Spectrum Gallery

Fifty years ago exhibitions of photography as an art form appeared very infrequently, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. It was at that time a growing number of photographic artists began to congregate in a darkroom rental gallery establishment called Photo-Synthesis. By 1979 this group of local photographers formed a not-for-profit cooperative to create a local forum for the fine art of photography. In 1980 the group rented a space in Fresno's Tower District, and referring to the broad variety of work produced by the charter members, called itself "Spectrum Gallery.” It operated under the umbrella of the Fresno Free College Foundation for several years until achieving its own non-profit 501c3 status as "Spectrum Art Gallery."