CENTER’s Mission

Founded in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1994, the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization CENTER supports social and environmentally-engaged lens-based projects through education, public platforms, funding, and partnerships.

Through our advancement of artists and their work, CENTER serves to deepen public understanding of lens-based media’s history and ongoing cultural significance. By establishing partnerships between artists and scholars, editors, students, and the art world, we advance projects that respect all people, open minds, and engage our shared humanity.

Characterized by a community of gifted and committed photographers, CENTER provides platforms to create and share visual stories. Public exhibitions, presentations, and expositions showcase all types of photographic projects. Annual programs include the Project Launch Grant, Project Development Grant, Me&Eve Award, The CENTER Awards, The Visual Storytelling Lab for NM Military, Callanan Excellence in Teaching Award, Jay and Susie Tyrrell Excellence in Works by Hand Award, Blue Earth Fiscal Sponsorship, The Democratic Lens: Photography and Civic Engagement lecture series, and the Review Santa Fe Photo Symposium.

Santa Fe, New Mexico, is located in the ancestral and unceded traditional territories of the Tewa people, who continue to maintain connections to this land. Thousands of years ago, O’ghe P’oghe – the original Tewa name for Santa Fe, which means White Shell, Water Place – was a center place for Northern and Southern Tewa communities. We honor the Tewa people of the past, present, and future who inhabit, hold sacred, and steward this land.

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