After 36 years, the Center for Photography at Woodstock says it has outgrown its 59 Tinker Street location and is moving to Midtown Kingston. The organization says it is taking advantage of a strong real estate market to make the transition, though those involved say they did not take the decision to make the move lightly. “On one hand, we love this building because it is quirky and because it is right at the center of Woodstock, and it’s really served us well,” said Executive Director Hannah Frieser speaking from her upstairs office in the Tinker Street building that once housed the legendary Café Espresso, with the sound of the Tannery Brook running below.
The CPW began its Woodstock presence in the mid-1980s on the second floor, and 10 years later, it was able to purchase the building. The Tinker Street Cafe operated on the ground floor with its famous sunken patio while CPW operated a darkroom and held classes and exhibits upstairs. In the late 90’s, Tinker Street Cafe went out of business and CPW was able to take over the downstairs space.
The space had a long history of being a music venue and night spot before CPW moved into it. First it was the Nook, then through the 1960s it was the Café Espresso, where Bob Dylan could be seen lounging and playing and later, where he famously took residence upstairs.
“So, at some point, we already doubled our space that way, and that’s always been a lovely, lovely thing,” Frieser said.
As the CPW’s collection of work has expanded over the years, a number of plans were drafted to accomplish its goals while meeting the needs of the aging building. But then, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dorsky Museum in New Paltz said it would not be renewing a contract to hold the CPW’s collection. “And so that means that 2000 pieces of art are coming back to us. So again, during the shutdown, we thought okay, so what do we do with that,” Frieser said. “So, can we make space for it, kind of, but we can’t really build out here until we fix some of the structural issues and foundation needs,” she said. “And then, even if we had made room for that, it would still not be ADA compliant as in you can’t get upstairs with a wheelchair.”
And thus, the board of directors decided to look at what was available.
“We made contacts and looked around a bit and decided to put our building on the market to see what bites we might get,” Frieser said. “We got a response very, very quickly. And instead of the expected six months to a year for something to happen, we had competing offers in 25 days and chose one.”
The sale is still in contract, so Frieser cannot disclose any details or the identity of the buyer. The same is true for their new location. Details will not come until the deal is done.
“It’s a special building. There’s no doubt about that. And that’s also the sadness of leaving. So now we have to pack up a little faster than what we thought, but it’s all good,” she said. “…in the meantime, we’re ramping up programming so that there will be no break and in the services that we provide, with some limitations. We won’t be able to offer a darkroom right now to the community,” she said.
Until the sale closes on its new location, CPW will use exhibition space in photographer Aaron Rezny’s studios at 76 Prince Street in Kingston. A transition space in Midtown Kingston will house some of the collection and offices.
Bittersweet departure
CPW hopes to bring back its workshops, which were either paused or limited to videoconference because of the pandemic. “We’re trying to figure out how that can be relaunched because we’re going up against YouTube videos and the internet and there’s just a lot of competition for people’s attention,” she said. CPW plans to work with the Midtown Kingston community and may collaborate with the nearby Kingston High School and Midtown Arts District.
While she looks forward to opportunities in Kingston, Frieser said leaving Woodstock is bittersweet. “We won’t get to engage at the same level with the community. I can’t walk across the street and meet up with the with the people at Byrdcliffe or at WAAM. We will still be engaged. We still will have the artists’ house. We’re still looking for all the collaboration that we can.”
CPW will still have its “Say Boo!” Photo booth on Halloween. “We won’t just disappear, but we’re packing up and moving our main operations,” she said.
The two current exhibitions will be the last ones at 59 Tinker Street.
Rewriting Loss: Photographs by Carla Shapiro runs through October 27.
Kelli Connell: Double Life, 20 Years runs through November 27.
The CPW gallery is open to walk-in visitors Fridays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Masks are required. Virtual walkthroughs are available at cpw.org.
Join the family! 
