Erasure Poetry Workshop
2025-04-24 18:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Free with museum admission.
Doors open at 6:00pm to view Breakdown.
Travel back in time to another land…scape through the pages of Days Afield on Staten Island written by museum founder and renowned naturalist William T. Davis. Reflect on the changes made to this borough’s natural spaces through erasure poetry in this hands-on workshop led by SI Poet Laureate Marguerite Maria Rivas. Participants will create contemporary poems using historic text, constructing a new view of the same SI landscape.
What is an erasure poem? Erasure poetry is a type of found poetry in which the poet takes an existing source text and creates their own poem by erasing, redacting, or otherwise obscuring the words in the original text.

About Marguerite Maria Rivas:
A native New Yorker, Marguerite María Rivas teaches women’s literature and writing at Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she mentors first-generation college students. Much of her creative and scholarly work is based on the history, culture, and environment of Staten Island. Her essays and poetry have been published in anthologies, journals, and periodicals, nationally and internationally, and she is the author of two volumes of poetry. She enjoys welding and doing improvisational spoken word performances with musicians in her spare time. She is the Poet Laureate of Staten Island.

Bird and Nature Walk: Conference House Park
2025-04-30 10:00 - 12:00 | Conference House Park, 298 Satterlee St., Staten Island, NY, 10307
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
Diverse habitats should produce a good assortment of birds.
Meet in the parking lot near the Visitor’s Center on Satterlee St.

Bird and Nature Walk: Blue Heron Park
2025-05-07 10:00 - 12:00 | Blue Heron Park, 222 Poillon Ave, Staten Island, NY, 10312
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
Woodlands with a pond and a feeder behind the nature center should be attractive to a variety of migrating birds.
Meet in the parking lot off Poillon Ave.

Bird and Nature Walk: Clove Lakes Park
2025-05-14 10:00 - 12:00 | Clove Lakes Park
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
By mid-May, Clove Lakes Park is usually teeming with migrating birds.
Meet at the corner of Victory Blvd. and Royal Oak Road.

Breakdown Artist Talk: Antonia A. Perez
2025-05-17 13:00 - 14:00
Free with museum admission.
Join Breakdown artist Antonia A. Perez in the gallery to learn more about her artwork and creative practice. Perez weaves discarded materials, such as plastic bags, into sculptural forms using traditional fiber-work techniques.
“My work depends on the collection of remainders. What is left after we finish using an object? The leftovers of our everyday lives are what excite me. What others might cast off, I collect.”
– Antonia A. Perez

Bird and Nature Walk: Great Kills Park
2025-05-21 10:00 - 12:00 | Great Kills Park
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
Migrating shorebirds and waders will be the highlights of this trip.
Meet in the big parking lot for 10am.

Guided Tasting: The Wild World of Honey
2025-05-21 18:00 - 20:00
$35/$30 Members Registration required.
Join us for a fun and delicious evening celebrating one of the world’s greatest pollinators: the honeybee! Guided by visiting Italian honey experts Gian Luigi Marcazzan and Giovanni Cillia along with their American colleague, Donna DeFalco, you will learn to taste honey like a sommelier, exploring the unique characteristics of different varieties via flavor notes, aroma, texture, and color.
Gian Luigi Marcazzan has been a researcher and technical manager focused on honey quality control through chemical and sensory analysis at the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) in Bologna, Italy, for 27 years. He has also studied the composition of royal jelly and propolis to enhance the understanding of their properties and to characterize and control their quality. His passion for nature and bees led him to become a beekeeper in 1979, and he continues to breed bees for honey and swarm production.
In 1990, Gian Luigi participated in the first course on honey sensory analysis. This discipline was introduced in Italy by Michel Gonnet, who developed it in 1988. Since then, honey sensory analysis in Italy has grown significantly. Gian Luigi was part of the group that established the National Register of Experts in Honey Sensory Analysis, which is recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture as a unique entity worldwide. This work is central to Gian Luigi’s role in honey characterization, control, and promotion. Today, Gian Luigi serves as the President of the board of the Italian Register of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey
Donna DeFalco is a professional honey sommelier, one of only 5 in the US. and board member of the American Honey Tasting Society. She is the owner of Riverbend Honey and has been keeping bees with her husband for over 14 years.

Bird and Nature Walk: Wolfe’s Pond Park
2025-05-28 10:00 - 12:00 | Wolfe’s Pond Park, 420 Cornelia Ave., Staten Island, NY, 10312, United States
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
The search for migrating birds continues.
Meet in the parking lot near the Parks Dept. buildings.

Pride Festival 2025
2025-05-31 12:00 - 17:00
Free event. Recommended for all ages.
Location: Northeast Meadow at Snug Harbor
Party with the Pride Center of Staten Island and rejoice in the rich diversity of the LGBTQIA+ and allied community. Come celebrate with live music, artists, craft vendors, food, activities, and performers. FREE shuttle bus service is available to and from Snug Harbor and Shake Shack at Empire Outlets. Find our table at the festival for fun activities!

Bird and Nature Walk: Field of Dreams - New Springville
2025-06-11 10:00 - 12:00 | Greenbelt Field of Dreams, Alaska Place &, Forest Hill Rd., Staten Island, NY, 10306, United States
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
We will be looking for nesting birds, evidence of old grist mills, and other interesting things in this little visited (at least by us) park.
Meet in the parking lot located off Forest Hill Road, just down from Richmond Ave.. (Entrance is across Forest Hill Road from Costco.)

Juneteenth Family Celebration – A Kickoff to the 5th Annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival!
2025-06-19 13:00 - 16:00
Presented in partnership with the Staten Island Community Alliance (SICA) and the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF)
Free event. Recommended for all ages.
Space is limited. Registration recommended.
Honor Juneteenth and create lasting memories at this family friendly celebration! Join us for a special encore presentation of award-winning children’s films that highlight the joy, determination, resilience, and complexity of being young and Black. Curated by the New York International Children’s Film Festival, these six acclaimed films showcase vibrant Black storytelling that transcends national boundaries, culture, and language, featuring works in English, French, Zulu, and ASL. This family event is a tribute to freedom, unity, and the power of storytelling.
For detailed information on the films being screened, please click here.
Join us for this inspiring celebration, and don’t miss the 5th Annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival at Snug Harbor on Saturday, June 21st – a full day of culture, music, and community!

Bird and Nature Walk: Mt. Loretto Unique Area
2025-06-25 10:00 - 12:00 | Mount Loretto Unique Area, 20 Kenny Road, Staten Island, NY, 10309, United States
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
We will be on the lookout for nesting birds, particularly indigo bunting and orchard oriole. Of special note, we will be listening for periodical cicadas from Brood XIV.

The Soorya NYC Festival Presented by the Center for Traditional Music and Dance & Members of NYC’s Sri Lankan Community
2025-06-28 15:00 - 20:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
Free event. Recommended for all ages.
Soorya NYC presents folk and traditional arts to encourage cultural exchange centered on the local Sri Lankan community. Soorya NYC helps to sustain the continuity of Sri Lankan heritage in NYC and share these traditions with the wider public. Throughout the festival, you can expect live music and performances, culinary delights, an artisan market, and family friendly activities

Summer Nights: Art of Cocktails (and Mocktails!)
2025-07-10 19:00 - 21:00
$40/$35 members.
Includes museum admission. (21+)
Registration required. All materials provided.
Explore a tasting menu of cocktail and mocktail recipes highlighting delicious ingredients from the wild world of fermentation and fungi! Each unique beverage is paired with a curiosity sparking presentation by Breakdown contributor Louis Vassar Semanchik and Phoebe Blue in this hands-on workshop. All materials provided.

Louis Vassar Semanchik is a mushroom grower and educator based in NYC. He currently performs crop and product R&D for Smallhold, a national mushroom company, and hosts mushroom cultivation workshops at the community biolab Biotech Without Borders and community gardens across the city.

Phoebe Blue is a quirky antifolk beatnik of sorts who gets involved in creative projects like this from time to time. Other times, she’s hosting open mic, bartending at The Coupe of hanging with her cat Lala. You might spot her in the wilds of Staten Island walking aimfully.

Menu:

Candy Cap Old Fashioned

Savory Mushroom Martini

Kombucha Cocktail

Moth Night: Exploring Night Science! Presented in collaboration with the Staten Island Children’s Museum.
2025-07-19 20:00 - 22:00 | Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY, 10301, United States
$10 Adults/$5 Children
Includes museum admission.
Registration required.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…National Moth Week! Stay up late and celebrate the wonders of science after dark. Activities include: lantern parade, face painting, moth costumes, black light glow room, moth specimens, night walk, and attractor station. BYO Flashlight!

Summer Nights: Upcycled and Recycled Jewelry
2025-07-24 19:00 - 21:00
$35/$30 members. Registration required.
Includes museum admission.
Learn how to create stand-out pieces from found objects like old keys, stones, vintage or broken jewelry, recyclables, and more! Bring anything you’d like to “reimagine” into something unique and wearable. Make a statement with your “new” jewelry!
About Jocelyn Mackenzie (artist website):
With a BFA in Fiber from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, Jocelyn’s versatile talents in the handmade world integrate seamlessly with her passion as a performer and shine through her wearable art, costumes and textiles. Jocelyn thrives at creative problem solving and can make anything from anything. She is particularly attuned to sustainable fashion, recyclable art, and waste reduction. Her skills include costume construction, makeup, hand knitting, machine knitting, crochet, sculpture, drawing, illustration, jewelry making, felting, graphic design, styling, and art direction.
She has had the honor of creating knit and crochet commissions for Jim Henson, the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks, Martha Stewart for Lion Brand Yarn Company, Edun, Calvin Klein, Coach, Helmut Lang, and was worked in production under Lion Brand Yarn and Lars Andersson, LTD.

Vintage Showcase
2025-08-02 12:00 - 16:00
Free event.
Attention thrifters and vintage lovers! Find something “new” for school, work, and everything in between at this eco-conscious vintage showcase. Enjoy curated selections from local vintage vendors and give another life to one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories!
This event highlights their curatorial eye and creativity of Staten Island vendors:
• Hey Viv! Vintage
• Flavorseal
• Mood Swings
• Hey! Dollface
• SwaneeGRACE
• Anona de Juana
• Sunset Hill Design
• ETG Book Cafe
• ETG Clothing
Together they bring some of the best vintage and reimagined clothing and accessories available. Fashion historians and artists alike, these vendors hold a wealth of knowledge and are experts in their field.

Bird and Nature Walk: Cedar Grove Beach to Oakwood
2025-08-06 10:00 - 12:00 | Cedar Grove, Ebbitts Street and Cedar Grove Avenue, Staten Island, NY, 10306, United States
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
We will walk along the berm, looking for terns, etc. on the bay side, and field/marsh birds on the land side, in addition to Italian wall lizards.
Meet in the parking lot at Ebbits St. & Cedar Grove Ave.

Summer Nights: Darn It! Visible Mending
2025-08-07 19:00 - 21:00
$35/$30 members. Registration required.
Includes museum admission.
Visible mending is about repairing clothes with intention and creativity. Guests will be introduced to traditional techniques such as darning, sashiko, and patching in order to help extend the life of a beloved garment. Boost style and longevity on an item otherwise destined for the landfill.

Bird and Nature Walk: Great Kills Park (Timed for low tide at 12:33 pm)
2025-08-20 12:00 - 14:00 | Great Kills Park
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
The highlights for this walk will be migrating shorebirds, in addition to waders and assorted.gulls and terns.
Meet in the big parking lot, and we will decide which route to take down to the beach & mud flats. Could be hot, bring sunscreen & drinks.

Bird and Nature Walk: Conference House Park
2025-09-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Conference House Park, 298 Satterlee St., Staten Island, NY, 10307
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
We will be looking mainly for southbound migrants, both birds and butterflies.
Meet on Satterlee St. by the Visitor’s Center.

Fine Arts and Crafts Fair - 75th Annual Fence Show
2025-09-13 11:00 - 17:00
Free, includes Museum Admission, recommended for all ages.
Each year, the Fence Show transforms the Museum’s front lawn into an outdoor gallery featuring local artists and craftspeople. See and purchase paintings, ceramics, prints, jewelry and textiles and take something original home from this longstanding festival.
For more information and to register as a vendor, Please click here.

Bird and Nature Walk: Mount Loretto Unique Area
2025-09-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Mount Loretto Unique Area, 20 Kenny Road, Staten Island, NY, 10309, United States
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
We will search the wide open spaces of Mount Loretto for early fall migrants, including songbirds and raptors. This is also a good season for butterflies.
Meet in the parking lot off Hylan Blvd.

Curator’s Tour of Breakdown: The Promise of Decay
2025-09-27 12:00 - 13:00
Free with Museum admission.
Join the curators for a special tour of our current exhibition Breakdown: The Promise of Decay

Wildlife Origami Workshop: For Teens by Teens
2025-09-27 13:00 - 15:00
Free admission for students with ID.
Presented by students from Rustic Pathways in partnership with Nonprofit Staten Island | Community Climate Corps
Join students from Rustic Pathways representing Climate Leaders Fellowship for a meaningful hands-on experience that combines the ancient art of origami with wildlife conservation awareness. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn to create beautiful paper sculptures of endangered animals while discovering the stories behind these remarkable creatures and the challenges they face in the wild.

Mushroom Walk with New York Mycological Society
2025-09-27 14:00 - 16:00
Free with museum admission.
Join the New York Mycological Society on a campus walk to observe, identify and document the surprising diversity of mushrooms hidden in plain sight all around us. Look closely and see what you can find! Magnifying hand lenses will be loaned to attendees. Beginners and all ages 7+ are welcome!

Walk 1: 2pm – 3pm
Walk 2: 3pm – 4pm
Please meet in the museum lobby 15 minutes before each walk.

NYMS Walk Leaders:
Wilton Rao is an engineer, naturalist and amateur mycologist specializing in the diversity of urban lichens. He has led mycological walks and workshops at New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Pioneer Works and other NYC cultural institutions. Passionate about urbanism, ecology, and their intersection, he spends his time documenting the wildlife of NYC in every park, lawn, and train platform he explores.
Maya Han is a walk co-leader and Cultural Programmer for NYMS where, since 2022, she has launched and stewarded the club’s collaborations between the arts and sciences. As a mycophile and filmmaker she is committed to environmental justice, alternative world making, and community building.
Maren Fossi is an amateur mycologist and ecologist. Maren has been a fungal ID specialist and walk leader at NYMS, Alice Austen House, and Climate Week NYC. She is involved with Break into Biotech and Genspace NYC, with a focus on fungal development and fostering engagement with the natural world. She received her B.S. in Ecology and Anthropology from Vanderbilt University.

About New York Mycological Society (NYMS):

Observing, identifying and documenting New York City’s surprising diversity of mushrooms all year round is at the heart of what we do. Our programming also includes ID meetings, lectures, workshops, cultural and culinary events.
We’re an all-volunteer organization and welcome everyone with a love of fungi, regardless of their level of knowledge or area of interest.

Bird and Nature Walk: Clove Lakes Park
2025-10-01 10:00 - 12:00 | Clove Lakes Park
Join naturalists Ed Johnson and Ray Matarazzo with Director of Natural Science Colleen Evans on guided walks through the borough of parks.
There should be a good variety of migrant songbirds in the park, including warblers, vireos and sparrows.
Meet at the top of the park – Victory Blvd and Royal Oak Road.

Crafternoons: Crochet Granny Squares with Jade Dinkins
2025-10-11 13:00 - 15:00
Includes museum admission. All materials provided. Ages 16+
$20/$15 members.
Learn to stitch a basic granny square block — one of the foundational patterns of crochet! Granny squares are used in various projects like blankets, bags, and clothing. Participants will learn the basic stitches, how to work in rounds, and how to combine colors and textures to create their own unique squares.

Museum Tour: Path Through History Weekend
2025-10-11 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-10-12 15:00 - 16:00
Free with museum admission. Registration recommended.
Path Through History Weekends showcase New York State’s fascinating history. Enjoy a free guided tour of the Staten Island Museum, learn about the borough of Staten Island, and enjoy our collections and featured exhibitions.
