Let’s talk about the art at Snug Harbor! Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden serve the Staten Island community as a multi-dimensional space, providing open grounds, rental space for events, culture, and most importantly, art. Art surrounds the 83 acres of land located on the North Shore of Staten Island. Besides the exhibits, the building structures stand as art. With their detailed infrastructure and well-kept facades, looking at the building on the property provides visual pleasure. Walking the grounds of Snug Harbor provides a stimulating vision of artistry.
The Rose Garden, located on the northwest end of the Snug Harbor campus, features 100 varieties of roses. This tranquil location provides an artistic view of Snug Harbor as the family soaks in the visual living art. The garden, created by Thomas Melville, a Governor of Snug Harbor, had several locations upon the grounds before its current home. The art in Snug Harbor lives and breathes throughout the grounds. Making it a welcoming environment for all patrons. This is a place for the whole family.
The Tuscan Garden, located on the grounds of Snug Harbor. Modeled after the Villa Gamberaia in Florence, you will feel transported to Italy after your visit! The Tuscan Garden is not the only structure on the Snug Harbor structure to offer beauty. The grounds are covered in beauty. The Healing Garden also lends an artistic beauty to Snug Harbor. A memorial created to honor the 267 Staten Island residents who lost their lives to the September 11 attacks, the garden was officially completed and opened to the public in September 2008. The Healing garden features a stone “Wall of Remembrance” showcasing four cast-iron faces representing each season. In the garden, you will find an assortment of trees and shrubberies adding a colorful cascade of nature and the season change.
In addition to the Tuscan Garden, the New House Center for Contemporary Art is known for housing innovative artistry. The New House Center is the “largest and oldest contemporary art gallery” on Staten Island. The exhibits are fun and intriguing activity for the whole family. Currently being exhibited is Zoe Tirado’s: Ghoulfriends. This exhibit spotlights the “underground, creative, queer, and diverse” neighbors of Staten Island. The exhibit will be on display from April 24, 2021, through July 25, 2021. Across the way, another exhibit currently lives. JillWrites: On Art & Poetics by Jill Jichetti runs until July 25, 2021. Under the artist name JillWrites, Jill’s work explores digital media and performance. This display questions subjectivity post the introduction to the cyber world and social media.
Works of performing arts include dance, music, and theatre. Bringing the family to an exhibit would be a fun exhibit to all. These activities can open the mind and allow for the whole family to experience self-expression together. Snug Harbor features new and alluring art attractions featuring new and seasoned artists.
There are numerous educational opportunities at Snug Harbor as well. The Snug Harbor Teen Ambassadors program offers a creative intensive for students to learn and create art. Members of this initiative learn the importance of art within the community. Suitable for students in the ninth grade through twelfth, once completed the graduates will have a keen understanding and eye for art.
Snug Harbor is home to many different art activities and displays such as the Rose and Tuscan Garden along with the New House house Center. If you are looking for art and creative activities to take on with the family, give Snug Harbor a try! (Snug-harbor.org)