WORKSHOP/RESIDENCY PROJECT
In 1999, artist and organizer Anni Mackay initiated the Rochester Intergenerational Art on the Park Project, a participatory, site-responsive program that activated the town green as a space for collective making. Designed as an accessible, low-cost offering, the project convened participants across generations in a series of hands-on activities—from the construction of a 20-foot dragon using recycled materials to the creation of a mural for the local library and the facilitation of live model drawing sessions. The project foregrounded process over product, emphasizing shared authorship, material reuse, and the social dimensions of artistic practice.
Over the past quarter century, Mackay’s work has evolved into a sustained inquiry into the role of art within rural civic life. In 2003, she founded BigTown Gallery as a platform for contemporary art in a regional context, followed by the establishment of BigTown Projects, Inc. in 2012, a nonprofit initiative extending this vision through education, residency, and community engagement. Together, these entities articulate a model of cultural production that is both locally embedded and outward-facing.
In 2024, BigTown Projects launched a pilot workshop and residency program, reaffirming its commitment to arts education as a catalyst for creative exchange. A cohort of regional participants—including emerging and student artists—engaged in a 10-day photography intensive led by Jim Dow and Cassandra Klos. The program emphasized close observation, technical rigor, and dialogue, situating photographic practice within the rhythms and textures of rural Vermont. The resulting experience fostered both individual exploration and collective inquiry.
Continuing in 2026, the workshop builds upon this foundation, again convening Dow and Klos with a new group of participants. As both a pedagogical framework and a communal experience, the program advances BigTown’s ongoing mission: to cultivate artistic practice as a means of connection, reflection, and shared cultural vitality.
UPCOMING WORKSHOP
MY PLACE Photography Workshop 2026
Wednesday, Aug 6, 2026 - Sunday, Aug 16, 2026
BigTown Gallery
99 North Main St, Rochester, VT 05767
PAST WORKSHOPS
Led by Jim Dow & Cassandra Klos
Workshop: August 6 – August 16
Exhibition: Saturday, August 15 - October 25
My Place 3.0 Photography Workshop
August 6–16, 2026 | BigTown Gallery, Rochester, Vermont
BigTown Gallery and BigTown Projects are pleased to present the third and final installment of the My Place Photography Workshop, led by photographers Jim Dow and Cassandra Klos. This 10-day hybrid workshop begins with online sessions and concludes with an in-person intensive at BigTown Gallery, culminating in a public exhibition—in the form of a slide presentation—of participant work.
The exhibition will take the form of a large, continual, onscreen presentation of sequenced selections from each participant’s project in progress that will run during gallery hours until the closing September 7th.
The program is designed for photographers who are developing an ongoing body of work and want focused guidance on editing, sequencing, writing about, printing, and presenting images as a cohesive project. Through group discussions, individual critiques, and hands-on production time, participants will refine their work and prepare it for exhibition.
The workshop is limited to eight participants, allowing for sustained one-on-one instruction and a collaborative working environment. Participants should arrive with a substantial body of photographs related to their chosen subject and be prepared to work toward presenting that project in the final exhibition.
For full details about the program structure, expectations, and schedule, see below. To inquire about participation, please visit the workshop inquiry page on this website.
PARTICIPANT COST $2,500 / APPLICATION HERE
Application deadline June 15 - Participants announced June 20th - Payment required June 30th
Includes the workshop, meals, tickets to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival and a discount towards accommodations at the Stable Inn.
FOR MORE INFORMATION info@bigtownvermont.com
WORKSHOP OUTLINE
THURSDAY, August 6 10am to noon: Workshop Zoom Meeting
INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKSHOP
Meet the instructors. Q & A.
Participants introduce themselves, show a selection of images from the project they’re working on. Opportunity for discussion about the approach to the idea of My Place
Cassie & Jim briefly present their own work/backgrounds and then show a small variety of examples that illustrate the concept.
Individual zoom meeting available until session in Rochester begins.
THURSDAY, August 13 - Arrival in Rochester
TIME: 12 - 5pm Set up. Technical instruction
Participants settle in. Local picture assignment - each participant responds.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14th - Class Critiques, Production time
TIME: 10-5pm
Share your project with the group.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 – Production towards the onscreenexhibition
10am - 12pm: Open “Office” Hours: Participants come to the workshop space with files.
12pm – 3:30 pm: Project editing and presentation in the Project Space Gallery.
INCLUDED: Special event with Wild & Scenic Film Festival
All participants are guests of the event. Festival at the Rochester High School 3pm start
Spirit of the Dough Dinner Party in the garden at 6:30pm
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 Open to the public
11 AM – 2 PM: Bagels & Talk
In Conversation with Cassandra Klos
MY PLACE Photography Workshop PILOT SUMMER 2024
with JIM DOW & CASSANDRA KLOS
and special guests VIRGINIA BEAHAN & PETER MORIARTY
How do you show such a place through photography to someone who has never been there?
MY PLACE Photography Workshop focused on visual meaning through photography. The participants were asked to think of the subject matter, a place (physical or metaphorical) that is meaningful to them, as an extension of themselves — their interests and idea — with total freedom to represent it as they wished. The core of this process was to think about something, in this case, to think through looking, employing the resulting images to convey the meaning(s) that you intend.
Thanks to the hard work of our instructors, master photographers Jim Dow and Cassandra Klos, and the incredible enthusiasm of our five diverse participants, this pilot workshop exceeded our expectaitons. After 10 days of intensive, self-directed work, the MY PLACE participants came to Rochester the weekend of the 18th to work on their projects. With wonderful guidance, they left with their hard-won confidence from the reward of learning, looking and thinking deeply about the science and nature of photography. AND were so proud to exhibit the results of their time with us in the Projects Space gallery.
In conjunction with the AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY exhibition that ran JULY 5 - SEPTEMBER 15, 2024.
INTERESTED IN FUTURE WORKSHOPS?
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