshops including most recently Sam Abell, Craig J Barber, Dawoud Bey, Elinor Carucci, Ron Haviv, Christopher James, Ed Kashi, Bobbi Lane, Mary Ellen Mark, along with many others.