THE MISSION OF THE PICTORIAL FOUNDATION IS TO CREATE A SPACE WHERE PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE VISUAL ARTS INTERSECT WITH CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT, FOSTERING DIALOGUE, EXPERIMENTATION AND COLLABORATION. BASED IN NEWBURGH, NEW YORK, WE ARE DEDICATED TO SUPPORTING ARTISTS GLOBALLY WHO WORK ACROSS DISCIPLINES TO EXPLORE NEW FORMS OF STORYTELLING AND EXPRESSION. THROUGH EXHIBITIONS, PUBLICATIONS, RESIDENCIES AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, WE CHAMPION DIVERSE VOICES AND ENCOURAGE BOLD, RISK-TAKING PRACTICES THAT REFLECT AND RESPOND TO THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. OUR MISSION IS TO ADVANCE VISUAL STORYTELLING AS A CATALYST FOR CONNECTION AND REFLECTION.
Pictorial Foundation, operating under THE PICTORIAL LIST INC. (a Not-for-Profit Charitable Corporation), is a 501(c)(3) arts organization founded by Karen Ghostlaw Pomarico and Melanie Meggs in 2024, following the publication of their first hardcover book, The Pictorial List – Volume One – New York. United by a shared belief in the power of art to elevate diverse voices and foster meaningful connection, Karen and Melanie co-founded the organization to expand the reach and impact of their curatorial work and to provide a community for multidisciplinary artists.
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The Pictorial List began in 2020 as a passion project initiated by Melanie Meggs — a digital platform built to inspire and support a global community of photographers. Over time, it grew into a collaborative space for creative exchange, shaped by a dedicated team. Each member plays a vital role in helping the organization evolve while staying grounded in its founding values.​
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The name The Pictorial List is both a tribute and a philosophy — inspired by the early 20th-century Pictorialists who challenged the conventions of their time by asking: Can photography be art? They saw photography not merely as a tool of documentation, but as a medium of personal and poetic expression. ​
Through our not-for-profit work we carry that spirit forward, aiming to advance contemporary multidisciplinary art by empowering artists — especially those from underserved, marginalized, and diverse communities — to harness visual storytelling as a means of advocacy, reflection, and creative transformation.
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Our digital magazine — The Pictorial List — offers in-depth pictorial stories and interviews with a focus on photographers around the world. These features move beyond aesthetics, revealing the social, emotional, and personal layers behind each body of work. Whether focused on human stories, cultural shifts, or overlooked places, the photographers we feature share their worlds with generosity, honesty, and heart.
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The Pictorial Foundation believes in the quiet power of visual arts to reframe the world — and we are committed to ensuring that all voices have the opportunity to be seen, shared, and celebrated.
Building inclusive spaces where visual storytellers can be seen — through exhibitions, installations, workshops and events.
When we open the doors to our new space, we look forward to welcoming you.
CHAIR
Melanie Meggs // is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice engages with feminist epistemologies by positioning lived experience as knowledge and examining how narratives are formed and shared through visual culture. Working across painting, photography, printmaking, and mixed media installation, she creates work that maps the emotional labour of becoming, exploring how women build themselves from within. As Co-Founder of The Pictorial Foundation and Creative Director of The Pictorial List, Melanie leads artist-focused initiatives that support equitable access to creative opportunity. Working between Australia and New York, she wants to advance transnational exchange that enables artist mobility, cross-cultural collaboration, research development, and sustainable professional growth within the arts.
VICE CHAIR
Karen Ghostlaw // is an international award-winning artist whose practice is based on collaboration, connection, and sustained engagement with people and place. She approaches photography as a relational process grounded in dialogue and shared experience. A BFA graduate of Pratt Institute with concentrations in photography, printmaking, and bookbinding, she investigates the relationship between image, environment, and perception through long-term projects that engage with urban reflectivity and spatial interaction. Her ongoing series in New York and abroad examines how surfaces, movement, and structure form layered fields of visual information. As Co-Founder of The Pictorial Foundation and Editorial Director of The Pictorial List magazine, she extends her practice by facilitating platforms for artist development, publication, and international collaboration, building networks that connect creative communities across cultural contexts.
SECRETARY
Michael Pomarico // is an architect with over 40 years of professional practice in the planning, design and construction of hospitals and healthcare facilities. In 1992, he founded Pomarico Design Studio Architecture, PLLC, a firm committed to improving patient outcomes through the creation of exceptional healthcare environments. In 2004, he established HealthRisk Technologies, Inc. to address life safety and risk management in healthcare facilities. Michael brings his extensive business leadership and problem-solving expertise to the Pictorial Foundation.
As a not-for-profit, the Pictorial Foundation will need a team of dedicated volunteers to help us to keep our doors open each day. If you would like to join the Pictorial Foundation Volunteer Program, we are looking for people with a range of backgrounds and skills, a shared commitment to the arts and our organization and a desire to help us carry out our day-to-day activities.