Alice Austen House to Host Sesquicentennial Gala on June 18 

The Alice Austen House will present Alice Austen's Sesquicentennial Gala on Saturday, June 18, on the waterfront lawn of Clear Comfort, Alice Austen's historic home on Staten Island, with music by Jeannine Otis and DJ Kitty.

The gala is the signature event of a year-long celebration to honor Alice Austen's 150th birthday. This elegant evening of dining and dancing al fresco will provide attendees an opportunity to toast Austen's remarkable legacy as a groundbreaking photographer and modern woman of the Victorian age, and support the museum's public and educational programming. The Alice Austen House is proud to honor Debi Rose and Daile Kaplan and present a photography award to Arlene Gottfried.�

Honoree Debi Rose, a second-generation Staten Island native, is Deputy Majority Leader of the New York City Council. She has made economic development, education, public health and public safety her signature issues in the City Council. Subsequent to her re-election in November 2013, Councilwoman Rose was appointed Deputy Majority Leader for the City Council, Chair of its Waterfronts Committee, and is a member of the Council's powerful Budget Negotiating Team. In addition, she sits on the Land Use, Aging, Education, Rules, Privileges, & Elections, and Transportation committees.

Alice Austen House is proud to recognize Councilwoman Rose for her leadership on the north shore in a time of transition and for her tremendous support of cultural organizations. Councilwoman Rose has secured significant funding for the museum's capital needs and programs, especially the Alice Austen House's education initiatives, enabling the museum to offer meaningful programs like Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) and Cultural Immigrant Initiative to North Shore Title 1 schools. The Alice Austen House is deeply grateful for Councilwoman Rose's remarkable support.

Honoree Daile Kaplan is Vice President and Director of the Photographs and Photobooks department at Swann Auction Galleries. Kaplan appears regularly as a photographs specialist on PBS's popular television program "Antiques Roadshow," and has also appeared as a commentator on photographic images on The History Channel, HGTV, and The Discovery�Channel. Kaplan is a champion of photography in its myriad forms and has lectured extensively about collecting. Her recently published book, "Pop Photographica, Image Objects," highlights three-dimensional objects from her collection that were exhibited at Les Rencontres d'Arles, in France. Daile Kaplan formerly served as curator of the Alice Austen House. She curated a pivotal exhibition about Alice Austen, One Fine Day, in 1988 and authored the exhibition catalog, and has remained a strong supporter throughout the years.

The museum will present the third annual Alice Austen Award�for the Advancement of Photography to photographer Arlene Gottfried for her boldly personal photography of New York City and long history of support of the museum. Gottfried's photographs may be found in major collections, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, The New York Public Library, and the Maison Europ�enne de la Photographie in Paris. Born in Brooklyn, Gottfried graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and worked as a photographer at an ad agency before freelancing for top publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Fortune, Life, and The Independent in London.

Gottfried has exhibited at the Leica Gallery in New York and in Tokyo, and at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and most recently at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Berenice Abbott International Competition of Women's Documentary Photography.

Alice Austen House's Sesquicentennial Gala is chaired by board members Marie Fargas and Alex Van Clief with gala committee members Nancy Myers Benbow, Al Branchi, Jo-Ann Callan, Olga Gaeta, John Gambro, Donna Hakim, Bill Lyons, Janice Monger, Paul Smith, John Sollazzo, and Jack Turner.

The Alice Austen House fosters creative expression, explores personal identity, and educates and inspires the public through the interpretation of the photographs, life and historic home of pioneering American photographer, Alice Austen (1866-1952). The Alice Austen house honors the legacy of Alice Austen by offering ongoing exhibitions of her life and work and of contemporary photography; by delivering educational programs for New York City schoolchildren; and by hosting a range of public arts programs. Austen is best known as a highly regarded and prolific photographer who documented important aspects of our history from the mid- 19th�century through the first half of the 20th�century.

For today's viewers, Austen's groundbreaking photographs offer a unique view into the past and a connection to social issues we face in contemporary life. The Alice Austen House and grounds are owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, operated by the Friends of Alice Austen House Inc 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and a member of�Historic House Trust. The Alice Austen House is designated a New York City and National Landmark, on the National Register of Historic Places, and�a member of the distinguished Historic Artists' Homes and Studios, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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The Alice Austin House is located at 2 Hylan Boulevard, Rosebank, in Staten Island, NY. The event begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails and music provided by Jeannine Otis. Dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m., catered by Framboise. Dancing will follow on the lawn with music by DJ Kitty. Tickets are $185 per person. Formal attire is requested.