ADDRESSES PROJECT investigates lesbian and queer space and memory in New York City from the early 1900s to the present day through map-making, oral history interviews, ephemera and portraiture. The purpose of this project is to explore the history of the Gay Rights Movement (and it’s intersections with Civil Rights and Women’s Rights), shifts in identity building (and shedding) and the sociopolitical conditions of New York City from a lesbian and queer perspective. The mission of the ADDRESSES PROJECT is to offer lesbian and queer-identified individuals a multi-disciplinary platform through which to access a place-based heritage as well as intergenerational community building.

The map component of the ADDRESSES PROJECT consists of lesbian and queer gathering locations. Each map entry includes a photograph of the site as it appears now, it’s address or approximate location and as much historical information as can be gathered about it while it served its lesbian and queer clientele. The map has been formed primarily through memory and community legend.

The memory component of the ADDRESSES PROJECT consists of conversations conducted with lesbian and queer-identified community members of all kind responsible for making cultural, political and social progress for lesbian and queer people in New York City. Each conversation begins with the question: What was the first space you were ever in predominantly occupied by lesbians or queer people and what did it feel like to be there?

The portraiture component of the project consists of black and white, medium format photographs taken by artist Riya Lerner of lesbian and queer individuals in spaces personally significant to them.

The ADDRESSES PROJECT also encompasses various events, exhibitions, and workshops related to the subject matter described above including collaborations and partnerships with the following organizations: The Feminist Institute, SAGE NYC, the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, the New-York Historical Society, the Trans Oral History Project, the Lesbian Herstory Archives, and Dyke Bar Takeover.

Other important projects: The Women’s House of Detention by Hugh Ryan, The Lesbian Bar Project, the Black Lesbian Archives, The ACT UP Oral History Project, The Boy Mechanic, Eulogy to the Dyke Bar, An Everyday Queer New York, BOMB Magazine Oral History Project and Place Matters.

LINK TO THE NEW YORK CITY TRANS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT ORAL HISTORY HANDBOOK

Our Team

Gwen Shockey created the Addresses Project in 2016. She is a Brooklyn-based multi-disciplinary artist, activist and educator. View more.

Riya Lerner is a Brooklyn-based photographer and artist currently pursuing her Master of Social Work (2024) from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service. Before attending Fordham, she accumulated over a decade of experience working in museums as a public art curator, focusing on the intersection between art, identity, and social justice. Both her work as an artist and her impending role as a therapist are grounded in underlying principles of empathy, observation, interpretation, and connection. Lerner's fascination with identity and experiences in the construction of individuals’ narratives plays a significant role in all her works. She is a collaborating artist on the Addresses Project, creating portraits of the featured participants.

Zak Green created the back-end magic for the digital map. He is an independent designer and developer in New York and specializes in UX/UI design, front-end development, PHP, Wordpress, and touch-screen kiosk experiences in museums and public spaces. View more.