Staten Island Arts serves the community through traditional and contemporary art programs that highlight local artists and build audiences for their work. Our initiatives encourage cultural entrepreneurship and financial sustainability, with the goal of establishing an equitable cultural community.
Current Programs
Arts Education
Staten Island Arts works to increase Arts Education in our community through Arts Education grants, professional development for teaching artists, and special projects. Arts Education supports the belief that the arts are central to both teaching and learning. To learn more about our Arts Education programs, contact our Executive Director Pia Agrawal at (718) 447-3329 x1002 or by email at pagrawal@statenislandarts.org.
Folklife
Folklife as a discipline is concerned with the art of everyday life; the ways in which we creatively communicate through our daily activities. This can include dance, music, fashion, food, storytelling, decoration, crafts, and rituals. Folklife practices are often passed down from generation to generation, maintained and innovated, learned informally, and through face-to-face interaction. Look around you and you’ll probably find that your life is filled with folklife.
Re: Discovery
A series about rediscovering the world around us. Each month, we invite Staten landers to share their perspectives on the island through the lens of arts and culture.
Our Space
An artist-centered program that’s designed to meet the individual and collective needs of Staten Island artists who have been historically under-resourced and overlooked on Staten Island based on race, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, ability, economic disadvantage, and refugee/immigration status.
To learn more about Our Space, contact our community programs manager Alexandra Shoneyin at (718) 414-6904 or by email at alexandra@statenislandarts.org.
Past Programs
We’ve projected video art on to salt mountains, celebrated traditional Irish music, installed floating sound sculptures, and brought communities together from across the island. Below, you’ll find select happenings from the archives. Got video, photos, or stories to share? Drop us a note.
art-OFF
art-OFF was an interactive art competition presented in coordination with Second Saturdays Art Walk. At each event, a secret art-making material was revealed to teams who were given one hour to create a work of art related to a unique theme. Check out archived photos on our Flickr page.
ArtSpace at Urby
ArtSpace exhibited engaging contemporary work by Staten Island artists and curators of all disciplines, many of whom are emerging or embarking on their first gallery show.
Ben James Presents (Community Producers Program)
Ben James presents…was a monthly music event featuring live music, poetry, and videos that are meant to celebrate music like Jazz, the Blues, and more.
Cinema Connex
Staten Island Arts conceived and launched the Cinema Connex film series in 2018 to bring contemporary independent film and unique experiences to Staten Islanders, free of charge.
Court Yard Fridays (Future Culture)
Court Yard Fridays was a concert series held in the historic courtyard between Borough Hall and the old Supreme Court building that engaged Staten Islanders through cultural sharing, and activated this underused civic space in St. George to reveal opportunities for further cultural, social, and educational engagement.
Creative Endevours Radio Show
Broadcast via Maker Park Radio, Creative Endeavors explored past SIA grantee projects and updated listeners about future grantee projects they can experience in their own neighborhoods.
Creative Transformations
Under the banner of Creative Transformations: Arts, Culture and Public Housing Communities, Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts-New York (NOCD-NY) supported a partnership between Staten Island Arts Folklife and Napela Inc to reinforce the ongoing Park Hill Community Market.
Divine Women (Community Producers Program)
Divine Women, LLC encouraged and inspire women to love, support, elevate and empower each other in the pursuit and accomplishment of their unique talents and life goals.
Every Plate Tells a Story
Food is life. Food is culture. It creates histories, connects communities, and nurtures souls. Every Plate Tells a Story explores Staten Islanders’ relationship to food through a multidisciplinary approach we like to call Food Lore.
Lumen
A multi-year celebration of performance, video art, sculpture, and community at Atlantic Salt. View photos of past Lumen events, and more, on our archived Flickr page.
People Say: The Staten Island Sound
This live streaming series featured a diverse cast of musicians from across our borough at the invitation of local composer / drummer Dr. Darrell Smith. We travelled bridges connecting jazz, hip hop, Afrofuturism, classical, rock, pop, and funk—and forged some new paths along the way.
Sleepy Droner Club (Community Producers Program)
Sleepy Droner Club was a monthly exhibition focusing on ambient/electronic music. Each performance was intended to engage observers with compelling soundscapes accompanied by projected visuals, creating a listening space unlike anything available anywhere else on Staten Island.
Sonic Gates (Future Culture)
SONIC GATES: New York City’s Sound Sculpture Walk (2018) was created by artist Volker Goetze, who led a team to construct sound sculptures and a murals at various sites along the waterfront, on Bay Street, and in Tappen Park, from St. George to Stapleton.
Staten Island Heritage Award
An award that honors unsung supporters and committed heritage-bearers: people who carry forward traditions, who harbor local knowledge, who master deep skills and creative practices, who share the living traditions that give depth and power to our everyday lives.
Staten Island Seisiún
Celebrating traditional Irish folk music and prose, the Seisiún brought together a rotating cast of artists in an inviting, supportive atmosphere on the 3rd Thursday of each month. Musicians at different experience levels were given space to hone their skills and expand their repertoire.
Summerfest
Summerfest (2011) was a series of free performances and workshops by Staten Island artists presented by COAHSI—that’s our original moniker. Summerfest grants were made possible by the NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs. Some photos of the fest are archived on Flickr.
Super Secret Show (Community Producers Program)
A bi-monthly comedy show located on Staten Island hosted and produced by Joon Chung, Manny Rondon, and Mike Bryk.
Talking Drums
During the Spring of 2016 Staten Island Arts Folklife produced Talking Drums: Extending the Social Life of Traditional Drumming, a three part folklife series that explored the aesthetics and communicative function of various traditional drum forms from the ethnic communities that make Staten Island home.
Working Waterfront
Working Waterfront was an initiative of Staten Island Arts Folklife that seeks to raise awareness and appreciation for Staten Island’s uniquely place-based maritime folklife and the borough’s rich intergenerational and multicultural waterfront traditions.