We are deeply grateful to everyone who contributed to SF Camerawork’s End-of-Year Giving Campaign. Together, we raised $16,600, a tremendous success that speaks to the strength and care of our community. These funds will directly support future programs including member critiques, artist workshops, and exhibitions — ensuring that artists continue to have access to meaningful opportunities for growth, dialogue, and visibility. Thank you to every donor who gave, shared, and championed this campaign; your generosity truly makes this work possible.
We were also inspired by the level of engagement we saw beyond donations. This year, we experienced our highest level of community participation in recent memory — from artists, members, and supporters showing up, sharing stories, and amplifying our mission. As a 52-year-old nonprofit photography organization, it means so much to know that our work continues to resonate and that our community cares deeply about sustaining a space dedicated to photographic artists and critical conversations.
For decades, the San Francisco Bay Area has been a center for bold and innovative contemporary art, yet today that ecosystem is facing significant change. In 2025, arts organizations locally and across the country navigated ongoing challenges — from declining attendance to persistent funding gaps. As these pressures continue, museums and cultural spaces are being forced to make difficult choices about programming, staffing, access, and long-term sustainability. Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to alleviate some of these pressures and move into the new year with renewed momentum. Now more than ever, we are excited — and empowered — to continue supporting the SF Camerawork community and the artists who shape it.
Thank you for helping sustain the creative future of San Francisco. We sincerely appreciate all your efforts to support our community.
Dear friends, artists, and supporters of SF Camerawork,
As the holiday season begins, we invite you to join us in supporting SF Camerawork’s ongoing commitment to photographic excellence and to cultivating a strong, inclusive artistic community in the Bay Area and beyond.
2025 has been both a transformative and tumultuous year. In a time marked by social, political, and economic uncertainty, the role of art, and the spaces that nurture it, has never felt more vital. Through these challenges, SF Camerawork has remained a place of reflection, experimentation, and dialogue, offering artists and audiences alike opportunities to connect, imagine, and build community.
Like many arts organizations, we’ve navigated significant transitions this year. Staffing changes and limited funding have presented challenges, yet they’ve also reaffirmed our 51-year resilience and the strength of the community that sustains us. We’re now actively seeking a visionary, development-focused leader to guide SF Camerawork into its next chapter, and we look forward to sharing updates as this exciting process unfolds.
Despite these challenges, this year was filled with remarkable creative energy. We presented a dynamic lineup of exhibitions that pushed the boundaries of the photographic practice: The Tellings We Keep by Tricia Rainwater, a poignant meditation on memory and separation; FORECAST 2025, our annual survey of emerging voices in photography; and A Strange Vibration, featuring the work of Lenn Keller, Darcy Padilla, and Elizabeth Sunflower—three photojournalists who documented Bay Area women and queer lives on the margins from the 1970s through the 1990s.
These programs reflected a rich diversity of practices, from experimental and interdisciplinary studio work to narratives of migration, resilience, and reimagined histories, while continuing our deep investment in Bay Area artists through increased fees and direct support for the creation of new work.
Looking ahead to 2026, we’re building on this momentum by expanding public programs, strengthening artist-led workshops, and deepening community partnerships. In January, we’ll open a solo exhibition with multidisciplinary artist Nasim Moghadam, whose work asks: What does it mean to see—and to be seen—when power seeks to erase you? Through sculptural and installation forms, Moghadam creates spaces of resistance and presence, confronting how women’s bodies and voices are controlled and asserting agency where it is often denied.
Your support makes all of this possible. As we set our sights on raising $40,000 in this year’s End-of-Year Giving Campaign, Framing Our Future: A Season of Gratitude, we invite you to make a contribution. Every gift, no matter the size, helps sustain artist-centered programming and ensures that SF Camerawork remains a vital hub for creativity, experimentation, and dialogue. Beyond giving, sharing our mission with friends, colleagues, and communities helps us grow this circle of support.
Thank you for being part of our story. Together, we can continue to nurture artists, champion new voices, and keep the Bay Area at the forefront of contemporary photography.
With gratitude,
Stephanie Cochinos
President, SF Camerawork Board of Directors
(on behalf of the SF Camerawork Board)
Graphic by Shay Lari-Hosain. SFC Supportive Member
