Staten Island Museum

Gallery Talk and Closing Reception: Magicicada
2022-05-22 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
Final Weekend!
Free with Museum Admission
Join artist Jennifer Angus in the gallery for an intimate look at the creation and intention of Magicicada – an immersive environment full of exquisite and ornamental patterns and imaginative vignettes, unexpectedly created with hundreds of preserved insects. This is the final weekend to experience Magicicada.

Lunch and Learn: Staten Island Pridefest - LAMBDA Associates
2022-05-19 12:00 - 12:30 | Online Live Event, * Please register.
Free. Donations welcome.
Donate
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
Lambda Associates of Staten Island (LASI) was incorporated in April 1983 with a mission to “institute and promote a Social, Cultural, and Educational association on Staten Island for Gay Men and Women.” The organization celebrated its first anniversary with a dance at the Columbian Lyceum on October 8, 1983.
Join former board member Mitchell Grubler and other Lambda friends to learn about the power of joy and celebration as a tool for LGBTQ organizing in 1980s Staten Island.

Presentation: Staten Island is Ours! An Altered Book Project
2022-05-15 13:00 - 14:30 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
Free with museum admission
Staten Island is Ours! An Altered Book Project is a multidisciplinary art-making project created by Caryn T. Davis in collaboration with Kelly Villar and the Staten Island Urban Center, a youth development program for young people of color on the North Shore of Staten Island. This project took place in April and the artwork created will be on display at the museum in this pop-up exhibition.
Altered books are individual art objects created from an existing printed book. Debbie-Anne Paige, Co-President, Staten Island Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, introduced participants to the history of African heritage communities on Staten Island, including the Underground Railroad. And, in turn, participants cut, folded, pasted, stamped, painted, and decorated their altered books with 3-D objects, collage, pockets and more in response.
“At our May 15 presentation, we will elevate and spread the word about Staten Island’s Black history, and about who we are, while we show you the pages of our books and discuss the significance of what we’ve learned.” – Caryn T. Davis
This project is made possible by a DCA Premier Grant from Staten Island Arts, with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Gala
2022-05-13 19:00 - 23:00 | Richmond County Country Club, 1 the oval, Staten Island, NY, 10304, United States
Join us for cocktails, dinner, live music, and auction.
Formal/Business Attire
Please note that proof of vaccination is required to attend this event.
To be held at the
Richmond County Country Club
1 The Oval, Staten Island, NY 10304
Please RSVP before May 2, 2022
Tickets
$250 per Individual ($120 fully tax deductible)
$225 per Member ($95 full tax deductible)
Table of Ten*: $2,250
Proof of full vaccination required.
TICKETS
View full invitation
Sponsorship Opportunities
In addition to the Commemorative Journal, you can support the Staten Island Museum with a Gala Sponsorship. View full sponsorship opportunities here or contact Pamela Adamo, Director of Development at 718.483.7114.
Honorees

Dr. Kerry Kelly served as a Medical Officer with the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) for 37 years, until her retirement in 2018. She held the position of Chief Medical Officer for the last 24 of those years, including during 9/11, for which NYC recently marked the 20th anniversary, and she continues to help surviving first responders. Additionally, Dr. Kelly maintains a family medicine practice on Staten Island with Northwell Health.
Dr. Ginny Mantello currently serves as the Director of Health and Wellness, Office of the Staten Island Borough President and has been instrumental providing COVID-19 health information to the community during the pandemic. Dr. Mantello is also the co-chair of the Staten Island Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SI COAD), a program of the Staten Island Not for Profit Association (SINFPA), to coordinate preparedness and planning efforts across Staten Island.

Earth Day Celebration: Seeds and Soil
2022-04-30 13:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
$10 Adults/$5 Children/Free for Members
(includes museum admission)
Explore the ground below and world above with activities and presentations in art, science, and history.
Get your hands dirty with activities for all ages, learn something new, and help protect the only world we have!
Workshops and Presentations
Seed Engraving
Explore the wondrous stories of seeds and seed-savers with artist Sergey Jivetin, who will memorialize these stories by engraving seeds using specially-designed cutting tools under magnification. (Check out the video below)

Furrow from Digi Ranch on Vimeo.
Underground Sounds
Listen the ground beneath your feet! Artist Nikki Lindt recorded underground and underwater sounds in several locations in Staten Island!
Seed Paper
Plant wildflowers using recycled materials with teaching artist Jenya Frid
Clay Garden Markers
Make reusable garden markers to remind you what you planted where with teaching artist Janet Gonzalez
Seed Packets
Design the covers to your own seed packets and take home wildflower seeds for planting with teaching artist Pauline Velez-Romano
Birding by Ear
Listen to the sounds of spring and learn how to identify what you hear with the Greenbelt Nature Center
Test Your Garden Soil
Bring a sample of your garden soil and learn what will grow best with expert gardener Lenny Librizzi
Learn how to support and promote pollinator activity with Cooper Keane and the Mobile Monarch Museum
Tour Magicicada with Colleen Evans, Director of Natural Science, and take a closer look at some of the smallest details in this exhibition with a scavenger hunt
Connect to community science projects with help from New York State Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation
Explore the benefits of native plants with the Native Plant Society of Staten Island

Unnatural History: Colonial Collecting and the Politics of Display in Natural History Museums
2022-04-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Online Live Event, * Please register.
NEW DATE!
$5.
Live via Zoom
A Presentation with Elaine Ayers, Ph.D.
What does the history of collecting, preservation, and display have to do with legacies of violence and inequity? How do shifting categories of race, gender, and sexuality appear throughout natural history museums, even in seemingly innocuous objects like plants and insects? By unraveling the long colonial history of the institutions that we care for and work with, from herbaria to anthropological exhibits, this talk will point to the instabilities of collecting and collections from the eighteenth century to the present while offering hope for new, more inclusive ways forward.
Elaine Ayers is a faculty member in the Program in Museum Studies and an affiliate of the Program in the History of Science at NYU, where she works on the entangled histories of science, art, and collecting. She received her Ph.D. in the History of Science from Princeton University, and her work has been supported by institutions like the New York Botanical Garden, the Yale Center for British Art, the NSF, and Stanford University.
This program is produced in partnership with the Staten Island Archaeological Society.
Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

Lunch and Learn: Garden Design with Wambui Ippolito
2022-04-21 14:00 - 14:30 | Online Live Event, * Please register.
NEW TIME
Free. Donations welcome.
Donate
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
Learn more about the thoughts, intentions, and design process behind “Etherea” Best-in-Show Garden at the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show.
Wambui Ippolito is the horticulturist and principal designer of her own New York based landscape design. She is a graduate of the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture where she studied under some of the country’s top gardening experts. Wambui teaches horticulture classes in botanical gardens and horticulture institutions in New York and New Jersey.

Josephine's Cotton: The Revue by Skin Dance Company
2022-04-02 14:00 - 15:30 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
$20 per person
Travel back in time through song and dance to join Josephine Baker, the first Black American superstar, as she dives deeper into the experiences of her childhood and adult life. Through a series of reflections, she reimagines a world that could have existed during the Harlem Renaissance featuring icons such as Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Eartha Kitt, Carmen Miranda, Paul Robeson, Little Richard, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and more. This fictional portrayal captures the timeless stories of potent pioneers through dance and song.
Produced, directed, choreographed, and conceptualized by Tina Thompson
Performed by SKIN Dance Company

Lunch and Learn: Serpentinite with Yesenia Arroyo
2022-03-17 12:00 - 12:30 | Online
Click the video on the right to view the recorded program.
$5 Recommended Donation/Free for Members
Is Staten Island the real emerald city? Join geologist Yesenia Arroyo to learn more about the unique greenish rock known as serpentinite. This metamorphic rock underlies a large part of this borough and helps makes up the highest elevation of any natural feature in NYC. In fact, it is the highest point on the US eastern seaboard south of Maine.

Yesenia Arroyo is a geologist, host of the YouTube series “Y’all Need Science”, and fab lab instructor at the Melrose Center in Orlando, Florida. Yesenia loves to teach STEM classes in informal education settings, like museums and libraries. They are enthusiastic about making science accessible for everyone by focusing on big science concepts that they believe everyone knows intuitively.

Book Talk: The Sustainability Myth
2022-03-05 14:00 - 15:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
Free with museum admission
Registration required
To join this program virtually, please email Rylee Eterginoso to receive the zoom link.
Join Dr. Melissa Checker for a discussion around her award-winning book The Sustainability Myth. Focusing on industrial waterfronts and historically underserved places like Harlem and Staten Island’s North Shore, Dr. Checker takes an in-depth look at the dynamics of environmental gentrification while highlighting the valiant efforts of local environmental justice activists (such as Staten Island’s Beryl Thurman) who work across racial, economic, and political divides to challenge sustainability’s false promises and create truly viable communities.
You can listen to Episode 2 of the Site Unseen Podcast: Beryl Thurman and the North Shore Waterfront to learn more about the extent to which the industrial age still effects the residents who live along the Kill Van Kull today.
Updated Visitor Information: All visitors ages 5 and older must show proof they have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for admission to the museum, in accordance with NYC requirements. Visitors over 18 will also be asked to show photo ID. Face coverings are required for all over the age of 2, even if vaccinated. For more information and additional details, see the visit section of our website.

Site Unseen Podcast: Beryl Thurman and the North Shore Waterfront
2022-03-05 | Online
Site Unseen takes listeners into the Staten Island Museum’s collections to see how documents, photos, and objects illuminate local history. Audio shorts bring together present-day advocates, policymakers and historians, to retell, reveal, and amplify site-specific stories.
Episode 2: Beryl Thurman and the North Shore Waterfront

Staten Island Museum · Site Unseen: Beryl Thurman and the North Shore Waterfront
As industries sprouted up on the Kill Van Kull, Staten Island’s economy became ever more linked with the rest of the region – a link that was strengthened with the construction of the Bayonne Bridge, which opened in 1931. Beryl Thurman’s work explores the extent to which the remnants of this industrial age still impact the residents who live along the Kill today.
“The more you know about your environment, the better advocate you can be for Staten Island. And that’s what Staten Island really needs, it needs more advocates, it needs more people that think through the process.”
– Beryl Thurman
About Beryl Thurman

Beryl Thurman is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she is graduate of Baldwin Wallace University where she majored in Art, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
She is a founding member of the North Shore Waterfront Conservancy of Staten Island, Inc. In 2005 the same year that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Beryl became the executive director/president of NSWC. From that point on she combined the research that she had done on the waterfront contaminated sites with realities of living in a waterfront community that is extremely vulnerable to Climate Change’s sea level rising, storm surges and flooding. From 2005 until present NSWC has dedicated its efforts by attempting to fast track the remediation that are needed for these contaminated waterfront sites on Staten Island’s North Shore to protect the Environmental Justice communities that are behind them. She authored two Environmental Justice booklets: “Staten Island’s Gold Coast: 5.2 miles from St. George to Arlington” and “Shore Up: Community Resilience and Adaptation.”
Click here to read the Show Notes.

Mid-Winter Recess: Exotic Insect Collage
2022-02-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
$10/$5 members includes museum admission
Inspired by some of the most beautiful and exotic insects found in Magicicada, this workshop examines symmetry found in art and nature. After observing various insects, participants will use collage to create their own imaginative insect.
Updated Visitor Information: All visitors ages 5 and older must show proof they have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for admission to the museum, in accordance with NYC requirements. Visitors over 18 will also be asked to show photo ID. Face coverings are required for all over the age of 2, even if vaccinated. For more information and additional details, see the visit section of our website.

Mid-Winter Recess: Storytelling through Printmaking
2022-02-25 14:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
$10/$5 members includes museum admission
Artist Jennifer Angus custom printed the curtains in Magicicada with dandy anthropomorphic insects. Get creative using the collagraph technique, a type of printmaking process in which a print is taken from a collaged textured plate, and create your own story and imagery.
Updated Visitor Information: All visitors ages 5 and older must show proof they have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for admission to the museum, in accordance with NYC requirements. Visitors over 18 will also be asked to show photo ID. Face coverings are required for all over the age of 2, even if vaccinated. For more information and additional details, see the visit section of our website.

Lunch and Learn: The Pecan
2022-02-17 12:00 - 12:30 | Online
Free, Donations welcome.
Clementine Hunter is one of the most important self-taught contemporary American artists of the 20th Century. Dive deeper into the content of her painting “Threshing Pecans” with botanist Dr. Kobinah Abdul-Salim. Join us for an exploration of the important history and cultural significance of the pecan — North America’s only native tree nut.
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Dr. Abdul-Salim is a botanist with interests in the evolution of plants of the world’s tropical forests. He has conducted field research in Africa and Madagascar and worked as a fellow at both the New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He holds a PhD in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from Harvard University, a Masters degree in Biology from University of Missouri-St. Louis, and a Bachelor’s degree from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He has taught at Ohio State University and the City University of New York, and is currently President of Protologue, LLC, an educational media publishing and consulting firm based in Trenton, NJ.
The conservation of Threshing Pecans was supported by a grant from

Black History Month Transcribe-a-thon
2022-02-13 13:00 - 16:00 | Online
Free, Donations Welcome
We need your help!
The Staten Island Museum has partnered with the Staten Island Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and Frederick Douglass Memorial Park to transcribe newly digitized family history records making them more easily searchable and accessible for families and historical research.
A transcribe-a-thon is an event where people gather to work simultaneously on a transcription project. No previous experience is required. Training will be provided.
This program will be continuing virtually all year long! Watch the introductory video, set up an account with From the Page, and start transcribing! Instructions below.
Transcriber Resources

Donate

Korean Lunar New Year: Seollal Crafts and Games
2022-02-12 14:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
This year’s Lunar New Year celebration has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 12.
$15 adults/$10 children (includes museum admission)
Celebrate at home by downloading the interactive guide below!
Lunar New Year Guide
Lunar New Year Guide
Ring in the Year of the Tiger with the Staten Island Museum and Korean Community Development Center!
Unleash your creative side by making festive ornaments with custom maedeup (매듭) accessories, have your name written in calligraphy, and put your game face on to compete with your friends and family in jegichagi. Make sure to pick up a goodie bag to take home with traditional Korean treats including dalgona (달고나) or ppopgi (뽑기).
새해 복 많이 받으세요
saehae bog manh-i bad-euseyo
Happy New Year!
This program is produced in partnership with the Korean Community Development Center.
Updated Visitor Information: All visitors ages 5 and older must show proof they have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for admission to the museum, in accordance with NYC requirements. Visitors over 18 will also be asked to show photo ID. Face coverings are required for all over the age of 2, even if vaccinated. For more information and additional details, see the visit section of our website.

Lunch and Learn: Tulip Poplar
2022-01-20 12:00 - 12:30 | Online
The tulip tree is among the tallest American hardwoods. High or low, the tulip tree has made a mark on our American natural history. Join us as we explore its unique poplarity in nature, through food, and in music with La’ Portia Perkins, natural resource scientist, researcher, activist, and poet.
This program was presented live via zoom and the recording is now available.
$5 Recommended Donation/Free for Members
Donate
La’ Portia J. Perkins
La’ Portia J. Perkins is Florida-born – Virginia-raised wildlife/forester, social scientist, artist, and poet. She holds a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology with a minor in Environmental Science and Policy from Clemson University and an M.S. in Forestry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. La’ Portia’s job and work centers the African-diasporic experience with land management and nature in the Southeast with a focus on storytelling and connection.

Lunch and Learn: Buffalo Bill in Erastina
2021-12-16 12:00 - 12:30 | Online Live Event, * Please register.
When it comes to Staten Island, you might know about the West Shore, but what about the Wild West?
Join Jeremy M. Johnston, Ph.D., The Hal and Naoma Tate Endowed Chair of Western History at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, to learn more about the borough’s place in the complicated history of the Wild West through an item found in the museum’s collection.
This program was delivered live via zoom and recorded.
$5 Recommended Donation/Free for Members
Donate

About Jeremy M. Johnston
Jeremy M. Johnston currently serves as the Hal and Naoma Tate Endowed Chair of Western History, the Goppert Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum, and the Managing Editor of the Papers of William F. Cody. Born and raised in Powell, Wyoming, Johnston graduated from Powell High School. Johnston attended the University of Wyoming, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1993 and his Master of Arts in 1995. Johnston earned his Ph.D. in American Studies at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2017. His doctoral dissertation examined the personal and professional relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. His dissertation is currently under contract to be published by the University of Oklahoma Press as Two Rough Riders. Johnston published various articles in Annals of Wyoming, Colorado Heritage, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s magazine Points West, Readings of Wyoming History, the George Wright Forum, and Yellowstone Science. He released his first book, a photo history of Powell, Wyoming, in 2009, followed by a “then and now” photo history in 2012. Johnston is the recipient of the 2006 Coke Wood Award, sponsored by Westerners International, for his article “Progressivism Comes to Yellowstone: Theodore Roosevelt and Professional Land Management Agencies in the Yellowstone Ecosystem.” He is a past president of the Wyoming State Historical Society and currently serves on the Public History Committee of the Western History Association. Johnston appeared on various Wyoming PBS documentaries, including Roy Barnes: Rocky Mountain Cowboy and Wyoming Voices, Tony Robinson’s Wild West for the Discovery UK Channel, and Mysteries at the Museum for the Travel Channel. Collaborating with Dr. Charles Preston of the Center’s Draper Natural History Museum, he produced an annotated version of Ernest Thompson-Seton’s Wahb: The Biography of a Grizzly, published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Johnston and Lynn Houze co-edited the memoir of Buffalo Bill’s fellow town founder of Cody, Wyoming, George W. T. Beck, titled Beckoning Frontiers: The Memoir of a Wyoming Entrepreneur. He previously taught at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, for over fifteen years. Johnston is currently completing a biography of Theodore Roosevelt for South Dakota Historical Society Press.

Edible Island Gift Shop
2021-12-04 11:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
Free to enter, donations welcome for gallery entry
Work your way through a market full of delicious local and regional treats to give this holiday season. Since the farmer’s market season has ended, the Museum is bringing these artisanal tastes, bites, and gift-able take-homes indoors.
Specialty items from the purveyors of mouthwatering edible goods, expertly curated by Staten Island Advance Food Editor, Pamela Silvestri, will be for sale.
2021 Vendor List
Butter Me Up – Delicious flavored butters
Belli Baci – Scrumptious baked goods — sweet and savory
Kim Cooks – “The Sauce” and more
Isn’t That Nuts – Candied nuts
Beezy Beez Honey – Local honey
Whimsical by Mily – Virgin coquito mixes
Udderly Delicious – Farm to table dairy and more
Lebanese Eatery – Authentic Lebanese favorites
Kathy’s Kreations – Hot cocoa bombs
Chef Dave Cavagnaro

Lunch and Learn: Bluebird and European Starling
2021-11-18 12:00 - 12:30 | Online
Take a closer look at invasive species and unintended consequences with Danielle Belleny, wildlife biologist, science communicator, and avid birder from San Antonio, Texas.
As a wildlife biologist, Danielle gets to take a closer look at how and why ecosystems function. She is a co-organizer of #BlackBirdersWeek and The BlackAFinSTEM Collective, an organization focused on sharing the experiences of Black conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts.
Free/Donations Welcome
Donate

Artist Info Session: Yes, And
2021-11-17 19:00 - 20:00 | Online Live Event, * Please register.
Zoom / Registration Required
Free
Join Staten Island Museum staff to learn more about Yes, And: a survey exhibition of art and artists related to Staten Island.
We will walk through the application process, timeline, and eligibility as well as delve into best practices regarding work samples.
Be sure to bring any questions that you may have about the application process.
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.

Presentation: How Brood X Cicadas Changed My Life with Chef Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs
2021-11-13 14:00 - 15:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
In Person – Registration Required
$20/$15 Museum Members
Chef Joseph Yoon spent two months immersed with Brood X Cicadas and had no idea how profoundly it would impact his life. Hear his story and the inspiration behind Brooklyn Bugs, founded in 2017 with the mission to raise awareness and appreciation for edible insects. His participation in this global food movement is an extension of his commitment to community. Chef Yoon has also created a special installation as part of the current exhibition Magicicada.
Proof of vaccination is now required for visitors 12 years of age and older under the City of New York’s ‘Key to NYC’ mandate. Face coverings for visitors ages 2 and up are required even if vaccinated. For more information and additional details, see the visit section of our website.

Introduction to Taxidermy with Divya Anantharaman of Gotham Taxidermy
2021-11-06 14:00 - 15:00 | Online
$20/$15 Museum Members
Zoom/Registration Required
Explore the history, learn about the process and take a closer look at some of the masterful creations of Divya Anantharaman, New York City’s premiere taxidermist. With a unique combination of science and style, her expertise is with birds, small mammals, and anatomic anomalies. Her work seeks to combine the demonstrative aspect of scientific presentation with the symbolic, introspective nature of art.
This program was recorded and can be viewed anytime here or on the museum’s youtube channel.

Sci-Fi Family Halloween
2021-10-23 14:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
$15 adults/$10 children (includes museum admission)
Travel through space and time with activities and crafts inspired by some of your favorite sci-fi and fantasy books. Challenge your creativity and celebrate this special time of year with tricks and treats for your imagination.
Activities
Seeing Stones
Look through this otherworldly stone to see what others don’t. Build your own protective amulet out of clay, inspired by the book and movie, Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
Galaxy in a Jar
Explore the wonders that make up our galaxy by creating your very own — in a bottle! Hold a nebula in your hands with this activity inspired by the Guardians of the Galaxy collection created by Arnold Drake and artist Gene Colan.
Magical Maps
​Going on an epic journey? You’ll need a map. Maps are useful tools that help us navigate our own world…and those we’ve imagined. Make your own map of a magical land in this activity inspired by The Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.
Wizarding Wands
Create your own magical wand, a vital tool for casting spells. Inspired by the supernatural antics in The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy.
I Spy Scavenger Hunt through Magicicada
Take a closer look at the elements of Magicicada with a short scavenger hunt designed to make you do a double take.

Lunch and Learn: American Chestnut
2021-10-21 12:00 - 12:30 | Online
Click the video on the right to view a recording of the program.
The American chestnut tree survived all adversaries for 40 million years. It took only 40 for it to disappear. Dive into the herbarium and a take a closer look at this history with La’ Portia Perkins, natural resource scientist, researcher, advocate, and activist.
Free/Donations Welcome
Donate
About La’Portia Perkins
La’ Portia J. Perkins is Florida-born – Virginia-raised wildlife/forester, social scientist, artist, and poet. She holds a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology with a minor in Environmental Science and Policy from Clemson University and an M.S. in Forestry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. La’ Portia’s job and work centers the African-diasporic experience with land management and nature in the Southeast with a focus on storytelling and connection.
La’ Portia J. Perkins

Placed Notes Opus 2, 3 & 4
2021-10-03 14:00 - 16:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
A spaced composition for 31 Performing Artists
Performance will take place on the grounds surrounding the Staten Island Museum
Join artist, composer, and trumpeter Volker Goetze and 31 other performers for an interactive musical experience. The audience moves through the compositions and forms to experience changing sounds from darker to lighter, major to minor, and descending to ascending sounds. The compositions are placed notes organized in space creating a musical tunnel or spiral with specific soundscape concepts – one parameter being the cardinal points: lighter keys in the south, darker keys and modes in the north, ascending sounds in the east and descending sounds in the West. The musicians will walk freely in space and improvise. The second composition creates a tunnel which the audience can walk through hearing a melody at the speed they choose to move. A third composition will position the musician in a spiral which the audience can walk inside or leave to experience other cords and sounds preorganized by imaginary diagonals.
The first Opus of “Place Notes” was performed at the “Supergau” festival in Germany, which brought contemporary art to the German countryside.

About Volker Goetze:
Artist, composer and trumpeter Volker Goetze arrived in New York 20 years ago. His contributions to the art world and city are multifaceted. He recently produced New York City’s first Sound Sculpture Walk (Sonic Gates), toured the globe for over 12 years with his transcultural African-Harp and trumpet duo, released multiple jazz albums including large ensembles and orchestral while also creating feature documentaries – uplifting and inspiring communities and fans. His recordings received highest honors as best World Music Release by Public Radio International and reached #1 on iTunes. Past performances include the Jazz Gallery New York, LA Festival of Sacred Music, Paris Jazz Festival, Jazz A Vienne, New Philharmonie Paris, Munich Opera Festival, and Panama World Music Festival. In 2017 Volker Goetze received the EtM Con Edison Composers’ Residency and composed a VR work about New York City’s mass grave on Hart Island titled ‘Unique Places of Death NYC.’ Currently he is working on a Community VR Performance about indigenous homelessness and genocide celebrating culture overcoming historic trauma funded by the McKnight Visiting Composer with the American Composers Forum.

[Postponed] Presentation: Site Unseen - Civil War Draft Riots and William Olliffe’s Diary
2021-10-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Online Live Event, * Please register.
This event has been postponed. Please check back soon for the rescheduled date.
Zoom – Registration required
$10/$5 members
Debbie-Ann Paige’s research illuminates how the Civil War Draft Riots on Staten Island targeted historically Black neighborhoods on the North Shore. Using ferry operator William Olliffe’s diary as a point of reference, Debbie-Ann will explore the contemporary political and economic tensions that led to the racially charged Draft Riots in the mid-19th century on Staten Island.
About Site Unseen: Site Unseen is a new audio project that takes listeners into the Staten Island Museum’s collections to see how documents, photos, and objects illuminate local history. Audio shorts bring together present-day advocates, policymakers and historians, to retell, reveal, and amplify site-specific stories.
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.

Podcast: Site Unseen - Draft Riots
2021-10-02 | Online
Site Unseen takes listeners into the Staten Island Museum’s collections to see how documents, photos, and objects illuminate local history. Audio shorts bring together present-day advocates, policymakers and historians, to retell, reveal, and amplify site-specific stories.
Episode 1: Draft Riots
In this episode public historian and policy analyst Debbie-Ann Paige will lead us on a harrowing journey along Staten Island’s north shore in the path of the Civil War Draft Riots which gripped New York City in July of 1863.

Staten Island Museum · Site Unseen | Episode 1: William Olliffe’s Diary
Debbie-Ann Paige’s research illuminates how the Civil War Draft Riots on Staten Island targeted historically Black neighborhoods and abolitionist enclaves on the North Shore. Using William Olliffe’s diary as a point of reference, Paige will explore the contemporary political and economic tensions between pro- and anti- slavery factions and Black and immigrant laborers that led to the Draft Riots in the mid-19th century on Staten Island.
The riots rose in response to Congress’ Conscription Act, which mandated the first wartime draft in US History. The law made men between the ages of 20 and 45 liable to go to war. However, a man could avoid the draft by paying a fee or hiring a substitute to fight in his place. The act did not apply to African American men who were not considered citizens. In New York, the white, mostly Irish and Irish-American working class, who could not afford to pay to avoid military service, felt the burden of the war fell unfairly on their shoulders. During the riots they took their anger out on the draft officials, the pro-war and anti-slavery press, white, often wealthy, abolitionists, and most viciously on Black New Yorkers, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
As you will hear, the Conscription Act provided the spark in a powder keg of existing economic and racial tension in New York City and throughout the entire war-torn nation. Throughout the episode, Debbie-Ann Paige weaves this overarching narrative in and out of the stories of Staten Islanders who were targeted by the rioters. Christopher Franz reads a firsthand account of the riots by William Olliffe who worked at the Tompkinsville ferry landing during the Civil War and kept a diary documenting his experiences. His diary is housed in the Museum’s collection.
*Note: This episode contains depictions of graphic violence. Listener discretion is advised.
Debbie-Ann Paige
Debbie-Ann Paige is a public historian specializing in local African American history, a co-president of the newly chartered Richard B. Dickenson Staten Island Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) and professional genealogist. She has worked on numerous local history projects including: In Pursuit of Freedom with the Brooklyn Historical Society; Women of the Nation Arise! and From Farm to City with the Staten Island Museum; and the designation of the Louis Napoleon House as a site to freedom with the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network on behalf of the Sandy Ground Historical Society.
Additionally, Debbie-Ann is a policy analyst with the Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference working with state policymakers on issues relevant to veterans’ affairs and staffs the organization’s new initiative Council on Communities of Color (CCC). She has also served as an advisor to the Daniel Society, Center for Law and Justice.
Christopher Franz
Christopher Franz is Chair of the Department of History & Social Sciences at Monsignor Farrell High School. Formerly the Political Editor for The Staten Island Register, he wrote extensively on local history, New York City and State government, and environmental issues.
Click here to read the Show Notes.

71st Annual Fence Show
2021-09-25 11:00 - 17:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
We’re back! Each year, the Fence Show transforms the museum’s front lawn into an outdoor gallery featuring local artists and craftspeople. See paintings, ceramics, prints, jewelry and textiles and take something original home from this longstanding festival.
Limited free parking is available onsite, ample free street parking is also available.
Safety Protocols
The museum will be following the CDC guidelines for this event, social distancing and masking is strongly recommended.
For entry into the Staten Island Museum galleries, proof of vaccination is required for visitors 12 years of age and older under the City of New York’s ‘Key to NYC’ Mandate. Face coverings for visitors ages 2 and up are required even if vaccinated.
For any questions about participating as an artists, please contact Donna Pagano.

Artist Talk: Jennifer Angus
2021-09-19 15:00 - 16:00 | Online
Free/Donations Welcome
Registration Required
Artist Jennifer Angus presents Magicicada, taking inspiration from the museum’s cicada collection — one of the world’s largest. Angus has created an immersive environment full of exquisite and ornamental patterns and imaginative vignettes, unexpectedly created with hundreds of preserved insects. Join the artist for an intimate discussion on creating other worlds and the power of the unexpected.
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