Portraits of America Exhibition
Oct 10, 2026 - Nov 10, 2026
Exhibition Dates: October 12–November 10, 2026
Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 13, 5–7 PM
Art Workshop: Sunday, October 25, 2–3:30 PM
Closing Reception: Tuesday, November 10, 5–7 PM
Panel Discussion: Tuesday, November 10, 6–7 PM
Curated by Stephanie S. Lee
Art Workshop led by André Knights
Flushing Town Hall presents Portraits of America, a group photography exhibition bringing together portraits of individuals whose distinct histories, cultural backgrounds, and lived experiences reflect the complex and continually evolving idea of American identity.
Through photography, the exhibition considers a question that is at once personal and collective:
What does it mean to be American today?
Rather than offering a singular image or definition, Portraits of America presents a multiplicity of faces and experiences. The individuals depicted come from different generations, communities, cultural backgrounds, and personal histories, yet each occupies a place within the larger American landscape.
Portraiture has long functioned as both a personal record and a social document. In this exhibition, the camera becomes a space of encounter-inviting viewers to pause before another person, to observe a face, gesture, posture, or surrounding, and to consider the assumptions we carry about identity and belonging.
Here, "American" is not presented as a fixed or easily defined identity. It emerges through migration and ancestry, memory and family, geography and community, as well as through the everyday experiences that shape how individuals understand themselves and how they are perceived by others.
Presented in Queens, a borough shaped by generations of migration and cultural coexistence, the exhibition takes on particular resonance. These individual portraits collectively suggest a broader portrait of America: layered, varied, continually changing, and impossible to contain within a single image.
Portraits of America does not attempt to define what an American looks like. Instead, it asks us to look more closely at the people who make up the country-and at the many different stories contained within the word American.
[Banner Photo Credit: Gus Philippas]
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Andreas Rentsch
Eva Mallis
Gina Minielli
Gus Philippas
Jim Richards
Tony Gonzalez
Zachary Shulman
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Stephanie S. Lee is a Queens-based visual artist, curator, educator, and founder of The Garage Art Center, a nonprofit community arts organization in Bayside. Through her curatorial and community-based work, Lee develops exhibitions and public programs that create opportunities for artists while fostering dialogue across cultural backgrounds, artistic practices, and lived experiences.
https://www.stephanieslee.com/
Exhibition Dates: October 12–November 10, 2026
Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 13, 5–7 PM
Art Workshop: Sunday, October 25, 2–3:30 PM
Closing Reception: Tuesday, November 10, 5–7 PM
Panel Discussion: Tuesday, November 10, 6–7 PM
Curated by Stephanie S. Lee
Art Workshop led by André Knights
Flushing Town Hall presents Portraits of America, a group photography exhibition bringing together portraits of individuals whose distinct histories, cultural backgrounds, and lived experiences reflect the complex and continually evolving idea of American identity.
Through photography, the exhibition considers a question that is at once personal and collective:
What does it mean to be American today?
Rather than offering a singular image or definition, Portraits of America presents a multiplicity of faces and experiences. The individuals depicted come from different generations, communities, cultural backgrounds, and personal histories, yet each occupies a place within the larger American landscape.
Portraiture has long functioned as both a personal record and a social document. In this exhibition, the camera becomes a space of encounter-inviting viewers to pause before another person, to observe a face, gesture, posture, or surrounding, and to consider the assumptions we carry about identity and belonging.
Here, "American" is not presented as a fixed or easily defined identity. It emerges through migration and ancestry, memory and family, geography and community, as well as through the everyday experiences that shape how individuals understand themselves and how they are perceived by others.
Presented in Queens, a borough shaped by generations of migration and cultural coexistence, the exhibition takes on particular resonance. These individual portraits collectively suggest a broader portrait of America: layered, varied, continually changing, and impossible to contain within a single image.
Portraits of America does not attempt to define what an American looks like. Instead, it asks us to look more closely at the people who make up the country-and at the many different stories contained within the word American.
[Banner Photo Credit: Gus Philippas]
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Andreas Rentsch
Eva Mallis
Gina Minielli
Gus Philippas
Jim Richards
Tony Gonzalez
Zachary Shulman
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Stephanie S. Lee is a Queens-based visual artist, curator, educator, and founder of The Garage Art Center, a nonprofit community arts organization in Bayside. Through her curatorial and community-based work, Lee develops exhibitions and public programs that create opportunities for artists while fostering dialogue across cultural backgrounds, artistic practices, and lived experiences.
https://www.stephanieslee.com/
