As a teenager who enjoyed photographing the local skate culture, Ocean Vuong's curiosity led him to the photography section of his community college in Connecticut. There, he was drawn to the work of Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, and Alec Soth. Now known as an award-winning poet, novelist, and essayist, Vuong has never stopped making photographs; on view through May 10 at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, more recently known as CPW, is Vuong's debut photo exhibition. His work captures "the textures of immigrant and working-class life in America with rare tenderness, offering a profoundly personal meditation on loss, survival, and belonging," notes CPW.

  Karin Bruckner, an artist and teacher of printmaking, was recently granted a four-month residency to create a new body of work. The result—an installation comprised of dimensional paintings and structures—is currently on view at the Carter Burden Covello Center for Older Adults, in El Barrio. As one of her students over the past several years, I was intrigued by the variety, scale and integrity of the work. She shared her thoughts in the following email discussion last week: ...