News
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Open Call: “Resilient Communities” – AAH 4th Triennial of Staten Island Photography
The Alice Austen House invites photographers to submit work for Resilient Communities, the fourth Staten Island Triennial of Photography, opening March 2026.
Staten Island’s diverse communities are often overlooked in New York City’s cultural landscape, with limited funding for the arts and few opportunities for local artists to showcase their work. The Staten Island Triennial of Photography addresses this gap by providing a critical platform for contemporary photographers while amplifying voices from underrepresented communities.
Resilient Communities explores how individuals and groups navigate hardship, adapt, and build sustainable futures. Resilience is not just survival—it is adaptation and reinvention. We seek photography that captures these narratives through activism, cultural preservation, economic survival, environmental sustainability, and personal perseverance, offering diverse perspectives on what it means to endure and thrive.
The exhibition will take place at the Alice Austen House, a cultural center with a rich photographic legacy and over a century of artistic inspiration. Submissions will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of jurors from fine art and journalism backgrounds. Past jurors have included Justine Kurland (artist and photography professor), Jessica Dimson (Deputy Photo Editor, The New York Times Magazine), and Paul Moakley (Executive Producer of Video, The New Yorker).
Previous Triennial artists have gained significant recognition, with work published in The New York Times and TIME Magazine, exhibited through Photoville NYC, and commissioned by the Public Art Fund. Notable photographers including Olga Ginzburg, Stephen Obisanya, and Irma Bohorquez-Geisler launched key aspects of their careers through this platform.
Submission Guidelines:
- Deadline: December 15, 2025, 11:59 PM
- Eligibility: Open to photographers that are Staten Island residents or outside residents making work representing Staten Island
- Format: Up to 10 images per project (multiple projects allowed); 3000px longest side, JPEG at 72DPI
- Application Fee: Free
- Required: Artist statement and biography
Benefits for Selected Artists:
- $250 honorarium
- Financial support for printing and framing
- Mentoring opportunities
- Paid presentation options for talks and workshops
Questions?
Contact the museum at info@aliceausten.org or 718-816-4506 -
She Sells Seashells Featured in FAD Magazine
We’re grateful to FAD Magazine for the lovely write-up on our upcoming exhibition She Sells Seashells, curated by Gemma Rolls-Bentley, exploring queer women’s lasting relationship with the seashore. Read the full article here
“I was deeply moved when I first visited the Alice Austen House — it felt like an important and rare site of lesbian history, a place where that history lives and breathes. The waterside setting, and the relationship Alice shared with the sea, shaped a home where she, Gertrude, and their circle could be open and free with one another. I’m so excited to bring the work of intergenerational living artists from across the US and Europe into this space, placing their practices in conversation with Alice’s photography and the legacy of queer life that unfolded here. For me, there’s something in both Alice’s work and that of the artists in this show that sees the sea as a site of limitless potential — a space of opportunity, hope, and unconditional acceptance.” – Gemma Rolls-Bentley
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A Staten Island Youth Awarded
Congratulations to our Education and Visitor Services Associate and teaching artist Lexy Trujillo-Hall. A staunch advocate for the arts in education, our iconic and beloved Lexy will be celebrated as a future leader at the fourth annual Staten Island Youth Awards (SIYA) held by the TYSA Behavioral Health Coalition.
The TYSA Behavioral Health Coalition is a group of over 50 organizations dedicated to reducing youth substance misuse and improving youth mental health. Every year, the TYSA Youth Consultants host the Staten Island Youth Awards, an annual ceremony that uplifts young people age 12 – 24 years old on amazing work they have been doing in the community.
This year will be our 4th Staten Island Youth Awards and it will be hosted at The Staaten LiGreci 697 Forest Avenue, Staten Island NY 10310 at the Esquire (on the second floor) from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM June 30th 2025.
You can register for the event through this Google form. You will be reminded a few days prior to the event and the day of the event itself.
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This artist, educator, curator is keeping the history of one of S.I.’s most notable residents alive
“This house really does feel like my second home now.”
Congratulations to our Executive Director Victoria Munro for her inclusion in GO! Magazine’s 100 Women We Love: Class of 2025—celebrating 100 queer women who inspire, lead, and remind us what resilience, brilliance, and unapologetic visibility look like. Her feature in this honor coincides with the release of her profile in the Staten Island Advance’s Pride 2025 series:
Having grown up by the sea in New Zealand, Victoria Munro, 49, immediately felt very much at home on Staten Island, especially after she laid eyes on the Victorian Gothic cottage that overlooks the Narrows on a green, grassy hill at the foot of Hylan Boulevard in Rosebank.
Today the self-described queer artist, educator and writer is the executive director and curator of that very house: the Alice Austen House Museum—an institution deeply rooted in LGBTQ+ history.“Over the past seven years as executive director, it’s been incredibly rewarding to watch the Alice Austen House grow in impact, staff, and community reach. We have an exceptionally collaborative team that views Alice as our guiding force in creating a safe, inclusive space for all who engage with our work.” (Staten Island Advance, 2025)
“Pride is both a celebration and an uprising. It’s a joyful affirmation of identity, love, and community—but also a powerful reminder of the ongoing work needed to create and protect safe spaces for self-expression. It’s a moment to honor those who came before us, whose courage and resilience paved the way, and to recommit ourselves to building a more inclusive and equitable future for all.
It’s more important than ever that we come together to protect our LGBTQIA+ communities from erasure, ensure our safety, and continue pushing for justice, inclusion, and lasting change.”
GO! Magazine: Victoria Munro
Victoria Munro is a dynamic queer artist, educator, writer, and curator whose multifaceted practice bridges sculpture, public art, and cultural leadership. Originally from New Zealand, Munro is currently Executive Director of the Alice Austen House Museum—a Staten Island institution deeply rooted in queer history. On the site of this 17th Century home, once shared by photographer Alice Austen and Gertrude Tate, Munro stewards LGBTQ+ visibility, storytelling, and artmaking programs that empower queer youth.
“In recent years, this work has expanded beyond the museum walls and into our LGBTQ+ landmarked park grounds with the creation of the Queer Ecologies Garden Project,” explains Munro, who launched the project to cultivate spaces of connection, healing, and affirmation through nature. “The garden features non-binary, intersex, and self-seeding plants, alongside symbolically queer flora—each chosen to reflect the fluidity and diversity of queer existence.” Munro is also Board President of the Museums Council of New York City. “We are living through incredibly dark and challenging times,” she tells GO. But she believes deeply in the power and resilience of the community. “My vision moving forward is to harness my experience in organizing to help build a stronger, united network of cultural and preservation institutions that center LGBTQ+ voices and programming,” she says. “It’s about more than just preservation—it’s about visibility, resistance, and care. By working collectively, we can create spaces that not only affirm queer lives, but actively protect and uplift them in the face of erasure.”
Read the GO! Magazine article online here.
Read the Staten Island Advance Pride 2025 Profile online here.
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Alice Austen’s Homecoming
Historic Richmond Town Repatriates Alice Austen’s Photographic Archive to the Alice Austen House After More Than 80 Years
The Alice Austen House Museum (AAH) proudly announces the repatriation of a near-complete archive of photographs by seminal American photographer Alice Austen (1866–1952). This landmark acquisition, transferred from Historic Richmond Town, includes more than 2,600 cellulose nitrate negatives, over 2,000 glass plate negatives and 1,500 photographic prints, along with more than 300 yet-to-be-digitized items. Representing the most comprehensive record of Austen’s life and work to date, these materials will now be preserved and interpreted at her beloved former home and studio.
Image: E. Alice Austen, The Darned Club, October 29, 1891. Donated to the Staten Island Historical Society in 1945, the original glass plate negative and image of this iconic photo, taken on the lawn of Clear Comfort, is one of the many items returning home 80 years later.
In 1945, when Alice Austen was evicted from her lifelong home, Clear Comfort, she entrusted her archive to her longtime friend Loring McMillen at the Staten Island Historical Society (now known as Historic Richmond Town, or HRT): a collection of over 7,500 original prints and negatives. An innovator in documentary photography, Austen captured vivid images of New York’s immigrant and labor communities, the social lives of women, and the architectural and natural landscapes she encountered. Her work spans her native Staten Island, New York City and Harbor, and extensive travels through Europe, Morocco, and Puerto Rico, and represent one of the most significant contributions to early American photography. Historic Richmond Town has cared for and dedicated countless hours to the preservation of this monumental archive.
Jessica Phillips, Historic Richmond Town Executive Director said: “Historic Richmond Town has been honored to steward the Alice Austen photo collection for more than 80 years, ever since Austen entrusted it to our care. Over the decades, our team has dedicated thousands of hours to researching, preserving, and sharing this remarkable body of work with the public. As the Alice Austen House celebrates its 40th anniversary and continues to distinguish itself as a national leader in LGBTQ+ history, the time is right to return the collection to its home at Clear Comfort. In a unanimous vote, our Board of Directors proudly approved the transfer, knowing that the Alice Austen House will carry forward the legacy of Austen’s life and photography with the care, expertise, and passion it so deeply deserves.”
“The Alice Austen House is honored to partner with Historic Richmond Town in the deeply meaningful repatriation of Alice Austen’s glass plate negatives and printed photographs,” said Victoria Munro, Executive Director of the Alice Austen House.
“This transfer marks a pivotal moment—not only for our institution, but for the broader cultural landscape—at a time when LGBTQ+ communities face renewed threats of erasure. Museums must lead in preserving and amplifying these vital legacies, and we are proud to do so. As we celebrate our 40th year as a museum open to the public, welcoming Alice’s work back home is both historic and deeply moving.”
Over the years, the Alice Austen House has taken critical steps to prepare for this homecoming. The museum has upgraded preservation and storage capabilities and retained the expertise of trained archivist—and ardent Austen historian—Kristine Allegretti, Director of Collections and Operations. The next phase includes a comprehensive digitization and access initiative that will merge this newly repatriated archive with the museum’s existing digital holdings.
“Working with Alice Austen’s archive is both a professional privilege and a personal joy,” Allegretti noted. “This collection offers a rare, intimate look at a woman who documented the world around her with precision, wit, and profound empathy. To now steward these materials in her very home is nothing short of historic.”
As part of this initiative, a large-scale collections effort will begin in late 2025 to bring all of the digitized images online and make them publicly accessible, encouraging new scholarship and public knowledge. Now a nationally designated site of LGBTQ+ history, the Alice Austen House is committed to inclusive interpretation that honors Austen not only as a groundbreaking photographer, but also as a lesbian woman and maverick whose story deserves full visibility.
The Alice Austen House extends its heartfelt thanks to Historic Richmond Town for their decades of thoughtful stewardship of this extraordinary collection. Their care has ensured the survival of Alice Austen’s legacy, and we are honored to carry this work forward. We look forward to continuing this meaningful collaboration as we digitize the full collection and expand access to Austen’s remarkable body of work for audiences everywhere.
To commemorate the occasion, Historic Richmond Town will present the collection to the Alice Austen House at a special event celebrating the release of Too Good to Get Married—a new book on the life and work of Austen by author Bonnie Yochelson. Featuring a panel discussion between the author and Executive Director Victoria Munro, the event takes place on June 21st at Historic Richmond Town at 2pm. To learn more and register to attend, visit the website.
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Alice Austen Included in The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910 at The Met
In a timely recognition of photography’s foundational role in shaping American cultural identity, Alice Austen has been included in The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910, currently on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This exhibition, drawn from the William L. Schaeffer Collection, presents a redefined narrative of American photography from its inception to the dawn of the 20th century, positioning Austen within a complex dialogue of canonical and overlooked figures whose works collectively illuminate the medium’s transformation. The photographs come from a single collection, amassed by William L. Schaeffer, and donated to The Met by Jennifer and Philip Maritz.
Austen, alongside other recognized figures like Josiah Johnson Hawes, John Moran, and Carleton Watkins, finds herself in conversation with the often-unknown practitioners who, from coast to coast, captured the nation’s rapidly changing visual landscape. The exhibition spans an array of formats, from daguerreotypes and cartes de visite to stereographs and cyanotypes, marking the profound shift in how Americans both saw and were seen during a time of immense social and cultural upheaval.
Photography, Ralph Waldo Emerson astutely noted in 1835, was not merely a new art form but the harbinger of an ocular age—one in which visual perception would not only capture but also construct reality. The New Art serves as both a historical survey and a reflection on this notion, placing Austen’s work at the nexus of artistic, commercial, and psychological preoccupations that helped redefine the American experience in the late 19th century.
Alice Austen’s inclusion in such a major institutional exhibition underscores the enduring relevance of her innovative approach to portraiture and self-representation. As a pioneer whose intimate and forward-thinking lens chronicled both the personal and the public, Austen’s legacy continues to resonate with the contemporary moment, inviting us to reconsider the ways in which we document and reflect on our own identities.
For those in New York, The New Art offers an invaluable opportunity to engage with the early moments of American photographic history and witness the diverse voices that contributed to its formation—Alice Austen’s among them.
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AAH + Photoville 2025: Staten Island Open Call
The Alice Austen House presents the return of the Staten Island edition of Photoville, the NYC-wide outdoor festival of photography, this June on Staten Island. This annual festival provides an accessible venue for photographers and audiences alike to connect through thought-provoking and visually compelling storytelling — with free access for all.
Examining the state of contemporary photography on Staten Island (SI), showcasing a diverse NYC borough that is often underrepresented, AAH is now seeking submissions from Staten Island-based and photographers documenting Staten Island for outdoor exhibitions. Photographers are invited who explore contemporary themes, share powerful stories, and showcase innovative approaches to the photographic medium, celebrating the rich diversity and unique narratives of our community.
Submission Guidelines
- Open to: Staten Island-based artists and artists documenting Staten Island themes.
- Exhibition format: Outdoor, public installations at the Alice Austen House and on the South Beach Boardwalk.
- Submissions: Minimum 5 images maximum 10. Artists may submit multiple entries if they wish to present more than one thematic submission.
- Review: Submissions will receive initial review by the curatorial team at the Alice Austen House and Photoville.
- Follow up: Successful applicants will work with the Alice Austen Curatorial team to streamline and design their presentation as well as design possible public program opportunities.
- Deadline: Submissions close on January 16th, 2025.
ABOUT PHOTOVILLE
The annual Photoville Festival brings a special and outstanding group of artists and programming partners to curate and present free outdoor photo exhibitions across all five boroughs of NYC.
Photoville is a New York-based non-profit organization that works to promote a wider understanding and increased access to the art of photography for all. Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.
In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions. By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation. Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.
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Once a home, always a home.
Dear Friends of Alice Austen,
Before we were a museum, we were “Clear Comfort”—the white cottage at the water’s edge lovingly named by Alice Austen’s grandmother: the sheer haven of solace for Alice and her family, and later, Gertrude. It was here when Alice’s uncle placed a camera in her 10-year-old hands. And it is here—imprinted in the ether of this place—where Alice’s passion for her art and life, inspired by his gift, radiates.
That same love and passion envelops us today, empowering us to make the Alice Austen House a safe space of learning and growth for young adults.
What Uncle Oswald gave to Alice was alchemy—the transmutation of memory into form—a way to crystallize a thought into a shared reality. The camera he put into her hands confirmed her existence and perception in a way that only photography can. Her analog techniques that guide our education programs today were a labor of love and patience—a testament to the arduous process that true growth always demands.
Our Roaming Image Lab—a mobile workshop—is designed in this spirit: to deliver this gift to the hands of New York City students who need it most.
When Alice ventured into the world, she carried nearly fifty pounds of photographic equipment on her journeys. When we venture outside the grounds of this home, we take with us all the tools and love for Alice Austen’s craft to our community. But we can’t do this without you.
Your donation directly supplies quality photographic materials into the hands of an NYC student and gives them the very same gift that transformed Alice so many years ago.
When you donate today, you become a Founding Supporter of our Roaming Image Lab and ensure this cherished home remains a clear comfort to all our communities.
In Community,
Victoria Munro and the Alice Austen House Team
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The Alice Austen House is a NYSCA FY25 Grantee
The Alice Austen House is thrilled to share that we have been awarded $40,000 by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the nonprofit arts and culture sector. Through New York State’s continued investment in arts and culture, NYSCA has awarded $82 million this year to 509 artists and 1,497 organizations across the state.
Executive Director of NYSCA Erika Mallin said, “On behalf of the Council and staff, I am so proud that we are supporting the critical work of so many nonprofit organizations all across the state, including work of the Alice Austen House. New York State’s art and culture nonprofits make us a global leader, strengthening our connections to each other and the larger world. I thank you for your dedication and service and look forward to all your work in the coming year.”
The Alice Austen House was first and foremost a home to Alice and her loved ones and it is only with the ongoing generosity of our benefactors that we can endeavor to embody that concept for all our communities. We are so grateful for NYSCA’s support.
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Lesbian Avengers in Conversation: Humanities New York Virtual Lecture Series
The Alice Austen House is excited to present Lesbian Avengers in Conversation, a Humanities New York Virtual Lecture Series launching in December 2024. Over four weeks, members of the pioneering activist group, the Lesbian Avengers—who held a powerful action at the Alice Austen House in 1994—will join in conversations that explore the significance of organizing, raising visibility for lesbians, and the critical role of archives in activism.
Lesbian Avengers protest at the Alice Austen House, July 31, 1994. Photo by Saskia Scheffer. In July 1994, wearing old fashioned bathing suits and life preservers labeled, “Dyke Preservers,” the Lesbian Avengers disrupted the annual Nautical Festival at the Alice Austen House in protest. On the waterfront lawn, waving Alice’s printed photographs, they called for the museum to recognize Alice Austen’s 55-year relationship with Gertrude Tate, including the 30 years they lived and shared together in their home. The Lesbian Avengers were dedicated to “fighting for lesbian visibility and survival” through direct action and humor.
Learning that the Board of Directors had publicly denied Alice’s lesbianism, they proclaimed the Austen House Museum “a national lesbian landmark.”What seemed like an outrageous demand in 1994 eventually came to pass. In 2017, the Alice Austen House Museum was declared a national site of LGBTQ history.
In this virtual lecture series, each week of this December, a different guest from the Lesbian Avengers will join Alice Austen House Executive Director Victoria Munro to reflect on the impact of their 1994 action, share insights into their organizing experiences, and discuss how their activism has shaped their subsequent careers. These discussions will offer unique perspectives on the intersections of activism, LGBTQ+ visibility, and public history.
This series marks the beginning of a larger initiative by the Alice Austen House to document and honor the legacy of the Lesbian Avengers and their contributions to authentic storytelling for trailblazers like Alice Austen. Generously supported by Humanities New York, Lesbian Avengers in Conversation aims to deepen understanding of LGBTQ+ history and inspire future generations of activists and allies.
The Lesbian Avengers began in New York City in 1992 as a direct action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility. They refined media-savvy tactics, often creating actions for their visual appeal, and touched a nerve with the Lesbian Avenger Manifesto. The most enduring legacy of the Lesbian Avengers is the Dyke March, which catapulted the group into worldwide acclaim. In 1993, the Avengers organized a Dyke March for lesbian visibility on the eve of the Lesbian and Gay March on Washington that mobilized 20,000 lesbians. The Avengers also developed a civil rights organizing project that championed “out” grassroots activism, that not only fought homophobic initiatives, but worked to train activists for the longterm.
Events in this Virtual Series
Maxine Wolfe
December 2, 2024
6:00pm ET
Saskia Scheffer
December 9, 2024
6:00pm ET
Anne Maguire
December 16, 2024
6:00pm ET
Lisa DeBoer
December 23, 2024
6:00pm ET
