My friend Marcia Merrill and I had gotten together over a glass of wine last week when she mentioned she was in her sixth year serving on the board of The Light Factory. “Did you know

it is one of only four photography museums in the country, and that it is about 40 years old?” she said. “That makes it one of Charlotte’s oldest arts institutions.”

I had no idea. I knew that the nonprofit is both for photographers and photography fans, for those who create art and for those who are inspired by it.  And that broad mandate is met in a many different ways through the work of eight staff members and innumerable volunteers.

The group provides monthly salons that discuss photography as well as workshops and classes for people of all skill levels.  “My main camera is my phone,” Marcia told me as she sipped on her glass of chardonnay. “They even have classes on how to take better pictures with your phone.”

Although just about everyone – including professional photographers – has left film and gone digital, The Light Factory still has an old-fashioned darkroom. It makes it available to members and is a highlight for visiting children.  “It is still so exciting to watch the images appear in a tray of chemicals,” Marcia said as I enjoyed my Moselle.  (They also have a digital darkroom filled with computers using the latest software.)

The organization – with 3,000 friends on Facebook – added cinema to its endeavors in 1999 and shows independent films on a regular basis. Marcia described it as “an art house Charlotte.”  Then we started to nibble on a fig and prosciutto flatbread pizza.

There’s also an outreach program for children enrolled in the public school system’s English as a Second Language program.

And then there are the exhibits, about eight each year. “There’s a variety of exhibits with a variety of artistic expressions,” Marcia told me. “It’s not all necessarily pretty.”  We each started on our second glass of wine.

The Light Factory – now housed in Spirit Square – uses two of the facility’s galleries for its exhibits. They are open whenever the building is, so they get a lot of walk-in traffic from people attending performances there. Two exhibits just opened and will run through mid-May: Body and Soul and Bring the Family.

“Photography is different from what it was. How we look at it and absorb it has changed,” Marcia said. “The Light Factory is staying in the forefront.”

Her enthusiasm was catching. It was time to catch an exhibit. “Check, please,” I said.

The Light Factory, 345 No. College St., Charlotte, N.C. 704.333.9755 www.lightfactory.org