Lucia Rollow
Lucia Rollow is the artist, educator and community organizer who founded Bushwick Community Darkroom in 2011. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, moved to New York City to pursue her BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts. Finding herself without access to a darkroom after graduating, Rollow worked to create a community space run by artists, a project which grew to occupy a 4,000 square foot warehouse today. While building the darkroom and her team, Rollow established herself as a local leader through her organizing for Bushwick Open Studios. Passionate about taking the BCD to the next level as a professional arts space, Rollow completed her Masters in Arts and Cultural Management at Pratt in 2015. Rollow has exhibited her artwork at spaces including Storefront Gallery, Animamus Art Salon, Spread Art Detroit, and Brooklyn Fire Proof Gallery. Her work as an artist and organizer has been featured in publications including Artnet, Hyperallergic, Brooklyn Paper, and Bedford + Bowery. Her video profile was featured in the Square Capital project.
When Lucia Rollow graduated with her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, she found herself without an accessible space to print and develop film. Determined to continue the legacy of film photography, Rollow realized other artists were struggling with similar barriers. With just a handful of equipment, very little money and a dream, she opened Bushwick Community Darkroom in 2011. While simultaneously building a local network through her leadership of Bushwick Open Studios, Rollow assembled a motley crew, which transformed BCD from a makeshift basement space into the bustling 4,000 square foot warehouse it is today. A decade later, BCD now boasts more than 50 members, 24/7 access to darkrooms, color and black-and-white film processing, low-cost workshops and curated photography exhibitions.
The Bushwick Community Darkroom is a self-sufficient community space which serves as a platform for hundreds of artists, educators, and students. BCD aims to make film photography affordable and accessible by providing printing and development services, thus removing the largest barrier to entry for one of the most accessible art forms. By also providing community-led photography workshops, gallery events, and a membership program, BCD creates a flexible and growth-oriented structure within a creative environment. Seasonal exhibitions within the 4,000 square foot warehouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn create opportunities for burgeoning photographers to showcase their work alongside music and multimedia art. Following intensive research on the positive impact of arts education on children's development, BCD also leads regular workshops for middle and high school students. Bushwick Community Darkroom is the premier photography destination in Brooklyn, bridging arts education with a platform for studio practice, and definitively proving that film is not dead in 2021.
Lucia Rollow - Resume/CV
EDUCATION
Pratt Institute September 2013-May 2015
Masters of Professional Studies – Arts & Cultural Management 3.8 GPA
School of Visual Arts September 2005-May 2009
Bachelors of Fine Arts – Photography
EXPERIENCE
Bushwick Community Darkroom - Founder November 2010 – Current
• Book, curate, promote and produce monthly visual art exhibitions, landing reviews in publications including The Village Voice.
• Founder and director of one of Brooklyn's only analog photography spaces, occupying a 3,000 square foot warehouse which features numerous hands-on workshops on a monthly basis.
• Manage team of employees, volunteers and members numbering over thirty.
Arts in Bushwick – Core organizer December 2010 - August 2015
• Co-lead organizer of an annual free, public art festival which drew up to 10,000 visitors per weekend and landed long-form reviews in The New York Times several years in a row.
• Scheduled and hosted volunteer team meetings, establish and maintained production timeline for an in-depth exhibition listing brochure, coached to up to 2,000 visual artists in Brooklyn per year on best practices.
RESIDENCIES
• Tortuga Escondida, Akumal, Mexico, 2020
• Art & Soul, Truth or Consequences, NM, 2019
• Rensing Center, Pickens, SC November 2015
• Newport Art House, Newport, RI August 2015
• Spread Art Detroit – Detroit, MI, August 2014
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
• Joshua Tree - Sierra Club Gallery, Boston MA, December 2019
• So I’m Having an Art Show - LESpace, New York, NY, January 2015
• “A Place With No Name” @ Brooklyn Fireproof Gallery – Brooklyn NY, June 2014
• “Le Petit Ceinture” Art For Change Gallery – New York, NY January 2010
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
• Essential Art Fair - Bushwick Open Studios 2018 & 2019
• Sluice_ Exchange Rates - London 2017
• Making History: AiB Benefit Exhibition – Brooklyn, NY 2015
• AccessArt Brooklyn Art Council Benefit – Brooklyn NY November 2014
• Animamus Art Salon – Brooklyn NY September 2014
• Echo Art Fair, BACG Booth – Buffalo, NY September 2014
• 9th Int’l Conference on the Arts in Society @ La Sapienza University – Rome, Italy, June 2014 Official Delegate presenting “A neighborhood in flux: the cultural evolution of Bushwick, Brooklyn from 1900 – Present Day”
• Bushwick Art Crit Group Anniversary Show – Brooklyn, NY, 2013
• Curating For a Cause @ The Bishop – Brooklyn, NY, 2013
• Leveled Land – Brooklyn NY June, 2012
• EXPOSURE! Curated by Nude with a Goose – New York, NY, 2010
Skills
• Arts administration, event production, budget management, grant writing, fundraising, sponsorship
• Analog photography, art exhibition installation, studio lighting, black and white and color development, alternative processes, digital photography (Canon systems)
• Mac, PS, Adobe Design Suite, Microsoft Office, Wordpress, Mailchimp, Quickbooks, SequelPro, Squarespace