Light Work has the greatest pleasure in announcing Cali M. Banks as our new Communications Coordinator. Banks began on May 25th, 2023. Banks joins Light Work from Brooklyn, New York, where she served as a Community Partnerships Coordinator and instructor of experimental and documentary filmmaking. She is also a current Adjunct Professor of Photography and Video Art for Indiana University campuses. In addition to her public relations and outreach work, Banks will manage Light Work community events, as well as promotion of a range of program initiatives. 

Cali M. Banks was born in Syracuse, NY, where she resides again after ten years. Banks received her BA in Art & Technology and Global Health Studies from Allegheny College, and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Media Arts Practices, specializing in photography, from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally in commercial galleries, artist-run spaces, non-profits, and institutions. These include Art Basel/Miami Art Week (Miami), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Philadelphia), Redline Contemporary Art Center (Denver), Every Woman Biennial (London), Anthology Film Archives (New York City), the University of Colorado Art Museum (Boulder), and a solo exhibition with Brooklyn Film Camera (Brooklyn).

Publications featuring her work include Lomography, Lenscratch, The Hand Magazine, Analog Cookbook, and an upcoming spread in Instant Photographers Magazine. Banks was also a contributing artist to the production of Hold My Hand by the Death Valley Girls, which premiered on Rolling Stone France

Along with being an Adjunct Professor for Indiana University, Banks has also been an Instructor of Record for the University of Colorado Boulder. She has been the lead curator for an exhibition at the 2022 Experimental Photography Festival (Barcelona), where she will be teaching workshops this coming July 2023. Banks has also led workshops through the City University of New York, PolaCon NYC, and Burberry’s Inspire Program. She has worked with Tiger Strikes Asteroid for development needs across the network, along with gallery assistance at their New York space. Banks has a passion for working within the media and photography industry to explore community-based, ethnographic stories, as well as cultivating alternative-to-probation and re-entry programs for middle and high school students, as well as young adults.