For the first time in its history, The Heckscher Museum of Art is presenting an exhibition centered on LGBTQ+ identities and histories, drawing entirely from its permanent collection.
Titled “All of Me with All of You: LGBTQ+ Art Out of the Collection,” the show runs from June 7 through Sept. 14 and features 86 works spanning more than 150 years. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures and works on paper by artists who lived and worked on Long Island, as well as nationally recognized figures in LGBTQ+ art history.
The exhibition is curated by Victoria Munro, artist and executive director of the Alice Austen House. Munro emphasized the importance of highlighting often-overlooked queer contributions to the cultural and historical fabric of the region. The exhibition reflects her efforts, along with input from an intergenerational advisory group, teens and local nonprofit partners.
Among the highlights are photographs taken on Fire Island by the collective PaJaMa—Paul Cadmus, Jared French and Margaret French—capturing mid-20th-century moments of freedom and intimacy. Also on view are photographs by Huntington artist Joanne Mulberg, offering a visual narrative of Fire Island in the 1970s and ’80s.
The show also features significant works from across time periods. Sculptor Emma Stebbins’ neoclassical marble portrait of her partner, actress Charlotte Cushman, honors their shared defiance of 19th-century gender norms. Betty Parsons, a pioneering dealer of Abstract Expressionism, is represented not only through her paintings but also by a handcrafted wooden tugboat that reveals a more playful side of her practice.
Contemporary artists are represented as well. Mickalene Thomas’s textured, patterned works reflect on family, home and Black womanhood. Other artists include Amy Adler, Laylah Ali, vanessa german and Emilio Sanchez—whose presence in the collection speaks to a longer, richer LGBTQ+ art legacy than often acknowledged.
“This is an expansive, groundbreaking exhibition,” said Executive Director and CEO Heather Arnet. “It amplifies the stories of artists long represented in the collection and places them in dialogue with newer acquisitions, encouraging visitors to explore shared histories and contemporary conversations.”
The exhibit title “All of Me with All of You” reflects the networks and support systems that have long sustained queer artists. The exhibition is part of a broader 2025 initiative to present a fuller, more accurate story of American art.
Supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the exhibition is part of a year-long effort to engage both youth and intergenerational audiences in LGBTQ+ programming.
Founded in 1920, The Heckscher Museum of Art holds more than 2,300 works and is located in Huntington’s Heckscher Park. Admission remains free to all visitors, supported by a grant from Bank of America.
More information is available at www.heckscher.org.
