The Connection

Photoworks, the not-for-profit resource for all-things photography, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year as one of Glen Echo Park's art studios.

Gayle Rothschild, the director and curator of exhibitions, has been involved with Photoworks since its early days. She has watched it evolve from a photographer community into a school for artists of varying degrees of skill and experience.

“Initially it was a much smaller place, a little rundown hole in the ground,” Rothschild said. “Still, it was always a very professional place where photographers come, use the darkroom and exchange ideas. It was just a very nice camaraderie there. Now we have more classes so it is more of a photography school.”

Photoworks Director and President Karen Keating remembers the Photoworks of yesteryear. She has been engaged with the non-profit since the early 1980s, when she was a photography student of the original Photoworks founders, Rhoda Baer, Frank Herrera and Tom Wolff. She said the founding spirit of Photoworks still keeps it running 40 years later.

"We were located in the basement of the original Arcade building with no heat, no air conditioning, frequent floods from summer thunderstorms," Keating said. "Our space was beneath the National Park Service police station and a set of gasoline pumps. Nothing mattered but our desire to learn photography, the ability to practice our darkroom skills and learn from each other. The camaraderie of those early years is the foundation of who we are today."

The intimacy that stemmed from a common passion still permeates Photoworks today. Although the programming, classes and student base have grown, the organization is still run by like-minded, passionate individuals that devote a significant amount of time to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Both Keating and Rothschild, for example, have become accomplished and professionally trained photographers with advanced degrees and noteworthy exhibitions on their resumes. Still, they also both teach multiple classes each term at courses at Photoworks.

Photoworks now has 23 faculty members and a board of seven people. Since Photoworks does not have paid staff, high school interns and other volunteers from the board run the exhibits, website and events. They also coordinate the nitty gritty of grant writing and strategic planning.

"The board and faculty are a dedicated group of photographers who help build a community of photo education," Keating said.

Photoworks has also seen some institutional changes since its inception in 1975. While it has been thriving in Glen Echo Park all these years, Keating explained that it was not until 2003 that it became an official 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.

"A major change occurred at Glen Echo Park in 2003 when the State of Maryland and Montgomery County worked out a new agreement with the National Park Service, which owns the property and had been running the art studios and programs since the 1970s," Keating said. "Each studio had to become incorporated and acquire non-profit 501 (c)3 tax exempt status. At the same time, a renovation of the buildings and studios began. Photoworks was the first studio to have new space."

Today, Photoworks has over 2000 square feet with both a darkroom and digital photo program.

In addition to providing courses, one of keys to ongoing relevance and success for Photoworks has been staying up to date with technology, according to Rothschild. Where photographers used to come to Photoworks mainly for the darkroom, now they can develop their photos in a digital lab.

In the Coffee & Critique program, one Sunday a month, except in August, Photoworks gives photographers in the community the opportunity to share their work with a faculty member over coffee and bagels.

The added programming and technology has allowed Photoworks and its influence to grow, but staff has been determined to keep it a welcoming place for all interested people.

"Through all of these changes we have worked hard to maintain the strong sense of creativity and community," Keating said.

Rothschild said another change she has seen and has appreciated has been the establishment and ongoing improvement of the Photoworks gallery, which is in the studio where all the classes are held. Every six weeks, the gallery hosts a new exhibit so that artists can continually be inspired by exceptional work at the same time as they are learning and creating their own art.

"We have had the gallery for about 10 years, since we have had our new building, but it's really taken off in the last five," Rothschild said. "Our next show will be called ‘My Little Town,’ and will feature all pictures of Washington D.C."

Rothschild said that as Photoworks grows and stays up to date with always-changing technology, she hopes the organization will offer even more classes.

“I would like our classes to grow because that is what keeps us going,” Rothschild said. “In my mind, that is the most important. We need to earn money to keep our equipment updated. We would like to keep it growing. The popularity of the gallery really excites me.”

The paid classes not only make it possible for the center to keep up with technology, but have also made it possible for Photoworks to provide outreach classes for members of the community that wouldn’t ordinarily get to explore their inner photographer. Every penny Photoworks earns goes back into its programming.

Keating hopes that Photoworks grows both as an education center and as a non-profit organization serving Montgomery County at large.

"I hope to foster the love of photography in the next generation of young students, to celebrate the creative opportunities in all types of photography and to sustain a fundamental photography program and add classes and workshops that inspire and stretch all levels of students," Keating said.

All the while, Keating still wants to keep Photoworks in the comfort zone of all people with an interest in photography. She emphasized that one deosn’t have to be a professional to benefit from the power of photography, or Photoworks for that matter.

"We want to maintain and expand the community spirit that began with four young photographers in the early 1970s and never lose sight of the power of giving back to those who love the medium of photograph in all of its iterations," Keating said.

For more information, see www.glenechophotoworks.org.