I have been a long time member of this unique organization and have appreciated the level of excellence the Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles brings to collectors, artists, and enthusiasts in Los Angeles. For over a decade, their focus has been to gather and engage experts and curious newcomers in conversation about the ways photography connects and enriches our community. From their roots as an advisory council to one of the largest museums in the country, PAC LA is now recognized as a leading independent resource for the entire arts community in Los Angeles and beyond. They bring together artists, gallerists, museums, collectors, educators, and individuals to create unique collaborations, programs and experiences. PAC LA produces a robust calendar of expertly curated public and member events throughout the city, along with online talks and guided travel, on their own and in partnership with other notable arts organizations. They also produce a thought-provoking digital newsletter every month. It’s free, and you can subscribe here.

I have just returned from another terrific Paris Photo experience and one of the highlights of the event was the annual brunch organized by the Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles. Held in a breathtakingly beautiful hotel steps away from the Grand Palais, the event provides community, connections, and delicious food.

Alex Fierro and Michael Hawley with other members during PAC LA’s annual excursion to Paris Photo. Photo courtesy Alex Fierro.

“This way” for a very special members-only early access tour of Paris Photo 2024 the Grand Palais.

Recently, the organization established a physical space in downtown Los Angeles, at the Reef, and will host events and exhibitions in the space. 2025 has been a dynamic year for the organization with a focus on The Year of the Woman. 

Closing reception for PAC’s inaugural group exhibition at its new space at The Reef in Downtown LA with Alanna Airitam, Mary Beth Heffernan, Siri Kaur and Alia Malley.

PAC LA states: In honor of the powerful women who helped to shape PAC LA’s first decade, we are launching Year of the Woman, a series of flagship public educational events celebrating notable women in fine art photography. The organization is building an entire year of programming around this central theme and will offer free, in-person events, held quarterly at venues across the city in 2025 and early 2026.

Our initial event will feature a discussion by women who have built significant photography collections followed by a panel about breakthrough photobook creators in conjunction with an exhibition presented by the Getty Research Institute. In the summer we will be meeting a group of pioneering women gallerists followed in the fall by a presentation by a celebrated photographer. Before the holidays we will feature an online visit with women in the essential roles as photo conservators. To finish out our Year of the Woman, and to begin 2026, we will meet with some of the nation’s most influential women curators of photography.

To support this wonderful programming we are thrilled to welcome Eastman Museum Los Angeles as a sponsor of Year of the Woman series unfolding throughout 2025 and into 2026.

Dates for all programs will be announced on the PAC LA and Eastman LA websites: paclosangeles.com and eastmanla.org and through Instagram accounts @photographicartscouncil_la and @eastmanmuseumla.

Today we feature a conversation with three board members to share the past and future of this amazing organization. You can watch the YouTube or read the transcript below!

In Conversation with PAC LA Board Members—Michael Dawson, Alex Fierro, and Michael Hawley—recorded “in conversation” specifically for this Lenscratch interview. Please visit https://www.youtube.com/@PhotographicArtsCouncilLA/videos to watch it and more interviews from Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles. Videographer credit: Sydney Pitynski.

Alex Fierro: I’m Alex Fierro, a board member of Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles, and am on our programming committee here in LA.

LA Modern Auctions Alex Fierro, Board Member, Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles (PAC LA). Photo credit: Karl Seifert, LA Modern Auctions.

Michael Hawley: And I’m Michael Hawley.  I’m one of the founding board members of PAC LA, and I also work on programming with Alex and a bunch of other things. And this is Michael Dawson.

Michael Hawley, Founding Board Member, Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles (PAC LA).

Michael Dawson:  I am the current president of PAC Los Angeles. I’ve been on the board since the beginning, and it’s been a wonderful adventure so far.

Michael Dawson, President, Founding Board Member, Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles (PAC LA).

Alex Fierro: I’m the newest board member, I’ve been with the group for just over a year. Let’s talk about the beginnings of Photographic Arts Council.

Michael Hawley: Well, we started as the support council for the photography department at LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and in 2013, we decided to go out on our own and start a non-profit organization.  The members who were with us at LACMA came with us to our new incarnation called Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles. So from there, over the past years, we’ve built a very robust slate of programming involving visits to museums, studio visits, talks with artists, trips, and it’s just burgeoned from there. We’ve done over 450 events since we started.

Alex Fierro: And so from the beginning to where we are now, so many years later, I understand the whole group had a strategic planning meeting trying to figure out how we can grow and get to the goals, a position where we can really give back to the community. Can you talk more about that?

Michael Dawson: A lot of that came about during COVID, actually, or a little bit before. There was a lot of quiet time and a lot of time for reflection. We wanted the organization to have a plan about how it could continue to go forward and do things. We had to change our thinking about what we did, from just being a “membership only” organization to serving a larger general public. A lot of the thinking that went into the strategic plan was about how we would get there. What kind of organization would we need? And what kind of structure would we have? We spent a lot of time and a lot of thinking. Today we’re at a point where we’re just really spreading our wings and figuring out how this works.

Michael Hawley: Right. Building the strategic plan was a lot of work, and we worked kind of tirelessly on it. We involved the community. We interviewed artists. We interviewed gallerists. We got people’s opinions about what our direction should be. And then finally, we put it all together. We’ve been systematically going through the points that we made in our strategic plan, and it’s been working really well. We’ve actually come to the point where we’re almost ready to do it again.

One of the pillars of PAC LA that has emerged is our travel program. We went to London in the Spring, and every year we take a group to Paris Photo. Paris Photo has worked in partnership with us over the years, offering  us VIP passes for any member who wants to go. As a member of PAC LA, it’s one of the perks that you get for free. Our trips in general, such as our visit to London, and more local trips, have been very well subscribed. Because of the access that PAC LA offers, the trip participants get to meet such people as the head photography curator of the Victoria and Albert Museum. We offer members a backdoor entrance to places and events they would not have had access to through conventional channels. This also folds over to our activity here in Los Angeles. We have very close relationships with the curators at the Getty, for example, and they will offer us private tours of exhibitions because they believe in what we’re doing as a group.

PAC members enjoying a special breakfast gathering during a fun-filled Travel Program trip to Toronto for CONTACT Photography Festival.

Michael Dawson: Revenue raised by these trips and our memberships go to fund a great part of what we are able to do. We’ve also had another corollary where we’ve been focusing on more free public programming. This programming is geared to increasing our audience, involving not just PAC LA members, but a broader public from various parts of Los Angeles. Our free public programming takes place all over Los Angeles, from Downtown to Hollywood to Santa Monica. And our turnout has been excellent. I think that’s partly because, as Michael said, it’s a corollary of the people we know and the fact that we’re doing interesting things. Because we’ve had such good attendance, I have to believe that we’re doing things that people are interested in hearing about and exploring.

Michael Hawley: Just doubling back on the idea of access a little bit: for me, one of the main things about PAC LA is the access that we give people. Much of this access would be extremely difficult to get. The photographic community in Los Angeles has faith in us, that we will bring people and teach them about Fine Art Photography or work with these gallerists and these museum curators to help people learn more about photography in general.

Alex Fierro: I was a member and enjoyed coming to the events. What brought me in was the community PAC LA has built. It’s really hard to find good communities that you can become friends with and travel with and go to artist studios with, because it’s such a big sea of people. I became a member and I started going to the events to just make friends and to learn more. There were so many options — two or three different tours a month, every month. It’s really amazing. I was excited to become a board member to help give back to the community as well, particularly with the public programming that has grown this year. I also think it’s really great that we have begun to spotlight artists that might not otherwise be known. We have a community of collectors and can connect them directly with the artists/photographers.

Entering the Hippolyte Bayard exhibit, PAC LA members were treated to a private Getty Center walk-through led by exhibition co-curator Carolyn Peter, during “Nineteenth-Century Photography Now” (06.27.24). Photo credit: Tavares Shirley (@thee_penguin_ )

Michael Hawley: Can you talk a little bit about our theme of this past year?

Michael Dawson: I think that all of this has been organic; we know people, who know the people, who know the people. And I think all of that knowledge base creates connections. So it’s not a far-fetched idea to find ourselves working with Eastman Museum. I think it’s important to mention that the Eastman Museum Los Angeles is a program that the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York is putting forward because they would very much like to have a presence in Los Angeles, I think a very welcome presence. So as they grow that idea of a physical space, they look to local organizations like PAC LA to help them increase their community presence. For instance, when we invited Susan Meiselas to come, we worked with Eastman Museum and their partnership with American Cinematheque to host the Meiselas event at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. I think these evolving partnerships are really important. We have also partnered with the Herb Ritts Foundation. They do a lot in the community, supporting photographers as well as their other important mission to fund AIDS research. They understood that we’re doing something interesting and have funded our online programming this year.

Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles was honored to present An Afternoon with Photographer Susan Meiselas on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at the American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. It was part of PAC’s ongoing Year of the Woman series, generously supported by Eastman Museum Los Angeles. Portrait of Susan Meiselas. Photo credit: Meryl Levin.

Michael Hawley: And that is a really good example of an organic partnership where they saw one manageable part of PAC LA and said, we will fund your online programming. PAC LA does about four or five online programs, or maybe more, a year where we have a host interview an artist or talk to a student or explore an interesting topic.

Alex Fierro: PAC LA does studio visits too.

Michael Hawley: Studio visits have been a popular part of PAC LA since we began. We had an Instagram Live recently that was very successful. It was a live feed and everybody showed up for that one. It was a really successful blend of our online presence with our rich history of studio visits. This studio visit was with Cara Romero in New Mexico, hosted by Hannah Sloan.

Michael Dawson: I really feel that our organization is an idea incubator — that our Board, our membership and the public all bring something to the table, and they express things that they find interesting. We take the ideas that are generated among this large group of people and we make them happen. We can make them happen because we know a lot of people who are doing things. And to me, having spent my whole professional life in the arts, it’s really the thing that’s the most exciting. We have ideas and are able to bring them to fruition. Not one person, and not one organization can do it, but as Alex said, we work as a community and it’s about bringing people together in all kinds of ways.

As we’ve evolved, we’ve had to look further to fund our programs, and that’s where partnerships come together and they say, yes, we want to do that. Yes, we want to continue it. The public funding of our organization has become much greater. It used to be primarily only membership funding, but now we’re really expanding into different initiatives.

PAC LA members captivated during a special curatorial studio walk-through at The Lapis Press, Culver City, CA (03.16.24).

Michael Hawley: Just to touch on something that you passed by there just now: one of the main things from the beginning—and one of our founding president Gloria Katz Huyck’s concerns—was that we don’t become exclusive. She wanted us to be accessible to the public. And we do get these fantastic visits that sound exclusive, but what they really are is unique access to places and people that we are offering to our membership and to the general public because we want Fine Art Photography to be exposed to a larger audience.

Alex Fierro: Right. And then speaking about exposing work to a larger audience, we now have a physical space at The Reef, which is very exciting. We just had an exhibition of all-women photographers, and that was really special to now be a part of that creative community. Could you speak more to this Michael?

Ed Ruscha’s Every Photo on the Sunset Strip captured during one of PAC LA’s many curator-led behind-the-scenes tours; this one for LACMA’s ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN exhibition.

Michael Dawson: If an organization like PAC LA wants to secure federal funding these days for grants, you have to have a physical space. The opportunity to come into this new arts community in downtown Los Angeles at The Reef was presented to us and we took it. I think this was a really important development for us to move to a bricks and mortar setting. PAC LA has the maturity to be able to handle this move and to do something with it. We felt very welcomed into the new space. So I think that it’s, again, another partnership, another community. It came about because of a necessity, but then we look at it and say, well, what can we do with this? What can we do?

Michael Hawley: Can you tell us more about The Reef?

Michael Dawson: Well, The Reef is a large building in downtown Los Angeles at 9th and Broadway. It’s been a lot of different things over the years. It was first built as a wholesale space for designers, for interior design, but it has morphed into something different. The current owner, in partnership with Chris Pichler of Nazraeli Press, has taken several floors of the building and turned them into art spaces and an arts incubator in some ways. Part of it is occupied by CalArts graduate students, they have book publishers, they have working photographers, a couple of gallerists have moved in. And so it creates a really interesting space and it’s just beginning. I’m very excited about the potential there.

Mary Beth Heffernan speaks during the closing reception for Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles’s inaugural group exhibition.

Alex Fierro: I’m really glad that we were able to now share the voices of these photographers in our new location and promote them and give them a space where they can be free to show whatever works they want. We can connect artists with collectors. Things are very difficult in the market today — so I was really happy to hear that a lot of the work from the most recent show in our space sold, and the funds go directly to the artists. With this new space, we can invite guest curators as well. For example, our next exhibition we are working with guest curator Ryan McIntosh with a focus on women photographers.

Margaux Walter – A River Runs Through It Work from Broken Ground, a new group exhibition that just opened on 11/22/25 at PAC LA’s new space inside The Reef, featuring photographers Paula Chamlee, Austin Irving, Erinn Springer, and Margeaux Walter, curated by Ryan McIntosh. It runs through 2/7/25. Image: A River Runs Through It by Margaux Walter.

Michael Hawley: Right, and we’re hoping to do three or four of these small pop-up shows every year, I’m very excited about the exposure it gives to new artists. It’s just a fun thing to do in our little space. It’s great to have this active wall space filled with beautiful art.

Alex Fierro: It’s a really great community to be a part of and again, giving back – it’s a free space to come and visit, and see all of these exhibitions in one location. We haven’t really seen anything like this  in Los Angeles since Bergamot Station, which as we know, has been under attack for 10 plus years. They’ve unfortunately dwindled for many reasons, but now with The Reef, there are many tenants over multiple floors, and growing. Like you said, nonprofits, CalArts, and book publishers—there’s a little bit of everything for everyone so it’s really nice to be a part of that.

Michael Hawley: What’s coming up for PAC LA?

Alex Fierro: It has been really fun and exciting to hear about the Pasadena City College graduate exhibition. I jumped out of my chair when I found out that it was happening. I joined the board not just to be a part of the community, and make friends, and help to expose photographers, but also to somehow give back to the community. I’m the first person to go to college from both sides of my family, and I did that all on my own and so I was very excited about getting a scholarship fund together or even just helping students get materials and supplies. So to hear about this opportunity to help PCC made us all think, how can we pull this together? Michael, can you speak more to this?

Michael Dawson: There was a contest for the photography students at Pasadena Community College, and it ended with prizes and having an exhibition. For various reasons, they weren’t able to continue the funding, but now PAC LA is stepping in to provide the initial funding to get the program off the ground in partnership with the Pasadena City College Foundation. It’s our goal to have this contest happen again around June 2026. This time it’s not going to be just the contest and the winners in the exhibition, we are going to develop programming around the exhibition and bring in people from the arts community to talk about the work, and to interact with the students and to bring the general public into that exhibition.

Michael Hawley: It’s a great idea because it uses our strengths for something that’s in need—and something we know best.

Michael Dawson: Right.

Michael Hawley: I think it’s going to be fantastic.

Agnès Varda – Self-portrait with Bellini painting, Venice, Italy, 1960 PAC LA’s A Picture A Minute 2026 is back on 1/9/26

Alex Fierro: Helping to save this important exhibition event, with both exposure opportunities and prize money – every bit helps these students. This could be the thing that helps students get materials for their next series, and submit it to a gallery for exhibition or could be the materials that spark new ideas. We love the idea of seeing our community supporting the next generation. This is really exciting to me.

Michael Hawley: I hope it’s the first of many organizational connections that we have like this moving forward.

Michael Dawson: We are looking to support photography and lens-based art in the broadest possible way. It doesn’t have to be about one person on the board and their pet interest, it’s really about listening to the community, and asking, “What is it you need and how can we be helpful in making that happen?” And for me, that’s one of the most satisfying things. I’ve been on the market side of the business for my whole life. And I really love being able to separate that out and contribute that experience. For me, it’s about bringing people together, and bringing ideas together, and seeing what happens because that’s the kernel of creativity, that’s something that continues to motivate me, after all this time.

Michael Hawley: That’s a really good place to end I think. Thanks for being here.

The PAC LA YouTube Channel

Upcoming PAC LA Events

Broken Ground
November 22, 2025 – February 7, 2026
A new group exhibition featuring photographers Paula Chamlee, Austin Irving, Erinn Springer, and Margeaux Walter, curated by Ryan McIntosh.at PAC LA’s new gallery space at The REEF, 1933 South Broadway, Suite 430, Los Angeles, CA 90007
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pac-la-broken-ground-opening-reception-at-the-reef-tickets-1965767658985

LA Modern Auctions – Live Auction
LA Modern Auctions will feature lots to benefit Photographic Arts Council Los Angeles
December 11, 2025
– A special preview walkthrough with the specialist on Sunday, December 7th
LA Modern Auctions – 6666 Lexington Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

3rd annual A Picture A Minute
January 9, 2026
Based on Agnès Varda’s idea, host Hannah Sloan offers participants just one minute to share their insights about one image they have chosen.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pac-la-a-picture-a-minute-2026-tickets-1962898792127

Public Lecture presentation with Alejandro Cartagena
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Cartagena has a solo show at SFMOMA – November 22 through April 19, 2026
– At Nazraeli Press at The Reef – 1933 South Broadway, Suite 1266, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Women Curators
February or March, 2026
Year of the Woman event – paclosangeles.com/press-release-year-of-the-woman

PAC LA visits Upstate NY
April 30-May 4, 2026
A guided VIP exploration of the photographic treasures of the George Eastman Museum in Rochester and the vibrant arts scene in Buffalo NY.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pac-la-visits-upstate-ny-april-30-may-4-2026-tickets-1844718224869