C.J. Pressma is a graduate of Antioch College and holds an M.F.A. in Photography from Indiana University. He studied as a special graduate student with Minor White at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and with Henry Holmes Smith at Indiana University.
In 1970 he founded the Center for Photographic Studies – an alternative school of creative photography. The Center provided a learning experience for those seeking to explore photography as creative expression. During its eight-year existence the center attracted students from over 35 states and foreign countries 7o its full-time resident program and provided part-time instruction and darkroom access for hundreds of students in the Louisville metropolitan area. Its two galleries provided monthly photographic exhibits featuring the works of local, regional, and internationally acclaimed photographic artists including Ansel Adams and Minor White.
In 1978 he was awarded a National Endowment Fellowship in Photography.
In 1979 Pressma embarked on a career as a multimedia producer and marketing communications specialist. In 1984, his seven part series Witness to the Holocaust, was released in the U.S. and Canada where it remains in distribution today. One of the first productions to use survivor interviews as the exclusive content to tell the story of the Holocaust, Witness to the Holocaust has received numerous national awards.
In 1997 he was awarded the American Advertising Federation’s prestigious Silver Medal Award for “outstanding contributions to advertising and furthering the industry’s standards, creative excellence, and responsibility in areas of social concern.”
In December,2001 Pressma was awarded a Fellowship by the Kentucky Arts council.
Pressma is represented by Pyro Co-Op Gallery in Louisville.Selected Exhibitions
2001
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY, Digital Printmaking Now (one of 84 artists chosen for this landmark exhibition.)
Gallerie Hertz, Louisville, KY, Cuba: Two Views.
Traveling exhibition at five Kentucky galleries Beatitudes Betrayed.
2002
Trace Contemporary Art, Belfast, N. Ireland, Star Spangled Colour,
Waterfront Hall, Belfast N. Ireland, Links That Connect Us,
Jewish Community Center, Louisville, KY, Solo Exhibition,
2003
Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, Group Show.
Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN, Solo Exhibition.Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas, NV. Here & There: Exploring Regionalism.
2004
Ardgillan Castle, Dublin, Ireland An exhibition of artists from America, Ireland, & Northern Ireland.
Nazareth Arts Gallery, Bardstown KY, The Colors of Cuba, A Solo Exhibition.
Glassworks, Louisville, KY, Three State Political Art Exhibition.
Actors Theatre, Louisville, KY, Al Smith Fellowship Exhibition.
University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY, Engaging Representations: Contemporary Art from the Speed Museum.
2005
PYRO Gallery, Louisville, KY, The Weave Suite Revisited: A Fiber Collaboration.
Actors Theatre, Louisville, KY, Photographic Reality: Three Visions.
Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN, Doublespeak: An exhibition with 14 artists from Kentucky, Indiana, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY, The Weave Suite Revisited: A Fiber Collaboration.
Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY. Current Acquisitions.
2006
Philadelphia, PA, Art Quilts at the Sedwick.
Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY, Uncommon Wealth: Legacy of the
Kentucky Arts Council Visual Art Fellowships.
Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY, Photography Now.
PYRO Gallery, Louisville, KY, Triumph of Evil.
2007
PYRO Gallery, Louisville, KY, Art Quilts, solo exhibition
Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY, Photography What Now?
Owensboro Museum of Art, Owensboro, KY, Uncommon Wealth: Legacy of the Kentucky Arts Council Visual Art Fellowships.
Actors Theatre. Louisville, KY, Uncommon Wealth: Legacy of the
Kentucky Arts Council Visual Art Fellowships.
2008
University of South Carolina, McMaster Gallery, Columbia, SC, Photography: Southeast an Invitational Exhibition.
Firelands Association for the Visual Arts, Oberlin, OH, Artist as Quiltmaker XIII.