Join Queens Museum for Community Archiving Day on May 23, 2026, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm. This event is hosted in collaboration with our current exhibition, About Us: The American Imaginary. Through photographs from the Queens Museum’s collection, About Us asked three curators from Queens to reflect upon the question: “What is American about American Art?” The exhibition suggests that a multitude of histories, cultures, myths, and ideals combine to create our contemporary American experience, and thus our interpretation of American Art. In this city of immigrants, we can learn about global culture by getting to know our neighbors. Every person is an archive worthy of exploration.
Community Archiving Day is an opportunity to learn from New Yorkers undertaking archival work, preserving the memory, resilience, and beauty of various demographics and cultures across the five boroughs. Varying in size and scope, participants include oral history projects, digital archives, and institutional repositories. The organizations and initiatives on-site for this special event will offer insight into their physical materials via displays and workshops, and discuss opportunities for donations, research, and collaboration. We welcome visitors from all walks of life who want to learn about archival practice, or are curious about preservation efforts taking place across New York City.
For more information, visit queensmuseum.org
From the current exhibition, About Us: The American Imaginary. Massive deck girder leaving U.S. Steel’s Gary, Indiana plant, c. 1940s. Vintage silver gelatin print. Gift of Charles Schwartz, 2006.