Community darkrooms.

Rochester's Community Darkroom, a nonprofit public-access organization offering classes, workshops and exhibition opportunities in black and white photography, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year and has much to celebrate. Community Darkroom kicked off the year with extensive renovations and upgrades to both its equipment and the historic former city firehouse in which it is located. The number of enlarger stations in the teaching darkroom was increased from four to eight, plumbing and electricity was upgraded, a seven-foot stainless steel darkroom sink was installed, 10 new enlarger timers, seven new enlarger easels and contact printers were added as well as increased exhibition space in the entryway and gallery.

These improvements would have cost between $6000 and $8000, but thanks to the generosity of the community, Community Darkroom paid only $500. Electricians, plumbers, carpenters and architects volunteered time, as did many others. Rochester businesses, such as Light Impressions, Morse Lumber, Chase-Pitkin, Hunt's Hardware and Shaheen's, donated photography equipment and building supplies. The largest single donation came from Carol and Walter Schmidt. Their son, Sam Powell, was a photographer who died of AIDS two years ago. The Schmidts generously donated his stainless steel darkroom sink, worth $2000.

Community Darkroom is also celebrating its anniversary year by welcoming more students than ever to classes, workshops and community outreach projects, which are taught by a variety of instructors, from self-taught photographers to professional portrait photographers to artists. In the winter of 1996, there were 91 students registered for classes. This past winter there were 168 registered students. Sharon Turner, Coordinator of Community Darkroom, attributes this increase in students to a renewed interest in photography in the Rochester area. "In response to their hectic lifestyles," Turner explains, "people are looking for creative things to do in their spare time, whether it's photography or other art." She added that despite the fact that digital imaging is getting so popular, there is still a great deal of interest in traditional black and white photography.

Turner also attributes the fact to schools who are requesting community outreach programs to offset the general decrease in arts programming in public schools, Members of Community Darkroom been working with the fifth graders at Corpus Christi School for four years, in a program funded by Xerox. Instructors teach the children how to use cameras, make their own prints and mount them. They have also worked this year with eighth graders from Jefferson Middle School in a program funded by decentralization funds from the Arts and Cultural Council of Rochester. Community Darkroom is eager to accommodate all students, but because the organization is non-profit, it is not able to help schools without outside funding.

Community Darkroom, owned by the Genesee Center for the Arts, Education and New Ideas, offers two private darkrooms, one teaching darkroom, two exhibition spaces, a classroom/studio set up with lighting equipment, a literary and a meeting room available to the general public. Darkrooms can be rented for $5 per hour for members and $6 per hour for non-members. There is in place a sort of barter system -- if a community member cannot pay darkroom rental fees, he or she can work for them by acting as a monitor at the darkroom on Saturdays, Monday evenings and the first and third Sunday of every month. "Our mission is to enable people from a lot of different economic backgrounds to enjoy photography," Turner explained.

Community Darkroom in Rochester is only one of many darkrooms around the country that welcomes the general public. Community Darkrooms, located on the Watson Theater Complex on the Syracuse University campus, provides community access to both black and white and color photography equipment, as well as digital work stations. The facilities are open to both SU students and members of the community for an hourly fee of $7.50 for black and white and color photography equipment and $10 for digital use. Community Darkrooms, which houses Photoshop and MacroMedia workstations on Macintosh computers, digital color printing equipment, slide and flatbed scanners, also employs a work exchange program similar to that of Community Darkroom's in Rochester. The directors receive free membership and a stipend for their services to the darkroom. Community Darkrooms is funded by both membership fees and SU's student government.

The Light Factory, a photography gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina, also houses a community darkroom. Like Community Darkroom in Rochester, this darkroom supports only black and white photography. For a membership fee of $35 ($25 for students) and $5 the first hour, $3 each additional hour, any member of the community can access 12 enlargers and film processing space. The Light Factory's Community Darkroom is funded by both membership fees and public and private donations. Nations Bank donated $10,000 in 1994, and the organization currently receives funding from the Arts and Sciences Council in Charlotte & the North Carolina Arts Council A new community darkroom, called The Dark Side, is also in the process of opening in Asheville, North Carolina 

At a time when politicians are putting arts education on a back burner, community rooms around the country are refreshing reminders that budget cuts and drastic decreases in arts funding are not also draining the generosity of communities who still value the importance of photography.