Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) is a non-profit group dedicated to art education based in
Rochester, New York
Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
, in the Neighborhood of the Arts. VSW supports makers and interpreters of images through education, publications, exhibitions, and collections. VSW runs a
bookstore
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...
, exhibition gallery, and research center.
VSW was founded in 1969 by photographer, writer, curator and educator,
Nathan Lyons
Nathan Lyons (January 10, 1930 – August 31, 2016) was an American photographer, curator, and educator. He exhibited his photographs from 1956 onwards, produced books of his own and edited those of others.
Lyons was also a curator of photography ...
. VSW is artist-run and an educational and support center for photography and other media art. Up until 2022, VSW ran a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program through
State University of New York at Brockport
State University of New York Brockport (also known as SUNY Brockport or Brockport State, and previously The College at Brockport) is a public university in Brockport, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY).
History
...
,
but this program has now been discontinued.
Education
Visual Studies Workshop offers a Master of Fine Arts program with a focus on expanding the potential for books as an art form. MFA candidates are joined into a community of producers that differs from a traditional class academic setting, with a range of backgrounds that is not exclusive to visual arts.
Research Center
VSW maintains both archival and research collections of media art of the collection focuses primarily on photography, independent film and video, electronic imaging, visual books and the publication arts. The Research Center hosts the Independent Press Archive which is one of the largest collections of artists’ books in the northeast with around 27,000 prints from 19th century vernacular images to contemporary experimental works. The Soibelman Picture Agency Archives is also present with around 40,000 international press images from the 1920s and 30s. The collection also contains Joseph Selle’s Fox Movie Flash Archive with an estimated 800,000 images of people on the streets of San Francisco in the 1940s to the 1960s. VSW also holds the archives of Lejaren à Hiller who was an American illustrator and photographer and who is widely known for American photographic illustration. The Research Center Catalog is online and on an ongoing development basis.
''Afterimage''
''
Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism'' is the bi-monthly publication produced by Visual Studies Workshop.
''Afterimage'' has been in publication for the last forty years. The publication includes visual arts, photography, independent film, and video, new media and alternative publishing. It covers topics of issues and debates within art history, visual and cultural studies, and related fields. ''Afterimage'' also includes articles, conference and festival reports, book and exhibition reviews, artist’s books, and exhibition catalogs. ''Afterimages web site includes online-exclusive reports, reviews, artists’ portfolios and videos, and notices for jobs, calls-for-work, exhibitions, and screenings.
VSW Press
VSW Press was founded by
Joan Lyons in 1971.
It is one of the only institutional publishers of
artist's book
Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.
Overview
Artists' books have employed a ...
s in the United States.
In 1984, Lyons edited the first anthology of critical essays and sources for the field of artists' books. In the beginning, VSW first provided printing presses for artists to experiment with. VSW then began employing professional pressmen to run a Heidelberg offset press to produce publications that artists, staff, and students had constructed. The process of publication was then switched to digital means with the addition of a computer lab. Most of the books are now made during the artist's residences. The VSW Press also maintains Afterimage, helps develop the VSW research collection, Independent Press Archive, online bookstore, a tumblr page, and alternative book fairs.
Notable alumni
See also
*
Rochester's Culture and Recreation
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visual Studies Workshop, The
Art schools in New York (state)
Arts centers in New York (state)
Educational institutions established in 1969
Education in Rochester, New York