Colorado Photographic Arts Center, a regional hub for the art of photography since 1963, recently moved into new and improved quarters in Denver’s Golden Triangle cultural district.
DENVER—It’s a milestone move in a milestone year for the Colorado Photographic Arts Center. For the first time, the Denver-based CPAC will inhabit a space specifically designed according to its growing needs and, happily, the new space coincides with CPAC’s sixtieth anniversary as Colorado’s largest nonprofit institution dedicated to the photographic arts.
A well-attended May 18, 2023, grand opening with an auction of photographic prints, live music, and cocktails launched this new era in CPAC’s journey. Doors are expected to officially open to the public mid-July 2023 after a slight delay linked to city permitting.
Executive director and curator Samantha Johnston says she’s often chiming the phrase “just down the street” to CPAC supporters, to reassure them that the organization is still in Denver’s Golden Triangle of cultural institutions and art galleries. The new location at 1200 Lincoln Street not only places CPAC along one of the busiest avenues in downtown Denver but also brings the space practically within sightline of the Denver Art Museum. CPAC’s visibility is incredibly enhanced, which Johnston is grateful for after five years of being at the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it location of 1070 Bannock Street.
During a hard-hat walkthrough, Johnston explains how the logistics of simultaneously running items like classes, darkroom rentals, and exhibition visits are now much improved, with dedicated spaces for each. “To watch a space like this get gutted and then seeing everything we need to be put in place—it’s a game changer,” she says.
CPAC has a cherished place in the Denver-area arts community because of several ongoing programs for all skill levels; plus, admission to rotating exhibitions is always free. Those who become CPAC members are eligible to enter the annual members’ juried exhibition, the sixtieth edition of which is slated to open July 15, 2023. Along with year-round adult classes and portfolio reviews, CPAC offers a plethora of summer workshops for teens. Also integral to CPAC’s mission is an annual Veterans Workshop Series, inviting military veterans to hone their photography skills and show their work to the public.
This breadth of programs will continue at the new location—and with greater vigor and in spacious, striking surroundings of just under 4,000 square feet. Johnston is enthusiastic about several features, including a high-ceiling exhibition area; walls on tracks to easily turn the gallery room into two spaces, as needed; gallery-quality can and track lighting; a less-cramped reception area; and bookshelves throughout the space to display all that’s available to photography lovers for purchase or to loan.
Johnston is particularly excited about all the improvements to CPAC’s educational mission. “We made everything work the best we could in our last space, but here, the classroom looks like a real classroom,” Johnston says, pointing out moveable tables, a large monitor, computers, and better acoustics.
Longtime Denverites might be familiar with 1200 Lincoln as a ten-story, Art Deco-style white-facade building, built in 1962 to house an insurance company. Later, it was home to the Art Institute of Colorado, which has since closed. Plans to re-envision the building began in 2020, and have materialized into 190 micro-apartments within the newly named Art Studios building.
It was always the developers’ intention for a non-profit entity to have space on the ground floor, and CPAC grabbed at the opportunity, signing a ten-year lease. Five years at the considerably smaller Bannock location served the purpose after decades of floating among locations in metro Denver, says Johnston, who has served as executive director since 2015. But the new space, she adds, feels tailor-made for CPAC’s needs, thanks to input from architects, designers, and the CPAC board.
Among the amenities brought to fruition are improved storage for CPAC’s prized collection of historical and contemporary photographs, an ADA-compliant darkroom, a dedicated digital lab, and even a break room and outdoor sitting area.
A “Framing the Future” campaign resulted in CPAC not only meeting but also exceeding its fundraising goal for the new location. More than $300,000 was raised—$100,000 above the goal—through support from foundations and individuals.
CPAC was founded in 1963 and quickly established a permanent photographic collection thanks to gifts from Yousuf Karsh, Philippe Halsman, Ansel Adams, and others. Gallery space became a reality in 1965 at a Colfax Avenue location, and growth continued through the decades. Exhibitions have long featured regionally and nationally known photographers. In addition, CPAC is the hub for the biennial Month of Photography Denver, which celebrates the art form with dozens of exhibitions and events across the Front Range, every other March.
The second exhibition in the new space will show off CPAC’s high ceilings and track lighting. OUTCRY, by the Chicago-based Whitney Bradshaw, consists of a large array of close-up photographs of screaming women—to provoke thought on the power of women’s rage in the face of challenges to women’s rights. OUTCRY is scheduled to open August 18 and remain on display through October 7, 2023.
Johnston says the exhibition schedule for the rest of the year is still in the works, as staff and patrons become accustomed to the changes. “Needless to say, I’m super excited about the planning I have still to do,” she says.
