The Photographic Arts Society of Northwestern Pennsylvania (PASNWPA) creates and promotes photography as fine art and provides educational opportunities related to photography.

PASNWPA, a 501(c)(7) non-profit organization that was incorporated in July 2011, creates and promotes fine art photography by showcasing the work created by its accomplished and award-winning contemporary photographers through gallery shows and exhibits throughout the tri-state area. PASNWPA also provides workshops and educational programs for those seeking to advance their skills in photography.

 Additionally, as funding permits, PASNWPA offers scholarships to graduating high school students in the Erie, Crawford, and Warren counties who are pursuing a post-high school education in a photography-related field.

Board meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at the Lincoln Community Center Library, located at 1255 Manchester Rd and Rt 5. There are no meetings in July and December. All members are invited to attend the board meetings. General meetings for all members are held at least twice per year, also on the 3rd Tuesday evening of the month. The meeting in January includes the election of Board Members. (No afternoon board meeting is held when there is a general meeting in the evening.)

Artificial Intelligence in Photography
PASNWPA Guideline

The PASNWPA was first incorporated as a non-profit organization with its primary mission being “to promote and support photography as art.”  The post-processing software that is used by almost all photographers, such as Photoshop, Lightroom, Topaz, Luminar, and others, now have Artificial Intelligence embedded in their tools. Most are just improvements to the tools that help photographers streamline the process of enhancing their original images.  To stay true to our original mission to promote and support photography as art, our organization has issued this statement on Artificial Intelligence:

The major elements in images submitted for PASNWPA-related shows and events must have been captured by the maker using a camera (of any type). Any enhancements must maintain the integrity of the captured image. PASNWPA encourages creative enhancements, including composites and textures, providing the material was not created through the use of word prompts in AI image generation software.