ACP seeks visionary curator for 2026 exhibition

Inside its sun-lit brick constructing on Edgewood Avenue, the Atlanta Center for Photography (ACP) is increasing how town sees images. This fall, the nonprofit introduced a brand new Curator-in-Residence Program, its first important step towards cultivating curatorial voices alongside the artists it has championed since 1998. Applications shut 12 p.m. EST., Friday, Nov. 14.

For Executive Director Lindsey O’Connor, this system solutions a query ACP posed to itself in 2024: “How can ACP help catalyze the sustainable arts ecosystem our city desires and deserves?”

“ACP has been an artist-centered organization since our founding,” O’Connor defined. “But a well-rounded arts community is essential for growth. There are very few opportunities for curators in Atlanta, so launching a Curator-in-Residence program is a natural next step—it strategically expands our team and invests in the critical work of presenting and contextualizing lens-based media.”

The chosen curator will lead ACP’s Fall 2026 exhibition and associated packages, supported by a $5,000 honorarium, mission and artist budgets, and year-round entry to the group’s workspace and mentorship community. With ACP’s everlasting house now totally operational, O’Connor mentioned the timing feels proper: “With the opening of our year-round exhibition and programming space on Edgewood Avenue, this felt like the right moment to expand our support and invite a new curatorial voice to lead an ambitious project from concept to exhibition.”

Redefining the body

The residency invitations proposals which can be “conceptually risk-taking” and “site-responsive.” O’Connor envisions installations that stretch past conventional gallery partitions.

“ACP’s exhibition program supports the production of new work, and each exhibition responds intuitively to the unique architecture of our building,” she mentioned. “We imagine projects that use the Project Lab, Reading Room, and even the larger building as an instrument to be played: installations, participatory works, video, or hybrid experiences that activate the space.”

That openness extends to the sort of power ACP hopes the curator will carry. “We’re looking for a curator who is interested in pushing the boundaries of what photography is and can be—someone who is deeply thoughtful in their work with artists and risk-taking in their approach to installation and interpretation,” O’Connor defined. “… we are looking for someone who can innovate boldly at ACP while also encouraging porosity between Atlanta and the larger arts community.”

Investing in innovation

Beyond artistic freedom, the residency comes with tangible scaffolding. O’Connor mentioned ACP designed the construction to mannequin how establishments can equitably assist artistic labor.

“At ACP, we try to live our values through aspirational programs. This includes paying our staff and artists above the local industry standard,” she mentioned. “As an extension of ACP, we want the Curator-in-Residence to have both the freedom and the scaffolding to innovate boldly. The combination of financial support with production and administrative resources means the Curator-in-Residence can focus on planning and executing an ambitious exhibition and slate of programs with the knowledge that ACP supports their labor and vision implicitly.”

A name to curiosity

For these nonetheless drafting their concepts, O’Connor provided easy recommendation: “If you have a project that excites you, don’t overthink it—share your ideas. We’re not looking for perfection; we’re looking for curiosity, rigor, and a willingness to challenge expectations around what lens-based work can be.”

As the group imagines future cycles, she added, the long-term imaginative and prescient is open-ended however hopeful: “Since this is our first residency cycle, how the program continues, grows, or evolves remains to be seen. Ideally, in partnership with the right funder, ACP’s Curator-in-Residence program could grow into a model that is even more supportive and robust. We have no shortage of imagination.”

For Atlanta’s curators and inventive thinkers, that creativeness begins tonight.

Applications for the 2026 Curator-in-Residence are due by midday, Nov. 14. Apply here by way of the Atlanta Center for Photography.