At Staten Island’s Alice Austen House: Whitman On Walls (WoW) – New York Poets React To “Song Of Myself,” Celebrate Declaration Of Independence’s 250th Anniversary September 20th
Editor’s note: Also on Staten Island recently, at Wagner College the new exhibit ‘Arcadia’ was unveiled, which by local painters. Staten Island Out Loud featured an event where participants wrote Emily Dickinson poetry on junk mail, which would then be mailed to participants in honor of the late poet, who would often write her own poems on pieces of found paper, which she would then often mail to others.
The following statement about this exhibition was provided by Victoria Munro, Executive Director at Alice Austen House:
The Alice Austen House is thrilled to participate in Brooklyn Bookends for 5th year! We love presenting poetry at this beautiful site that inspired so much creative thought and work. This year is a special collaboration with Compagnia de’ Colombari and we will be screening short films with response poetry by Staten Island writers and performers.
New York, NY —On Saturday, September 20, from 2-4PM, Compagnia de’Colombari’s community-galvanizing program, Whitman on Walls! (WoW!), comes to Staten Island in collaboration with the Alice Austen House and the 20th Annual Brooklyn Book Festival’s Bookend Events. Join us for an afternoon screening of films interspersed with original poetry recited live by Staten Island poets.
WoW! features 50 actors and musicians on screen and seven living poets who have written in response to themes in Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” WoW! takes place at the renowned Alice Austen House (2 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island), the historic home of another New York creative trailblazer and LGBTQ+ icon, photographer Alice Austen (1866-1952).
The event features six Staten Island poets and performers, including Summer Minerva, Jahtiek Long, M.A. Dennis, Matt Figgz, Cynthia (Cyn) Rodriguez, Thomas Fucaloro, and special guest, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape performer, director, and writer, Opalanietet. With this performance, Whitman on Walls! will have been experienced by poets and audiences across all five boroughs of NYC. The event is FREE and open to the public. RSVP HERE.
Whitman on Walls! Staten Island
Saturday, September 20, 2025, 2-4PM
Alice Austen House 2 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10305
Event information and RSVP link: https://aliceausten.org/events/brooklyn-bookends/
WoW! is a community-galvanizing national tour that invites local poets, musicians, and performers to respond to Colombari’s More or Less I Am, a 7-part film featuring over 50 performers dramatically enacting “Song of Myself” through music and poetry, with an original score by musicians from The Knights and Brooklyn Rider. Each film is followed by live responses from local performers who “talk back to Whitman,” engaging with the themes of his iconic words, blending cinema and live recitation and expanding the Whitmanic vision of democratic interdependence. It’s a movie screening meets a poetry slam!
In collaboration with institutional partners and living poets across the globe, Whitman on Walls! activates and connects communities. Each WoW! is unique per partner, location, and its participants. Colombari is taking WoW! across the USA and plans to bring the community event to all 50 States in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. The poems from each of the WoW! poets are collected and published in an Anthology. The second Anthology, Vol. 2 (2023-2024), debuted in April 2025. Whitman on Walls! Anthologies Volume 1 & 2 are available for purchase at WoW! events.
About the Poets:
Summer Minerva, MSEd (she/they), is an independent researcher, performer, author, filmmaker, playwright, activist and educator. Summer’s life journey has brought her in touch with the femminielli from which a feature-length, groundbreaking documentary, Summer Within (now streaming on Vimeo), was born. She co-edited Italian Trans Geographies, published by SUNY Press and is an adjunct at SUNY Empire State College. Summer’s writing transcends genre as it draws on her astute awareness and regular investigation of the human condition, putting them into words through memoir, reporting, and fiction in the form of plays, essays, and screenplays. summerminerva.com
Thomas Fucaloro is the winner of numerous grants from the Staten Island Council of the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, and NYC Commission of Human Rights, to name a few. Thomas Fucaloro has been on six national slam teams. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School and is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI Press. He is an adjunct professor at Wagner College, BMCC and CSI, where he teaches various poetry and literature courses.
Cynthia (Cyn) Rodriguez is a poet, curator, and community builder dedicated to creating inclusive spaces for artistic expression. She is the creator of the VAUNT showcase and serves as curator and open mic host of Poetic Drip, a beloved platform for poets and musicians on Staten Island’s North Shore. Cyn is also the co-curator and host of Translating Sonnets, an annual Staten Island Shakespearean theater series that brings classic works to contemporary audiences. Her commitment to accessible public art extends to co-hosting Poetry In The Park and curating events for CUNY’s Segal Center Arts In The Parks series. A featured poet in Poetry in Motion Season 3, her video piece Active Depression offers a powerful exploration of mental health through poetry. Cyn’s work centers on connection, creativity, and healing through the arts. For more information, visit www.createdbycyn.com
Opalanietet (actor, singer, director, writer, and multi-disciplinary artist) is Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, originally from Southern New Jersey and Delaware. While he grew up around various U.S. cities (Cincinnati, Ohio, Boston, Massachusetts, and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area), he had the privilege and the honor of receiving his Lenape name, “Little Eagle,” on original Lenape land at the age of 12 by his great uncle, the late Rodney “Strong Oak” Edwards. Throughout his career, Opalanietet has also devoted much of his time to performing in and helping develop theatrical works by indigenous people from the U.S. and worldwide. With a passion for incorporating American voices that are often underrepresented into the performing arts, particularly those of Native Americans, Opalanietet founded the Eagle Project in 2012.
Jahtiek Long (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, musician, and cultural producer from Staten Island, NY. His poetry weaves vivid imagery with emotional honesty, exploring themes of identity, healing, love, and transformation. Rooted in lived experience and community connection, his work holds space for both personal reflection and collective resonance. In addition to his poetry, Jahtiek’s creative practice spans photography, music, and curatorial work. He is the co-founder of the Shaolin Art Party, a cultural platform dedicated to shifting the narrative of Staten Island through dynamic arts programming and civic engagement. His work has been featured by Photoville, the Staten Island Museum, PBS, Hyperallergic, and more. At the core of everything he creates is a commitment to storytelling, visibility, and holding space for joy, vulnerability, and growth.
M. A. Dennis contains multitudes. Johns Hopkins University Press Blog describes him as “a hilarious but also heartbreaking performance poet.” He is a National Black Writers Conference Emerging Poet and the author of Mistaken Identity Crisis (NYSAI Press). The New York Times chose his haiku as one of the best in New York City. His op-ed contribution was cited by the National Homelessness Law Center in its Universal Periodic Review to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Dennis co-chairs the Health & Housing Consortium Consumer Advisory Committee. He is a member of the NYU Health by Housing Lab Speakers Bureau and Peer Network. A journalism graduate of St. John’s University, his interview highlights include Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Spike Lee, Dr. Betty Shabazz, and the Wu-Tang Clan. He lives in Staten Island, NY and shares an apartment with four pet rocks (Chris, Fraggle, Gibraltar & Plymouth).
Matt Figgz is an educator who loves reading, anime, and cold leftovers. He is also the co-founder of “Poetry in the Park” (@official_poetryinthepark), a free outdoor open mic series. Matt’s poetry collection, “Adolescence”, is available on Amazon.
Compagnia de’ Colombari’s programs are made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the NYC Department of Cultural Af airs (DCLA), The Eucalyptus Foundation, and support from other funders and donors.
TICKET LINKS & FOLLOW COLOMBARI ONLINE:
Whitman on Walls! (WoW!) Staten Island at Alice Austen House:
https://aliceausten.org/events/brooklyn-bookends/
Brooklyn Bookends & Alice Austen Eventbrite RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/brooklyn-bookends-at-alice-austen-house-tickets-1583324037819
Website: www.colombari.org Instagram: @compagniadecolombari Facebook: compagniadecolombari
About Compagnia de’ Colombari: Born in Orvieto, Italy; rooted in New York; touring the world. Founded in 2004 by director Karin Coonrod, Compagnia de’ Colombari is an international collective of theater artists creating site-specific performances that reimagine classical texts and galvanize civic engagement. We believe the magic of great theater can happen anywhere—and should be made accessible to everyone. Current works include the community galvanizing project, Whitman on Walls! Across the USA, King Lear at La MaMa in NYC in 2026, theatrical adaptations of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories, including Revelation and Everything That Rises Must Converge, a fresh take on Carlo Gozzi’s 18th-century fable, Stranamore, debuting in Venice, Italy. www.colombari.org
About the Alice Austen House: 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 American photographer, Alice Austen (1866–1952). This vibrant cultural center keeps the bold spirit of the early American photographer alive by presenting changing exhibitions of Austen’s pioneering historic photographs and of contemporary photography, providing education programs, and public cultural programs. The museum is a Victorian Gothic Cottage that was Austen’s home, located in a nationally landmarked park on the shore of Staten Island near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The house and grounds are owned by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, operated by the Friends of Alice Austen House Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and a member of Historic House Trust. The Alice Austen House is an NYC and National Landmark, on the Register of Historic Places and a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s distinctive group of Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios. In 2017, we updated our designation to become a National site of LGBTQ+ History. www.aliceausten.org
Banner Image: Event graphic. Image Credit – Alice Austen House
Alice Austen House
The Alice Austen House is a national landmark located in Staten Island, and is operated by the Friends of Alice Austen House, and owned by the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. The museum is open to the public, where the photographs of Alice Austen are on display, and there are also group tours and special events. From their website: “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).”
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