Based in the heart of the vibrant Factory Arts District, Aurora PhotoCenter serves as a thriving hub for artists and enthusiasts.
New students and seasoned photographers can drop by the small gallery and workshop in the Windsor Park neighborhood from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Most of the center’s workshops are single sessions, designed to get anyone hands-on and creating quickly. They nurture emerging talent, but also offer a space where people can develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of contemporary photography.
Inspiration from the pros
Neighbors and visitors from afar — whether they’re photographers or not — can enjoy the many world-class photography exhibitions and monthly shows hosted at Aurora.
On display this month are works from Juan Brenner’s acclaimed photobook, “Genesis,” alongside Leni Mae Wiegand’s multimedia installation, “The Whole Preposterous Ideology.” These exhibitions offer a powerful dialogue on identity, history and the evolving human experience.
Brenner’s work features people in his home country, Guatemala. The photos capture the ways people are holding onto their culture, even when facing big changes.
Visible in many of Brenner’s photos are the impacts of colonization and oppression. But the photos also celebrate the differences and similarities people have across cultures, inviting viewers to evaluate how photography can serve as both a mirror and a magnifying glass.
Wiegand’s elegant and deeply personal exhibition is a layered multi-media experience. It features photographic light boxes, delicate paper scrolls and an electronics-based sculpture that recalls the early pioneers in digital arts. Think Nam June Pike. Think Bill Viola. You can see both of their works inside the galleries of Newfields.
Wiegand explains that sometimes people who are different, like trans people, are seen as something to be fixed. But she says being different can actually be a power. Her art helps people feel understood and part of a bigger online community where everyone can be themselves and find safe spaces.
If you go
Aurora PhotoCenter
🗓️ 11a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday
📍 Aurora PhotoCenter, 1125 Brookside Avenue, Suite C9
🎟️ Free
“Genesis” is on display through Aug. 15
“The Whole Preposterous Ideology” is on display through Aug. 18
Hands-on learning
Aurora regularly hosts workshops led by visiting artists. Brenner and Wiegand each did one in June.
Laura Yurs, an Aurora PhotoCenter member and experimental photographer, recalls taking workshops elsewhere in the past.
“After the classes were done, people tended to scatter,” she said. “At Aurora, you see the same faces coming to events, workshops and exhibitions.”
She describes Aurora as a safe space where she feels a strong sense of ownership and engagement.
Local photographer Joel Atkinson echoes the feeling.
“I was really intimidated (at first) about learning alternative photographic processes. But I never felt like an outsider,” he said. “I was treated the same as other people who had obviously been doing photography for years. It really improved my artistic self-confidence.”
Darby Williams, an Indiana University photography student and summer intern for Aurora, felt the community spirit while helping print photos for the current shows.
“Aurora is great because there are not many places like this,” Williams said.
Developing community
As arts and cultural institutions nationwide navigate a landscape of reduced funding, including significant cuts from organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Indiana Arts Commission, Aurora PhotoCenter faces its own set of challenges. But Mary Goodwin, Aurora’s founding director, remains optimistic about the future.
From 2008 to 2011, Goodwin helped lead the prominent photography organization Light Work in Syracuse, New York. There, she championed programs supporting established and up-and-coming photographers. Aurora, which she founded in 2018, is a continuation of that work.
Over the years, Aurora has received support from organizations like the Efroymson Family Fund, Joy of Giving Something, Inc., Indy Arts Council, Indiana Arts Commission and the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation.
It is also supported by the artists who register for workshops and the nearly 50 members who rent darkroom space and the digital lab to make their work. In this way, a constant flow of creation and connection ensures Aurora remains a resource for photographers in Indianapolis.
“Everyone — even non-members — can register for any of our many workshops and learn fun and unique processes, including lumen, chemigrams, Polaroid lifts, platinum palladium printing, as well as core skills like how to develop color film or make a black and white print,” Goodwin said. “At Aurora, there is always someone there, another artist who you can ask if you have a question or need to troubleshoot.”
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Cary Benbow is a Mirror Indy freelance contributor. You can reach him at carybenbow@gmail.com.
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