About Who We Are

Visual Studies Workshop nurtures experimental and expansive approaches to photography and media arts, and builds community among artists and the public through exhibitions, publications and residencies.

VSW envisions a society that values the human need to create and share ideas.

  • Front and to the left color photograph on the front of the Visual Studies Workshop building.

Our story

VSW was founded in 1969 in Rochester, New York by photographer, educator and curator Nathan Lyons (1930–2016). Rooted in Lyons’ progressive vision of the “workshop idea,” VSW became one of the earliest independent, not-for-profit, artist-run spaces in the country.

Since its inception, VSW has provided residencies to over 500 artists, produced more than 500 exhibitions, screened over 1,000 films and videos, and published more than 500 artists’ books through VSW Press. Additionally, we have educated over 1,000 students through workshops and our MA and MFA programs (1969–2022), and founded and published the periodical Afterimage: The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism (1972-2018). Our media collections include over a million photography and film-related objects, making our small organization unique in the field.

For more information about the history of VSW visit our timeline.

  • Address

    Visual Studies Workshop

    31 Prince Street

    Rochester, New York 14607

    (585) 204-0077

  • Nathan Lyons Research

    Center Hours

    Tuesday–Friday: 10am–5pm (By appointment)

     

  • We would like to acknowledge that we are on the ancestral home of the Seneca people of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Today, Rochester has been – and is – home to many indigenous people.

    We would like to take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, genocide, and migration that bring us together here today, and to build an ongoing awareness of our responsibility to actively participate in healthy reciprocal relations.