Center for Railroad Photography and Art

<img src="//:0">Railroads helped build the United States—and the world—as we know it, uniting people across vast distances while redefining concepts of space and time. Railroads and photography grew up together, and the visual arts are particularly well suited to portraying and interpreting the enormous impact of the railroad on history, society, and culture. Since its founding in 1997, the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A) has been passionately committed to telling railroading’s stories through imagery: interpreting the past creatively, connecting it to the present while looking to the future.

The CRP&A achieves its mission through exhibitions, conferences, and publications that spring from its core commitment to collect, preserve, and then make widely available imagery that portrays the nearly 200-year history of railroads. While based in Madison, Wisconsin, the CRP&A does not maintain a museum space or large facilities, but instead collaborates on its many projects with individuals and institutions ranging from museums and universities to libraries and historical societies. The Center’s modest footprint—currently only two full-time professional staff members—allows it to focus its expertise on railroad imagery and the profound and moving stories it can tell.