Alice Austen House Museum

August 19, 26, September 2, 9. Register for all 4 sessions at info@aliceausten.org

Who Said It Was Simple: Getting to know Audre Lorde through her work.

A HNY sponsored series of 4 virtual workshops with Staten Island poets, Fern Metcalf and M.A. Dennis will examine the life Audre Lorde lived. The group will use Audre Lorde's work to explore themes of power, survival, and creativity, examining her work in pieces in order to provide a glimpse into the totality of her being.

Fern Metcalf is a poet and photographer. Fern was invited as a panel member and honoree for "Women in the Arts" by the Staten Island Women's Political Caucus. She has had two solo photography exhibitions, "Cuba! ... and its magic" at the Spotlight Gallery, Wagner College Campus and most recently, "We The People: Black Indians in America" at Snug Harbor Newhouse Center. Reviews of her work have been featured in Huffington Post and the Staten Island Advance. She has participated in writing workshops in NYC, namely Cave Canem and Poets House. Her writing has appeared in the Staten Island Creative Community Quarterly Journal 2018 and she produced and edited "Kinky Reggae" a zine for ETG Café. She is currently working on a manuscript poetry that focuses on her photo exhibit and research about Black Indians in America and her own Chickasaw heritage entitled "Diggin' Up Stuff In The Cornfield."

M.A. Dennis is an essential writer, and an accomplished spoken word artist. He is the author of a poem published by The New York Times, and an award-winning essay based on his Daily News guest columnist editorial. The former Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Finalist featured at the Brooklyn Book Festival's Audre Lorde Reading and his work has appeared in numerous print and online outlets. M. A. holds a B.A. in Journalism from St. John's University and will soon release his new chapbook, MISTAKEN IDENTITY CRISIS (NYSAI Press). Dennis is also the former Editor of Voices of Fortune, a quarterly social justice journal for burgeoning writers, and he's facilitated multiple writing workshops for the Urban Justice Center; he also served as longtime host of the National Writers Union Open Mic at the New York Public Library. M. A. Dennis resides in Staten Island (and his home is near where a "powerful and dangerous" woman once lived).

7:00pm - 8:30 pm Email info@aliceausten.org for tickets.

Enjoy a socially-distant evening of song & community connection as AAH invites Spotlight Repertory Theatre back to our lawn with a revisit to FIERCE FEMALES, The songs of fierce & fabulous female singer-songwriters. Featuring some of our favotires; Sara Bareilles, Tracy Chapman, Adele, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Amy WInehouse, Janis Joplin, and more! This all-girl group is backed by the incredible Spotlight Band with Tina Kenny Jones at the helm . ​

Directed by Spotlight Rep's Artistic Director, Jacques Stewart.

6:00pm - 7:00 pm Click to RSVP

To accompany the Alice Austen House 2020 exhibition 'Powerful and Dangerous: The Images and Words of Audre Lorde' a panel will be formed by Victoria Munro, Executive Director of the Alice Austen House in collaboration with Lorde's life long friends and Sister Comrades, Clare Coss and Blanche Weissen Cook. The all women panel will closely examine the life and work of Audre Lorde and the powerful influence of her work today.

A self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," Audre Lorde dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia. Lorde was a long-time resident of Staten Island's North Shore, close to the Alice Austen House. Her former residence and the Alice Austen House are designated sites of LGBTQ history.

This program is intended for adults.

Culture Pass is a program for cardholding patrons of New York City's public libraries, the Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Public Library. Support for Culture Pass is provided by The New York Community Trust, Charles H. Revson Foundation, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

7:30pm - 9:00pm register at info@aliceausten.org

Audre Lorde - the Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 A film by Dagmar Schultz, documents Audre Lorde's influence on the German political and cultural scene during a decade of profound social change, a decade that brought about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the re-unification of East and West Germany. This chronicles an untold chapter of Lorde’s life: her empowerment of Afro-German women, as she challenged white women to acknowledge the significance of their white privilege and to deal with difference in constructive ways.

7:30pm - 8:30pm register at info@aliceausten.org

This film powerfully brings Lorde's legacy of poetry and politics to life and conveys the spirit, passion and intensity that remains her trademark.

10:30am - 11:15am Click for more information

Greater Hudson Heritage Network Annual Conference virtual presentation:

Join AAH Executive Director, Victoria Munro, to discuss the role of museums in arts and intersectionality, activism, history and identity in museum education for LGBTQ+ youth. Munro will present AAH teen programs and look deeply into the freedoms provided by museum education as opposed to a classroom environment, creating pathways for equitable and sustainable models for learning as well as exploring LGBTQ+ storytelling.

12:00pm - 5:00pm

Vintage Camera Day will return this year with a series of online photography workshops exploring vintage methods for developing your work!