Vision Statement
Austin Center for Photography, or ACP, will be a first-class arts destination for the City of Austin. Organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, ACP will be a welcoming space for lovers of photography in or near the city center for the creation, display, promotion of, and education about all facets of photography including historic, traditional, and digital methods.
ACP will consist of at least two galleries. The Main Gallery will house exhibitions from nationally and internationally known photographers, curated shows of emerging photographers, member's exhibitions, and other special projects. The Austin Gallery will be a smaller space, which will have rotating exhibitions of work from local photographers as selected by ACP staff. Work in the Austin Gallery will be selected from general submissions by the public at large, by members, and by students within the Austin and Central Texas area.
Space permitting, ACP will have a photography oriented library, a series of classrooms, a lighting studio, an auditorium, digital imaging workstations, and traditional wet black & white darkroom to support its educational role. To enhance a visitor’s experience, ACP will have a gift/book shop. The shop will stock eclectic books, and fun and unusual photography related items (e.g., novelty cameras such as pinhole and toy cameras). Visual art works from local Austin artists and photographers will also be available for purchase. The shop will be small, its stock rotated frequently to reflect current activities elsewhere within ACP.
Where possible, particularly if the ACP facility is newly built, environmentally friendly (i.e., green) construction methods and material will be employed. Under any circumstances, operation of ACP will be conducted to keep its environmental footprint as small as possible.
In summary, Austin Center for Photography will be an Austin cultural icon attracting local, national, and international attention due to its devotion to all facets of photography. Most of all, it will be a fun place to visit and will serve as an inspirational and educational gathering space for photographers and non-photographers alike.
