As the impassioned executive director of the Alice Austen House in Staten Island, New York, since late 2017, Victoria Munro oversees the staffing and artistic direction of the historic property, including the 15-acre public park that surrounds the house. The location is a hub for contemporary art, hosting numerous exhibitions every year, including outdoor exhibitions.
With her extensive background in arts education, Ms. Munro prioritizes providing educational benefits to patrons and oversees all educational programs. Alongside these responsibilities, she raises funds and ensures the long-term financial stability of the historic home. Above all, her goal is to provide national and global visibility to the life and work of Alice Austen, a prominent LGBTQ+ historical icon as a lesbian woman from the Victorian era. Ms. Munro has overseen the renovation of all public spaces in the museum and works as a consultant and speaker on LGBTQ+ interpretation in historic spaces.
Impressively, Ms. Munro increased the Alice Austen House’s social media presence, redesigning the content strategy and brand. She is an incredibly hands-on administrator, overseeing onboarding, training, and managing her staff while working directly with the museum’s board of directors. Among her many contributions as executive director, she has optimized the house’s accessibility and led an inclusive redesign of all spaces. Additionally, Ms. Munro coordinates a public curatorial, “Powerful and Dangerous,” which highlights marginalized Black lesbian activists and artists.
Ms. Munro attributes her success to her passion, dedication, and work ethic. She has been interested in art from a young age, drawing inspiration from her grandmother, who was a talented artist. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 1997, she graduated from the Auckland University of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in visual arts in 1998. In 2007, Ms. Munro earned a graduate diploma of education in English from the University of Auckland, later concluding her academic efforts with a nonprofit leadership fellowship at Baruch College in 2019. Alongside her formal degrees, she earned a teaching artist certificate from the New York City Department of Education in 2011. For her professional achievements, she was listed in Staten Island’s Top 100 Professionals by Schneps Media in 2020 and received a Staten Island Impact Award from the same organization in 2019. Also, in 2016, Ms. Munro earned an Excellence in the Arts Award from Staten Island Arts. As the executive director of the Alice Austen House, she is extremely proud of founding Alice Austen Park’s Queer Ecologies Garden Project, which aims to create opportunities for students to learn about careers in horticulture, parks, and museums.
Parallel to her professional roles, Ms. Munro has served as the board president of the Museums Council of New York City since 2021. She has been a forward writer for “Bicycling for Ladies” in 2021 and contributed her photography to “Une historie mondiale des femmes photographes” in 2020. As an author of articles in multiple professional journals, Ms. Munro was a contributing writer to “Worm, Root, Wort & Bane” with Alice Austen House Press. Prior to working at the Alice Austen House, she spent decades working as a fine arts sculpturist. She was the head of art history at St. Mary’s College in Auckland, New Zealand, and served as an art gallery director, curator, and administrator at multiple locations.
Moving forward, Ms. Munro is focused on healing as well as on education in the outdoors. She plans to work on the landscape surrounding the Alice Austen House, redeveloping the pollinator-friendly ecology with native plants. Moreover, she looks forward to creating a mobile museum that will help bring hands-on art education to schools in New York City. As a future-focused educator, whenever Ms. Munro creates or curates an exhibition, she considers first how it will appeal to the younger generation.
Photo: Victoria Munro, Paul Moakley, Courtesy Alice Austen House
