2022 Recipients

Alexandra Shoneyin – Food Justice on Staten Island
In collaboration with food cultivation sites and the Forest Avenue ComeUnity fridge, artist Alexandra Shoneyin will create a participatory documentary film centered around the effects of food insecurity through the lens of Mariners Harbor community members and their experiences with food banks and food social services, combating institutional barriers for access to healthy food, and unlearning individualism. The film will include the perspective and experiences of Staten Island youth to showcase how this journey is intergenerational, deeply rooted in systems of capitalism, racism, and elitism, and vital in creating lasting change around food insecurity in our communities for future generations. The project also includes a weekend series of small-scale community events, including a screening of the film for community members. These events will include discussions and workshops from a mix of local food justice experts, land stewards, and holistic wellness artists and healers, each offering knowledge and insights from their lived-experiences.

Alexis Romano – Staten Island Mode: Exploring Memory and Identity Through Dress
Staten Island Mode is a multi-phase participatory social art project that explores the identities and life histories of Staten Islanders through dress. A central aim of the project is to capture stories of how clothing is a marker of local and individual identity, and an archive of life events. The project will include an online survey as well recruitment of voluntary participant collaborators of all ages, ethnicities and abilities who live on Staten Island inviting them to a series of workshops. The workshops invite the participants to become creative collaborators as they reflect on Staten Island’s history as well as stereotypes of Staten Island presented in the media today. The activities are also aimed at exploring the significance of clothing and fashion in life milestones, and how it can simultaneously signify aspects of personal and community identity. The workshops and the subsequent exhibition of the workshop materials in an immersive installation curated by Alexis Romano and Jenna Rossi-Camus, will all take place at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor. Fundamentally, Staten Island Mode asks both participant collaborators and audiences to consider if and how our clothes express who we are, where we come from and what it means to be a Staten Islander today.

Anna Nadler – Beautiful Staten Island
Artist Anna Nadler will create a series of Staten Island-themed illustrations, make them into art prints, and a coloring book. The prints and book will be of various Staten Island locations like the waterfront, Snug Harbor, and other historical buildings/locations.

Anna Sehnsucht​ – Deconstructing Migration
Deconstructing Migration will be free painting sessions for the growing number of refugees from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. A painting session is a combination of a painting class, a social studies discussion, and a conversation about the purpose and value of art. These sessions will explore people’s immigration experiences, allowing people to share their stories while painting. Participants will learn acrylic painting techniques while also learning about Staten Island history.

Brandon Bustamante – Racket
Artist Brandon Bustamante will produce Racket a concept album featuring music of various genres and soundscapes. He will be collaborating with multiple artists and will include a music video series as a companion piece to the album. The theme of the album is around the back and forth nature of life, how one must overcome pressures that they may even place upon themselves and that sometimes the easiest choice is not the most rewarding. Ideas such as balancing integrity, growth, the afterlife, use of social media, judgmental family and peers, fear of yourself, and the want for true happiness are all explored throughout the entirety of the project.

Brian Smith – The Live Karaoke Band
The Live Karaoke Band will produce interactive entertainment experiences that allow for participants to become a part of the band – whether it’s living out their dream of being the lead singer or by playing along with percussive instruments. The band aims to create a space that brings people together through their shared love of music while also giving them the stage to shine.

Brianna Montalbano – “End of the World” Original Single Production and Release
End of the World is an original song written by Brianna Montalbano on her experience through the quarantine period early on in the surge of the Covid-19 pandemic. This song was written about a period when she had to cope with the weight of having to adjust to new regulations that shifted her day-to-day life and left her disconnected from friends, family, and familiar places. It explores her ability to eventually find peace and comfort from those who supported her during this time.

Caileen Gonzalez – North Shore Family Festival
The North Shore Family Festival will take place in the area behind Be Yoga & Dance Studio, on Bay Street, in Rosebank. Artists will have stations set up where they will facilitate family-friendly activities. Each hour of the festival, one artist will be spotlighted and lead the audience in a group activity. The activities will incorporate mindfulness, movement and connection. They will include yoga, dance, wildcrafting, a drum circle, painting and more. The intention of the project is to create a safe space for people of all walks of life to come together and experience the unity that is possible through art. A culminating activity will be a large group painting that will be showcased at the venue to symbolize unity and love

Caryn T. Davis – Staten Island is Ours! An Altered Book Project
Staten Island is Ours! (SIO): An Altered Book Project, is a multidisciplinary art-making project in collaboration with the Staten Island Urban Center (SIUC), a youth development program for young people of color. Altered Books are an individual art object created from an existing printed book. Yet, making altered books often relies on the collaboration between participants in dialogue with each other in an on-going creative process that involves sharing techniques and ideas. Participants will learn basic art-making techniques as well as develop writing skills as they’ll respond to prompts related guest speaker presentations, such as Debbie Anne-Paige’s introduction to Black history on Staten Island and use their written responses to make decisions for the “chapters” they will create in their books. The program will culminate with a series of events, participants will learn public speaking skills to prepare them for pop-up conversations at the St. George Library, and Staten Island Museum on the North Shore and the Conference House on the South Shore.

Catherine Cullen – Listening Tree
The Listening Tree will be a public sculpture installed on the north lawn of Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens. This project continues artist Catherine Cullen’s exploration of the tree form, in whole and in part, to meditate on the inter-relatedness of humans and nature. A public reading of select related poetry will be organized in association with the exhibition.

Community Arts Commission – Staten Island Songwriters: Showcase Series
The Staten Island Songwriters showcases are unique music experiences, that will take place at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, highlighting a diverse group of local songwriters, vocalists, and musicians. Funding will be used to produce a Spring and Summer showcase. The intention of these events are to provide paid performance opportunities, marketing, and networking for local artists to enhance their practice, present their work, and expand their audience, all while creating programming that further connects communities to the local art scene.

Daniel Smith – Voices of The Unheard
Voices of the Unheard will be a collection of poems based on the many atrocities that have been committed against African Americans in America. Artist Daniel Smith was inspired to create this project through his research into Critical Race Theory, his realization of how lacking the education we receive in school is about American history, and his experience of recently learning about a historic African American church and cemetery on Staten Island that was covered over by a strip mall. Along with a book, Smith will work with painter Melita Cekani to produce paintings inspired by the writing. The paintings will be presented at a live reading event that aims to provide a space for others to perform and tell stories they might have of family whose voice and fight have been forgotten.

Donna Napoli-Steele – The Other Staten Island
The Other Staten Island is artist Donna Napoli-Steele’s view of Staten Island’s wildlife. This project will take place in Conference House Park and the H.H. Biddle House Museum. It includes a life size sculpture of a harbor seal swimming in a playful pose that will be installed at the Conference House Pavilion. Along with the outdoor seal sculpture, a display of her local wildlife watercolors, sculpture and drawings will be on exhibit. This project focuses on wildlife awareness and conservation by representing the Island’s wildlife up close and personal. The viewer learns about the animal’s environment, where and when one might spot them, what they eat, and how to protect them.

Elizabeth Ojo – SPLIT
Elizabeth Ojo, also known as Mama Spice, will produce an EP of her music titled SPLIT. The album will combine Afrobeats (Nigerian), Dancehall (Jamaican) and R&B/Pop (American) music. The title refers to all the diverse influences that cultivated her growing up as a first generation Nigerian as well as defines the different cultures, melodies, and instruments that listeners will hear in her music. The album will feature various Staten Island artists and will culminate with an album release/video premiere in Stapleton.

Faith Walton -”Appreciate” EP Recording and Production Project
Artist Faith Walton will produce an EP of three original songs, all supporting the theme of self-acceptance. Walton is hoping her music connects with anyone who struggles to accept themselves or who allows the approval of others to dictate their perceived worth. She hopes it encourages listeners to courageously embrace who they are and most of all, love their true selves. The EP will be released on all major streaming services.

HEGAZY – Do You Want Me Now – Music Video
Pop/soul duo Hegazy, comprised of twin sisters Omnia and Leila Hegazy, will film a music video for their upcoming single Do You Want Me Now, a feminist soul/rock anthem that seeks to challenge gender expectations. From unrealistic photoshopped beauty standards to the question of whether or not to have children, the lyrics touch on a myriad of challenges that women face throughout their lives. They have enlisted a team of female artists for this project and will host a virtual concert/premiere screening.

Jenny Pisani – Alchemy Extended
While artist Jenny Pisani was living in Cambodia after finishing her Peace Corps service, she created a book of poems called Alchemy. This collection of poems reflected her journey of transforming grief, trauma and depression into compassion, resilience and strength through creativity. While abroad, she created the cover, edited the poems and printed books through a local book shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She will use funding to re-publish it, while also creating a second book of poems she has written since then. The theme of it is ancestry and identity as a third generation Italian American, and a reflection on the woman she is becoming, inspired by the women who came before her, and those who may come after.

Jerraine Williams – The Ikko Ikki
Artist Jerrine Williams will produce a concept film/music album titled The Ikko Ikki. The Ikko Ikki was a temple in feudal Japan. When samurai warriors grew wary of fighting for dishonorable warlords or became tired of warring. They would come to the temple of the Ikko Ikki and lay down their sword in a vow of pacifism, only using bushido code to protect the temple and its way of life. The artist considers Hip-hop his bushido code and the studio as his Ikko Ikki. His background in martial arts influences his creative process, the bushido code is a kin to street code in the neighborhoods where he is from. The neighborhood ninjas, or street samurais of sorts, grow weary of warring and come to his studio, Ikko Ikki. This project aims to tell stories from the lens of a Black, geeky, anime, cosplay loving, hip-hop head.

Jessica Bunnicelli – “Messed Up” Music Video Production
Artist Jessica Bunnicelli, also known as Saturn Lane, will produce a music video for her original song, Messed Up. The song speaks to the artist’s personal struggle with mental health and anxiety disorder and how those challenges affected her relationships with others. This is song about forgiving yourself, forgiving others, and finding a way to move on and embrace your imperfections.

Julia Aponte – Sisters in the Studio
As a female producer, songwriter, and musician, Julia Aponte understands firsthand the disadvantages and challenges that women in the music industry face due to the society we live in. According to a report conducted by USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, women are greatly outnumbered by men in the music industry. Sisters in the Studio aims to provide local, female songwriters with the opportunity to have one of their original songs professionally recorded, mixed, and mastered at no cost to them. The value of having a professionally produced piece of original music is priceless to an artist and will allow the participants to use that material to further promote and market themselves and their unique content. The goal is to provide the resources to give these artists material to fuel growth and help them take the next step in their careers. The completed songs will be presented at a listening party at The Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

Kathryn Carse  – Writing a Fable Workshop
In this workshop series, participants in the College Group and Media Department of Lifestyles for the Disabled write and illustrate fables as a group and individually. An art class will provide additional illustrations. The participants at Lifestyles for the Disabled work with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Participants and staff will produce a video reading of completed fables. The Media Center will produce a podcast to air on Lifestyles Radio. In addition to You-Tube and Facebook, the video, podcast, and PDFs of fables text and illustration will be posted on Life-Wire News Service, a website that distributes media content produced by people with intellectual disabilities.

Mark Teodosio – The Realest Bayani Comic Book Series Graphic Novel
The Realist Bayani, created by Mark Teodosio, is a comic book series that follows the main protagonist, Marlon Ramos aka The Realest Bayani, a Filipino street hero. The term “bayani” actually means “hero” or “national icon,” in Tagalog, the main island dialect of the Philippines. Teodosio will use funding for the production of issues 4 & 5 which will allow him to complete the first story arc of this series.

Michael DeConzo – Welcome to the Arcade
Welcome to the Arcade is a collection of 13 interconnected coming-of-age stories that capture the challenges and triumphs the three narrators experience as they move from childhood to early adulthood. Growing up in South Beach, Staten Island, Johnny, Ralphie and Giulia struggle to make sense of a world that is sometimes cruel, often absurd and never predictable, but which can also be stunningly beautiful and loving. The stories in Welcome to the Arcade are based on characters from the author’s debut novel Two Nickels (published in 2021) but take place in the two decades before the novel opens in 1997. The characters deal with issues of identity, race, relationships, bullying, divorce, sexuality, drugs, belonging, friendship and love. The collection is set on Staten Island, where the characters navigate familiar touchstones—the boardwalk and arcade in South Beach, the Verrazano Bridge, Hoffman’s Island, the Bethlehem Home, schoolyards, dances, the ferry, and Curtis HS. The characters experience their own personal epiphanies, but they are also a part of the larger canvas of the 1970s-1980s, a time when the borough’s population exploded and Staten Island changed forever.

Moonlight Productions NYC – Staten Island Senior Citizen Acting Troupe
The Staten Island Senior Acting Troupe is senior citizens from all different neighborhoods in Staten Island coming together to write and perform an original play. There will be comedy, personal testimonials, music and more! The performances will be held at several different venues and will involve many participants from senior centers from across Staten Island. The project aims to use theatre to build a bridge between neighbors and neighborhoods, and to work together to create something memorable and magical.

Peter Jurado – Roy, Gee, & Biv
Roy, Gee, & Biv is a live action pilot about three puppets who share the importance of art to kids of all ages. Roy, Gee, & Biv will travel all around the NYC area interviewing artists of different mediums, such as muralists & comic book artists. The goal of this project is to broaden young viewers’ idea of what an idea is and can be.

Ramon Gabriel Tenefrancia – Art Song Anonymous
ART SONG ANONYMOUS is a hybrid live/virtual performance that celebrates the beauty and expressiveness of the human voice through music and visual art and champions inclusion in classical music. The show concept was inspired by drag which brings together visual artistry and performance and blurs the lines of the concept of gender. Art Song Anonymous brings together three artists, Ramon Tenefrancia, Joseph Adia and Luxana Lozano to sculpt headpieces primarily out of recycled paper clay and origami to be worn by 4 singers (Ramon Tenefrancia, Shaina Martinez-Azzopardi, Luxana Lozano, Riley Bragg) while they perform their rendition of the featured french art songs. The show consists of 10 pre-recorded performances of french art songs by different composers (Poulenc, Fauré, Bizet, Chausson, Duparc, Ravel, Hahn, Berlioz, and Massenet), each representing a different color in the pride flag (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet etc). Each song will be performed by a singer and pianist with each singer wearing a featured sculpture. Each musician will transform into living art with the sculpture serves blurs the lines of gender, race, age and the musical performance creates an experience that is visually and musically stunning. It is set to premiere as a part of the Pride Center of Staten Island’s Pridefest 2022.

Rena Parisi – Napoleon
Artist Rena Parisi will produce a rap/hip-hop album titled Napoleon, after Napoleon Bonaparte, french military leader during the Revolutionary Wars. Sharing the military leader’s  understanding of time, tactics of confidence, and ambitions to actualize how they can ignite the people around them to fight for their own individualism, this project is a direct commentary on how the artist feels about humanity and highlights the pressures a lot of artists feel holds them back from expressing their work. It explores themes of confidence and courage, the pain of loss, the confusion of romance, what freedom could be, spiritual openness, more. This project supports multiple artists and will be presented at Hub 17 in Stapleton.

Rochas Ames – 240
Artist Rochas Ames will produce his debut album, 240, named after an address in Park Hill where the artist grew up. Park Hill has a bad reputation and most people know the famous former residents, The Wu-tang Clan. The artist hopes to change the outside perception of his neighborhood. This album aims to tell new stories and little heard of histories of the Parkhill neighborhood. This project includes a video and there will be an album release/premiere screening at Mama Spot in Stapleton.

Sage Reynolds – Sage Reynolds, New work in Watercolor, Paper and Metal
Artist Sage Reynolds will produce a month-long exhibition of new works in various media taking place at Art on the Terrace Gallery. The show will consist of a watercolor series of Toucan portraits, graphite and colored pencil drawings related to the metalwork work on display and recent paper tapestries. The paper tapestries are made of rag paper hand-painted by the artist which has been cut into strips and are woven together to make graphic images of ideas, symbols and animals. There will also be a display of some metalwork as the artist is the only silversmith on Staten Island, he has produced vessels in copper and silver chased with images of animals and symbolic geometries.

Tia Johnson – Sustainability – Endangered Animals
Sustainability-Endangered Animals will focus on sustainable art – specifically endangered animals. Sustainable art by definition is art which has been made using upcycled and found materials in an effort to minimize the damage done to the environment. Artist Tia Johnson will be exhibiting artwork along with artist Kyoko Heshiimu. Climate change is a problem that affects each of us. The artists will create images using recycled materials. Johnson plans on combining photography and plastic bags using collage to make animal figures on canvas. Meanwhile, Heshiimu will make paper pulp made from the recycled magazines from past projects which she will dye to create figures of animals. The work will be displayed in a virtual gallery.

Tom Ferrie – Punk Rock Mini Golf
Punk Rock Mini-Golf will be a multi-disciplined experience taking place over two weekends at Maker Park, in Stapleton. This project is an interactive experience that allows the user to participate in mini-golf while viewing and listening to local art and music. The project will incorporate a 9-hole mini-golf course that was a collaborative creation between Ferrie and local artists, with a punk-rock experience that showcases live music performed by local bands and other punk rock artists. Ferrie plans to engage the Black Rock Coalition to highlight the contributions of bands such as Public Enemy and Living Colour on the NY punk scene. As well as LGBTQ members of the Punk scene (both historically and currently) and include local LGBTQ punk bands. The project aims to confound the misconception that Punk Rock is a dangerous, male-oriented genre and highlight its’ truly inclusive aspects. 

Unique Sotirakis – Season’s Perspective
Season’s Perspective will gather participants for an immersive sensory experience at local parks on Staten Island with the intention of creating art inspired by nature throughout the different seasons of the year.  It highlights the many unique perspectives within a community while exploring the inevitable change that occurs with time and the experience that comes with it. Artists Unique Sotirakis and Lori Love will guide participants as they connect with the natural surroundings, focusing on whichever subject within the scenic location and channeling their inspiration onto canvas with acrylic paint.  Participants are encouraged to capture the same point of view, as they consider the light, colors and textures that surround them throughout the seasonal transitions. To remain accessible for those with disabilities and/or anyone opting out of the in-person sessions, an informational video will be provided.  The video demonstrates how to use the various brushes and palette knives with art prompts and dialogue to echo the theme of the project. The art created from Season’s Perspective is displayed in the Hub17 Gallery as well as online.

Alessandra Stoffo – Sunday Funday: A Community Garden Gathering Inspired By Local Food
Sunday Funday: A Community Garden Gathering Inspired By Local Food is an event that will be hosted at the Hill Street Community Garden in Stapleton. Sunday Funday is a skill share event. The event will enlist the skills of community gardeners and creatives to share techniques about edible landscapes and to host workshops around the theme of nature, DIY crafting, and mindfulness. This project aims to highlight a public space that can be used for nature education, art-making, and knowledge-sharing about culture and farming.

Allan Avidano – Cornelius, children’s book
Cornelius (working title) is the second book in a series of children’s books set on Staten Island created by artist Allan Avidano. The series touches on various themes related to growing up on Staten Island – from exploring themes on nature in an urban environment, to understanding the benefits of living in a diverse, multicultural community, to the everyday challenges of being a kid in a rapidly changing world. Cornelius specifically focuses on tolerance, religious diversity, and developing a sense of communal unity among various belief systems. The purpose of these children’s books is to allow children to consider some of the complex, formative themes that make up their world in a medium that is accessible and resonates with them. Cornelius will debut at a public reading and book giveaway at Every Thing Goes Book Cafe & Neighborhood Stage located in Tompkinsville.

Arlette Cepeda – Celebrating Spaces of Belonging in Staten Island
Celebrating Spaces of Belonging in Staten Island is a photo documentary project that will be used as a tool for transformational social change. This project will celebrate places of belonging as identified by Staten Islanders via the SI Equity & Belonging Project at CSI, a study to better understand perceptions and awareness of equity & belonging at the intersections of class, race/ethnicity & disability. The goal of this project is to create awareness and recognition of spaces that promote belonging for historically marginalized people due to their race, gender, ability or identity. The artist will take photographs of the selected spaces and the people that make them a space of belonging. The project will culminate with an exhibition at the Pride Center of Staten Island.

Chris O’Brien – Emory Cobb: A Retrospective
Artist Chris O’Brien create stories/mythologies to tell stories about Staten Island’s past in a way that was both creatively challenging and fun. Emory Cobb: A Retrospective tells the story of Emory Cobb, a fictional character who was an active artist on Staten Island in the 1970s. Cobb’s collages, illustrations, and stop-motion animation shorts, along with the recordings of his band Tuff Luck, are largely unknown to the world. This retrospective serves to shed light on the short life and extensive work of this self-taught artist by displaying pieces from his collection and sharing his unreleased music with the world. This project features a physical record release of a single by Cobb’s band, Tuff Luck, and along with the recorded music, Cobb’s illustrations, sculptures, writings, stop-motion animation videos he created between 1971-1974 will be on display. The goal of this project is to inform the public about the importance of forgotten “outsider” artists and subcultures that have been a bright light in the history of the Island, and a staple of the American cultural experience. The work will be presented at Staten Island Makerspace.

Dee Kanevsky – Audition Ammunition
Audition Ammunition is a workshop series that aims to prepare young theatre students for professional audition opportunities. Guided by working performers, students will be given all the tools needed to perfect their work, from how to rewrite resumes, to how to frame, light, record and submit audition videos. Participants will also be given the opportunity to play casting director by reviewing fellow participants resumes, headshots, and audition videos for acting, song, and dance, so that they gain an understanding of what it’s like on the other side of the table. A performance of participants’ best monologues, songs and dances to be presented online.

Emmanuel Ojo – Sweetest Home
Sweetest Home is a film about interracial dating. The Odfin’s, a proud Nigerian family, are awaiting the arrival of their first-born son from overseas. As they wait, his mother daydreams of him bringing home a nice Nigerian girl but those dreams are interrupted and comedy ensues when he arrives with this new hipster girlfriend in tow. Writer/Director Emmanual Ojo will screen the film along with his full body of work at a venue in St. George.

Gary Moore – The Over 50 Project
Musician Gary Moore will produce The Over 50 Project which will be series of three library concerts featuring performers over the age of 50. Along with the performance the concerts will include a short talk about ageism. Young artists will also be invited to share the stage with the older musicians to round out this inter-generational program.

HONK NYC – HONK NYC 2022
HONK NYC is an artists collective that celebrates contemporary global parade culture through musical events, educational programs, and interactive multi-disciplinary spectacles. HONK NYC’s Staten Island Day, held during their annual week-long fall festival, will feature a HONK Village at Maker Park in Stapleton. HONK Village will be comprised of hands-on kids’ instrument building stations from found objects, including prop and costume-making table from recycled materials, marching band hat and flag coloring activities, and a community build of a PVC pipe marimba. Additionally, five bands from the NYC region will perform. The event will end with a group processional along the waterfront open to all in attendance, incorporating all the instruments, props, costumes, hats, and flags made during the day. 

Janice Patrignani-Muñoz – Book Arts and Illustration
Book Arts and Illustration will use silk painting techniques to create illustrations for artist Janice Patrignani-Muñoz’s book Magenta’s Tails, which she wrote through a children’s book writing course. Through this project, the story and illustrations will be combined into an art book that will be presented at South Beach Community Center as part of a book arts workshop series. The 3-part program will promote literacy, engaging the centers youth in creative writing/ drawing/painting, & book binding techniques.

Janice Patrignani-Muñoz – Leaf Through Nature
Leaf Through Nature is a painting, printmaking, and art book making workshop series, presented by artist Janice Patrignani-Muñoz, where participants are encouraged to explore the natural beauty of Staten Island. Found objects collected on nature walks will be used as inspiration to paint/print fabric and paper that will then be bound into art books and as components for a fiber arts mural. Workshops will be held at the Greenbelt Nature Center and New Lane Neighborhood Senior Center. The completed mural will be exhibited at both locations along with participant’s art books.

Jessica Licciardello – Queentessential
Artist Jessica Licciardello will write and record an original music album, Queentessential, as an extension of her project 8 Minutes to Freedom, which explored the artist’s personal experience of surviving domestic abuse. This album aims to take listeners on a journey into healing. The work hopes to highlight the positive journey that lay after the struggle, the healing process, and ability to triumph by finding inner strength, and gratitude for support.

Jolie Tong – HΔRRY
Artists Jolie Tong and Ralf Jean-Pierre will further develop their play HΔRRY- a play based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Parts 1&2) set against the backdrop of Los Angeles hip hop culture in the 2010s. The story follows Henry V, one of Shakespeare’s most complex and polarizing heroes, who will be loosely based on Nipsey Hussle. Nipsey was a beloved hip-hop artist who evolved from drug dealing gang banger to world class rapper/artist and unorthodox community leader. Their play reflects the parallels in Henry’s and Nipsey’s stories, as we see Henry navigate his transformation from wayward youth to leader and “king.” This adaptation will feature Shakespearean text and an original hip hop score. The performances will be used to engage audiences in a conversation that explores decision making, honor and the ethics of leadership. The artists will be working with Sarah Blas, as a community partner, to engage the nearby residents of the Richmond Terrace Houses. This project includes a post show talkback aimed at creating a community conversation involving artists, elected officials, community stakeholders and decision makers that explores personal evolution, decision making, honor and the ethics of leadership.

Jordan Barone – Goodnight, Goodmorning
Jordan Barone’s debut LP and exhibition, Goodnight, Goodmorning, glances inward, offering the contrasting experiences of entertainment industry highs to the exhausting lows of mystery ailments, requiring constant monitoring of the artist’s mental state, delving into depression, and the feeling of loss of self. The project’s themes center around existentialism, mental health, self-love and its relation to loving others- a journey parallel to most amongst the pandemic. The project will include a recorded R&B LP and an art exhibition featuring a series of walk-through installations, each responding to and inspired by a track on the LP, created by various local artists of various media. The installation will be on view at Hub17 in Stapleton.

Jose Raul Ocasio – RITMOS DE SEMILLA 2  (RHYTHM SEEDS 2)
Musician Jose Raul Ocasio  will present RITMOS DE SEMILLA 2 / RHYTHM SEEDS 2, a folkloric music presentation happening during Hispanic Heritage month. The presentation will explore the cultural and modern music of a wide range of cultures – African, Latin American, Afro-Puerto Rican Rhythms – through live percussion performance as well as through music videos from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Singapore, New York City, Puerto Rico, and more. The presentation will include a display of primitive percussion instruments, cultural costumes, masks, poetry, and paintings. It will be presented live at the Greenbelt Nature Center and a local library. The presentation will be broadcasted live and virtually on Greenbelt Nature Center posted on Facebook, and YouTube.

Joseph Ojo – Nugari Blackout
Nugari Blackout is a new world episodic anime that takes place in parts of Africa and the United States. This project will combine animation, African history/culture, fictional/non-fictional events, and African/Western languages to bring a fresh look and feel to the genre. The first episode will premiere at a venue in Stapleton.

Josue Mendez – Community Paint Party 2022
Artist Josue Mendez will produce the Community Paint Party, a full day festival of painting, music, games, and fun crafts for families. Mendez along with his team of artists will lead and provide instruction and techniques to participants. Each participant will receive a full paint kit along with disposable materials such as apron, pallets, brushes, and cups. The festival will also include games, live music, and food.

Keri Sheheen – Parlor Trick Print Exchange 2022
Parlor Trick Print Exchange, organized by artist Keri Sheheen, will provide the opportunity for artists to create a small edition of prints using the concept of a “vessel” as a loose theme. The artists will work within the parameters of printmaking methods, including etching, silkscreen, woodcuts, linocuts, and lithographs. Hosted online, the website will be used as a promotional tool to help the participants direct traffic to their personal websites. The exchange will also be shared on Facebook and Instagram. These exchanges are a creative way to share tangible, original artwork with other makers in an otherwise digital and isolating time.

Kiara La’Ché – The ART of Sound
The ART of Sound will be an event that encourages audiences to explore art through music, movement, and memories. Participants will enjoy both verbal and non-verbal artistic expression as an opportunity to interpret arts’ impact on themselves and the world. Key artists will perform poetry, spoken word, contemporary dance and more, to share their narratives with community. This event will take place at the Corporate Commons Park in Bulls Head.

Kimbra Eberly – I’m a Fan Podcast Season 2
I’m a Fan is a podcast showcasing people in the community making a difference. Guests are from the worlds of music, art, theatre, spoken word, animal rescue, nursing, firefighting, independent business, activism and more. Episodes delve into their unique experiences, and their positive community impact. Although some guests may be artists, the podcast is designed to recognize and show appreciation to a variety of people — and then to have them keep the momentum going by naming someone in the community who they admire.

Kimbra Eberly – Shadow Work (music)
Musician Kimbra Eberly will write and record an album of original music titled Shadow Work. The theme of the music will explore the term called “shadow work,” based on Carl Jung’s theory that the psychological process involves understanding what you project onto others and the world. It is about becoming aware of your own darkness (shadow). Only through the process of burning away your false ideas and beliefs do you gain clarity on who you truly are.  Mid-life is usually the time when the question of meaning or purpose of life becomes central for the individual. Eberly uses music to tap into how we are able to lead meaningful lives through shadow work. This project aims to uplift our community to reconnect and move beyond these difficult times through song and words.  The music will be released at a concert at Hub 17 in Stapleton.

Kristi Pfister – Dorothy Day: Iconic Activist
Dorothy Day: Iconic Activist is a visual art exhibition of mosaics about Dorothy Day – activist for workers rights, journalist, global icon for social justice and local icon of Staten Island. In the 1920’s Day lived in a beach bungalow in Spanish Camp on the southern shore of Staten Island. The goal of this exhibit is to bring greater awareness of Dorothy Day to a SI audience and beyond, and is well timed – as the ferry named for her will be part of the active SI Ferry fleet in 2022. Artist Kristi Pfister will design and fabricate a series of ten mosaic panels using marble tesserae, ceramic tile, and glass tile. Each mosaic will incorporate an iconic image associated with Day and her lifelong work while referencing motifs that are part of the inherited pictorial vocabulary of mosaic design. The mosaic designs will interlace symbolic imagery with quiet undulating space representing Day’s duality of what is “seen” –  the patterns of her radical actions, with “the unseen” –  her spiritual self. The work will be exhibited at the Rutan House Gallery in Conference House Park.

Kyoko Heshiimu – The Return of Poetry Broadsides
Broadsides historically are used as a way to inform the public about current events. Often broadsides were simply meant as entertainment. A poetry broadside is a one sided image using text laid out alongside it. This project combines two of the artist Kyoko Heshiimu’s passions – poetry and art. The artist will create linoleum prints to illustrate her poetry. Her writing focuses on political topics and everyday activities such as motherhood. This project aims to to help audiences expand their concept of poetry. The work will be on display virtually through Kunstmatrix (virtual gallery) and a website in the winter of 2022.

Lina Montoya – La Isla Bonita Fest
La Isla Bonita Fest returns with a new format that will include a public art installation and a concert. Artist Lina Montoya will design and install a mural at Faber Park and musicians Mino Cinelu, Yacouba Sissoko and Volker Goetze will produce a concert at Canvas Institute. The goal of this project is to develop cultural programming, beautify public spaces with public art, present live music and dance performances that explore the themes of cultural diversity, migration and transformation.

Lorna Harris – Immigrants Are US: The (G)eneration Project Pop-In Staten Island Community Edition
The G Project, (www.gproject.org) a public art campaign comprising exhibitions, workshops, and a public art installation based on the simple idea that we are all immigrants, our common threads are bigger than our differences. This project aims  to acts as a catalyst for an inclusive community conversation encouraging Americans from all walks of life to see ourselves in each other, and each other in ourselves to dispel the negative rhetoric and behavior towards immigrants in the United States that increasingly undermines individual safety and dignity and obstructs our nation’s social progress. The (G)eneration Project will produce two pop-ups at established event happening at Snug Harbor Cultural Center. This project engages community within 2 social frameworks, Cooperative Art and Creative Placemaking, solutions proven to strengthen communities by helping individuals envision new ways of thinking and connect one another and provide the public agency to reflect on, express and share their own creativity and humanity to improve society and address social issues.

Maribel Torres Peralta – Carnaval Mixteca de la Poblana Staten Island
Carnaval Mixteco de la Poblana Staten Island aims to maintain cultural traditions and dances from Puebla, Mexico and to teach the younger generations about the importance of fostering those traditions. The event will feature traditional music and performances. Local traditional dance groups along with groups from different boroughs and neighboring states will participate in this cultural celebration. This family friendly event is free to the public and will be held at Fun Station USA in Travis.

Mary-Antonia Lombardi – 10302
Artists Mary-Antonia Lombardi and Nanci Richards will produce 10302, a fun and informative children’s book about Port Richmond told through the eyes of Vito, a dog who lives in Port Richmond who has acquired a new sister Zola. Vito takes Zola for a walk around her new neighborhood showing her some of his favorite spots. The book will spotlight iconic places in the neighborhood giving a little history or fun fact about them. After the book is complete a reading of the book will done virtually as well as in Veteran’s Park in Port Richmond.

Mikhael Antone-D’Angelo – Re-wilding (Staten Island Fresh Kills Landfill)
The Freshkills Rewilding Project plans to document the relationship of Staten Islanders to the place formerly occupied by Freshkills landfill and now is Freshkills Park. This project will: explore the meaning that Freshkills holds for Staten Islanders; document how shared memories and lived experience intersect with the familiar-yet-changing landscape and honor the occupational, creative, and place-based knowledge of people who experienced it. Mikhael Antone-D’Angelo (Filmmaker and photographer) with Joe D’Angelo (Composer) will be connecting with Staten Islanders gathering their stories and experiences through interviews, video and photos. The documentary will be screened at the College of Staten Island.

Nanci Richards – Pedagogy 2
Pedagogy 2 is a comedic solo show performance written by comedian Nanci Richards. It is the sequel to her solo show Pedagogy written in 2007. The goal of this show is to talk about the issues in education in a satirical and sober way from the perspective of a NYC public school teacher. Pedagogy will continue the story taken from 2007 and focus on education reform during the Bloomberg administration, equity and covid during the de Blasio years, and looking towards the future under the new Adams administration.  Like Pedagogy, the intention is to give voice  to the teacher and to provoke discussion about education in America/NYC. The artist will use her experience and observation as a NYC public school teacher for 25 years. The show will be performed at Hub 17 in Stapleton.

Nataki Hewling – HERShot! Global Photo Exchange
HERShot is a photography program designed to help young girls ages 10 and up to find their voice and express themselves through visual storytelling. This year HERShot is going global and inviting girls from around the world to participate in a photo exchange with our local participants in an effort to unite girls from around the world through photography. The work created by participants will be put on view in a public park.

Paul Moakley – James: The brief and violent life of Jimmy Zappalorti
James: The brief and violent life of Jimmy Zappalorti is a documentary exploring the aftermath of a gay veteran murdered on Staten Island in 1990. The film recounts the story through the victim’s family and a network of activists in the LGBTQ+ community of New York from the 1980s. In surfacing this forgotten crime, the film aims to conjure how gay visibility was experiencing a seismic shift during the AIDS crisis. As hundreds of thousands of people became infected with a deadly disease, they came out of the closet to fight and protest for their rights and humanity. The film will show how increased public attention on these cases led to the passage of hate crime laws that protect LGBTQ+ people, revealing a battle that took family and activists over a decade of work. In America in 2022, hate crimes are growing exponentially. Today, 28 states still do not have laws covering sexual orientation and gender identity/expression when trans and nonbinary people are victimized at significantly higher rates. This film explores one unique case, yet it raises an urgent conversation about the current rise in violence, especially towards trans people of color.

Rachel Lyngholm – Queer Van Kult
Queer Van Kult is a liturgy of performance, installation, and music with a focus on queer artistry and multimedia works. Art featured will include paintings, sculptures, new media, video projections, and performing arts. Imagined as a queer surreal funhouse, Queer Van Kult was created as a response to a tapering of dedicated platforms for avant-garde performance and art on Staten Island, specifically spaces that galvanize the queer community. The events presented and produced by the collective intend to encourage and celebrate a safe atmosphere of community, unbounded creativity, individual expression, inclusivity, and playfulness—all while providing a home for the cultivation of experimental works by local and emerging artists. The Queer Van Kult 2022 exhibition will be on view at the Newhouse Gallery at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and will feature two standalone performances curated by QVK collective and collaborators.

Rocio Uchofen – Puentes/Bridges
Puentes/Bridges is a bilingual project that aims to explore our links, connections and extensions through writing fiction. Staten Island is the island of the bridges. The project consist of three parts: an online workshop series, the writings that come out of those workshops will be translated into English and Spanish to create a bilingual book, and the book will be published along with photos related to the participants and content. The themes explored will be the bridge as a resource, not only a concrete one but also spiritual (bridge of friendship), Linguistic (the bridge of the translation), and poetic (the bridge of creativity). Let’s talk about social, spiritual, economic, motivational, emotional bridges. The workshops will be offered in English and Spanish as writing is universal and the same rules of creating a story apply to any language. The project will be presented online and through Latino publications in the US and South America.

Sarah Yuster – Biophiles – A New Generation
Introduced and popularized by the late Edward O. Wilson is the biophilia hypothesis which suggests humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature. Artist Sarah Yuster’s project is a celebration of several notable individuals based on Staten Island who embody this concept. She will paint their portraits “in situ” and also make several paintings of their environs/related wildlife. These works will be shown in The Lenape Gallery at the Conference House Park Visitors Center. Along with the portraits will be text, photographs, and excerpted statements from interviews conducted for the purpose of inspiring others.

Sitewave Cinema – Wavestock Festival 5
Wavestock Festival is a film festival that celebrates all facets of art, showcasing the works of local artists. The event is free to the public. The festival aims to give artists a platform to display their work and to create a space where they can network with each other to collaborate on future projects. Disciplines featured at the festival are: filmmaking, live music, dance, painting, photography, standup comedy, clothing and jewelry design. The festival will take place in the Fall at Flagship Brewery.

Stella Fiore – Working Title at Rutan-Becket House
Working Title at Rutan-Becket House is an immersive, multi-sensory literary experience that invites visitors into the world of Stella Fiore’s debut novel and creates visibility around the private, unseen process of writing. At this open studio/house guests can interact with installations that bring to life specific scenes via collage, music, visual art, and, of course, selected excerpts as well as view pieces from the author’s personal collection of ephemera, photos, and research materials. A virtual tour with a reading and Q&A will also be offered. The Rutan-Becket House is located in Conference House Park in Tottenville.

Stephen Obisanya – Artisans & Trade Conference: For Artists & Creatives
The Artisans & Trade Conference is an intimate one-day event put on by Artisans & Trade Studio, founded by artist Stephen Obisanya. The first of its kind on Staten Island, the A&T Conference is primarily for artists and creative professionals (16+) who are passionate about learning and growing in their respective crafts. With select guest speakers and sessions on the arts, business, community, design, and entertainment, attendees will leave with a comprehensive, creative experience like never before. At the core of the conference is the goal to provide a space where learning is accessible and community is the driving force. This project aims to activate the creative community and deliver an inaugural art-based experience capable of having a resounding impact on new and developing artists who have long been without the proper resources required to develop into a fully competent artist or creative. The A&T Conference is projected to take place at the Newhouse Center of Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center.

Thomas Fucaloro – The Art of the Spoken Word
The Art of the Spoken Word will be a monthly workshop series produced by poet Thomas Fucaloro. The goal of this project is to let the community know that self-expression through poetry can be healing and necessary when you need to find the right words. Fucaloro will organize some of the biggest names in Spoken Word Poetry today from around the 5-boroughs to facilitate workshops. Participants will be given valuable tools, like speech writing or talking in front of a crowd. Themes that will be explored will be Staten Island culture and how that is expressed in ourselves and others. There will be a culminating performance at Canvas Institute in Tompkinsville.

Vincent Verdi – The Quarantine and Staten Island
The Quarantine and Staten Island is a  documentary film that explores the history of the quarantine on Staten Island. In 1799, the Quarantine Establishment of the Port of New York was relocated from Governor’s Island to a 30-acre site on the northeastern tip of Staten Island, in the present communities of St. George and Tompkinsville. By 1848, infectious diseases from the Quarantine were spreading to the residents of the surrounding Staten Island community causing outrage and anger. A group of angry citizens burned down the Quarantine Station on Staten Island’s north shore on September 1, 1858 and the film will explore the unsuccessful efforts to relocate the quarantine to the south shore of Staten Island, as well as the aftermath of the fire.

Wendy Beth Jackelow – Staten Island Printmakers: Show and Printmaking Forum
Staten Island Printmakers: Show and Printmaking Forum will create a Staten Island Printmakers group for a printmaking show and public forum. This project will bring a focus to printmaking and specifically printmaking artists on Staten Island and show the breadth and complexity of this niche art form to the public. Through this project, participants will have the opportunity to display and promote their work – varied printmaking techniques such as etchings, mezzotints, screen prints monotypes, collagraphs, relief prints, and lithographs – at Art on the Terrace Gallery and online.

Westerleigh Folk Festival – 15th Westerleigh Folk Festival (West Fest)
The mission of the Westerleigh Folk Festival is to present a free, multi-cultural, multi-generational day of art for the greater Staten Island community. The festival provides a platform – 3 stages as well as a presentation space for visual art – to showcase artists and craftspeople from across the borough and each year they look to expand their presentation to include a diverse array of disciplines including music, handcraft, dance, fine art, & other performances. In recent years they’ve begun to increase their focus on arts education and craft workshops in hopes of instilling an appreciation of the arts in young community members. For 2022 they are looking to increase the interactive nature of West Fest and expand the education and workshop element of the festival–providing free workshops not just for children, but community members of all ages. The 15th edition of the Westerleigh Folk Festival will take place in Westerleigh Park.

African Story Network. – African Storytime
African communities on Staten Island (i.e. Liberian, Ghanian, Sierra Leonean, Guinean) tend to live in “pockets” across the Island. This project seeks to bring all of the communities together virtually to share and listen to folktales from the mother continent. African Storytime will help preserve one of the most important traditions of African culture -storytelling. This project acknowledges how important it is to keep traditional stories alive. In order to do that, this project not only collects stories but it preserves them by creating an active space for people to tell them. This will be a virtual family event where children in the community will get a glimpse of their traditions, but most importantly this event hopes to rekindle a tradition that families can continue at home. Produced by filmmaker Daty Kaba, the event will feature live music by DJ Com4t with Kewula Kamara providing  the storytelling.

Canvas Institute – Sneaker Mural and Refurbishing Project
Through this 8-week workshop series, artist Shawn MacArthur will teach students how to create murals on a pair of new sneakers, they will learn how to prep and clean sneakers, create design templates, learn how to mix and apply paints, and work on shading and detail. The students will be displayed at the Canvas Gallery. Students will also learn how to take a pair of old sneakers and refurbish them into something new using proper material cleaners and acrylic paint to help and create a new look. Through this program, they hope to empower our youth to create art, and maybe embolden a new generation of painters and fashion designers.

Freshkills Park Alliance – The Art of Community & Light: Plein Air drawing across Staten Island
Plein air artist James Powers will lead free drawing workshops at Freshkills Park and six other locations across the Island. Powers’ approach creates visual awareness of the landscape and fosters an understanding of our relationship with environments at the nexus of the natural and human-made. Plein-air is a painting style characterized by the effects of natural light and atmosphere specific to the outdoors. Participants create visual awareness of landscape through observational drawing and discussion.  Work created will be publicly shared through a showcase at Freshkills’ Gallery, a virtual gallery available online, and a printed broadsheet documenting the workshops.

Friends of Olmsted-Beil House – Frederick Law Olmsted on Staten Island: His Journey Continues
Frederick Law Olmsted on Staten Island: His Journey Continues is an original living history portrayal of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. 2022 is the 200th anniversary of his birth and there will be events throughout the country celebrating his legacy. The project is a sequel to Frederick Law Olmsted on Staten Island: His Journey Begins and will expand on his life experiences up to and including his second residency on Staten Island. It will showcase Olmsted’s life up to and including the times he lived on the Island: his farming, interactions with other Islanders during the times he lived here, travels and writings, service in the Civil War, his landscape projects with Calvert Vaux, including Central Park and Prospect Park and his work on The Report of the Staten Island Improvement Commission of 1870 with Henry Hobson Richardson. Performances will include an audience Q&A.

Maker Park Radio – Summer Music Series in Maker Park
Maker Park Radio’s (MPR) Summer Music Series will take place over four weekends in July in Maker Park. This series features DJs from MPR, guest DJs, bands, musicians, performances, art installations, vendors, and food. The first weekend is a music and art festival for the radio station’s five-year anniversary and will feature Punk Rock Mini Golf and an artist market. Weekend programming will range from circus, marching band, punk, metal, psychedelic, to children’s music. The second weekend will be dedicated to Hip Hop, with a movie festival, streetwear fashion show, and four performances. The third weekend will highlight Island Music and Culture with Soca, Reggae, Samba, and Reggaeton performers, and food. The fourth weekend will be Roots Music, featuring Gospel, Soul, Jazz, and Blues artists.

Muslim Sisters of Staten Island – Geek Out At Staten Island
Geek Out at Staten Island is a 2-day convention that celebrates, encourages, and promotes geek culture by uplifting the experiences of folks with disabilities, people of color, and youth. The convention takes place over two days – one day in-person, one day virtually. Participants will be able to explore various artistic mediums through workshops and various activities – the convention also includes mini-events like virtual geek trivia, cosplay photoshoots, and artist alley expo.

Richmond Choral Society – All You Need is Love
Richmond Choral Society’s Spring concert will be, All You Need is Love. This program will explore the moods, character and culture expressed in Love songs through the ages. Included will be songs from the Victorian era through today’s pop music, including popular tunes by Carole King, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

SI Philharmonic – Concert: Yes, We Can!
Yes, We Can! is a concert for the full SI Philharmonic. It will be held at the Bernikow JCC. The concert is designed as an homage to some excellent composers whose music has been underrepresented in concert, overlooked only because they are African American, women, or both. All of our featured composers have overcome obstacles to achieve their own paths to success. Grammy-winning composer, French hornist, and college professor Jeff Scott started as a kid from Far Rockaway who loved the French horn. With help from teachers and community members who financed his lessons, Scott achieved his dreams. Composer Gwyneth Walker is a rugged individualist. Not one to follow the crowd–she spent years composing and working on a dairy farm in Vermont–she found an audience through her website and word-of-mouth praise for her work. Composer, flutist, and Mannes Music School professor Valerie Coleman grew up in Kentucky, with a single mom. Much of her work is based on the African American experience. The concert is free to the public.

SI Shakespearean Theatre – SIST Presents: Women’s Playwright Collective:  Mind The Light and Not Forgotten Play Festival
SI Shakespearean Theatre and the Women’s Playwright Collective will co-produce a presentation of the original work Mind The Light, about local lighthouse keeper Katie Walker, and the Not Forgotten Play Festival. This project will bring in three professional writers for valuable script development and the advancement of the writers during their 8 month long series of workshops and meetings moderated by Women’s Playwright Collective founder Ariel Marcus-Hollenbeck. The presentation will happen at the Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Gardens. The groups believe that showcasing original, contemporary work is an essential component of any healthy and vibrant local arts community.

South Shore Artists Foundation – Trees: Nature’s Treasures
The South Shore Artists Foundation in partnership with NYC Parks will hold an art exhibit entitled Trees: Nature’s Treasures. The Foundation will consult with Parks to identify trees that grow in Conference House Park in Tottenville. Participating artists will be provided with photographs and reference materials to create paintings that depict the different trees. The paintings will be of various media, such as abstract, realistic or collage. The completed paintings will be exhibited at the Biddle House located on the park grounds. Using QR codes placed on trees around the park, participants will be encouraged use a trail map, scan the tag by each tree with a smart phone and read information about it on the website thus creating an educational walking trail.

Spotlight Theatre Company – ROBYN HOOD – The New Hip Hop Musical
ROBYN HOOD The New Hip Hop Musical is a modern theatrical adaptation of the legendary Robin Hood stories. Set in its original time but told with contemporary music and literary and historical content. In ROBYN HOOD, the titular character is played by a female. She is a hero to the poor, righter of wrongs, adversary to the unjust powers that be. Some of the themes explored in this show are Social Justice, Gender Discrimination, Class and Status inequities.  The musical influences include Contemporary, Pop Rock, Hip Hop. The original Robin Hood tales were vignettes handed down through generations. ROBYN HOOD is a synthesis of some of the most memorable vignettes combined in a Broadway-style musical.  Although the story of ROBYN HOOD is about treating each other with dignity and respect, battling against bullies, disabling gender prejudice; at its core, it is about social justice.

The Mighty String Demons – Two Concerts: The Elephant’s Secret and Other Stories, Music for Tree Hugging
The Mighty String Demons, a youth violin ensemble, will present two concerts on themes that relate to the venues where they will be held. At the Staten Island Children’s Museum concert Stories Without Words, they will present carefully chosen pieces that should evoke a certain feeling or drama, and invite the audience to imagine what kind of story or idea the composer was trying to communicate. They will also present an original piece, composed by the group’s director, Sanchie Bobrow, titled The Elephant’s Secret which is an original story that will be narrated and accompanied by music. The concert at High Rock Park Music for Tree Hugging, will be about music inspired by nature. The Mosquito Dance by Bartok, To A Wild Rose by McDowell, Edelweiss by Rogers, and a movement from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi will be a few of the pieces that they will present. Contrabassist Kazuo Nakamura will perform with the group in both concerts. Since some of the members of the group play on fractional size violins, with Kazuo, they will demonstrate how the various sizes of stringed instruments produce different ranges of pitch as well as different qualities of sound. Guitarist, Nicole Azzarelli will also join the group. They will demonstrate the difference between plucked and bowed stringed instruments.

Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble – Summer Sunday Concerts at High Rock
Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble will present an outdoor Summer concert series at High Rock Park. Each concert will involve a different Viva Voce ensemble – Brass quintet, Chorus, Little Big Band, Woodwind quintet, Woodwind quartet. The series will feature 3 world premieres by local composers—wind quintets by Howard Fox and Mike Sirotta, and a brass quintet by Rich Titone. Along with providing our community a variety of interesting, rarely-heard music, the group wants audiences to connect with the natural environment. They will perform music that reflects themes of noticing and caring for the environment—like Grand Canyon Suite, for example—and include in their programs a section of brief tips titled “Easy Things You Can Do for the Earth.” As part of the series the Viva Voce Chorus will present a retro program called High Rock Stock, with music from the 1960s and 70s.

Alexandra Shoneyin – Food Justice on Staten Island
In collaboration with food cultivation sites and the Forest Avenue ComeUnity fridge, artist Alexandra Shoneyin will create a participatory documentary film centered around the effects of food insecurity through the lens of Mariners Harbor community members and their experiences with food banks and food social services, combating institutional barriers for access to healthy food, and unlearning individualism. The film will include the perspective and experiences of Staten Island youth to showcase how this journey is intergenerational, deeply rooted in systems of capitalism, racism, and elitism, and vital in creating lasting change around food insecurity in our communities for future generations. The project also includes a weekend series of small-scale community events, including a screening of the film for community members. These events will include discussions and workshops from a mix of local food justice experts, land stewards, and holistic wellness artists and healers, each offering knowledge and insights from their lived-experiences.

Alexis Romano – Staten Island Mode: Exploring Memory and Identity Through Dress
Staten Island Mode is a multi-phase participatory social art project that explores the identities and life histories of Staten Islanders through dress. A central aim of the project is to capture stories of how clothing is a marker of local and individual identity, and an archive of life events. The project will include an online survey as well recruitment of voluntary participant collaborators of all ages, ethnicities and abilities who live on Staten Island inviting them to a series of workshops. The workshops invite the participants to become creative collaborators as they reflect on Staten Island’s history as well as stereotypes of Staten Island presented in the media today. The activities are also aimed at exploring the significance of clothing and fashion in life milestones, and how it can simultaneously signify aspects of personal and community identity. The workshops and the subsequent exhibition of the workshop materials in an immersive installation curated by Alexis Romano and Jenna Rossi-Camus, will all take place at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor. Fundamentally, Staten Island Mode asks both participant collaborators and audiences to consider if and how our clothes express who we are, where we come from and what it means to be a Staten Islander today.

Jolie Tong – HΔRRY
Artists Jolie Tong will further develop her play HΔRRY- a play based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Parts 1&2) set against the backdrop of Los Angeles hip hop culture in the 2010s. The story follows Henry V, one of Shakespeare’s most complex and polarizing heroes, who will be loosely based on Nipsey Hussle. Nipsey was a beloved hip-hop artist who evolved from drug dealing gang banger to world class rapper/artist and unorthodox community leader. Their play reflects the parallels in Henry’s and Nipsey’s stories, as we see Henry navigate his transformation from wayward youth to leader and “king.” This adaptation will feature Shakespearean text and an original hip hop score. The performances will be used to engage audiences in a conversation that explores decision making, honor and the ethics of leadership. The artists will be working with Sarah Blas, as a community partner, to engage the nearby residents of the Richmond Terrace Houses. This project includes a post show talkback aimed at creating a community conversation involving artists, elected officials, community stakeholders and decision makers that explores personal evolution, decision making, honor and the ethics of leadership.

Thomas Fucaloro – Poetry in Motion
Poetry in Motion will bring together cinematographers and poets to create poetry videos that will be screened at Hub 17 in Stapleton. The videos will explore themes that reflect the communities and their stories from around the North Shore. A YouTube channel will also be built around the project.

David Nudelman – Making The World A Better Place With Graphic Design
Fifth grade students at P.S. 21 will be challenged to think like designers while working together to create a design for a campaign tee shirt for their elementary school on the theme of making the community a better place. Students will be engaged in illustration, graphic design, marketing, screen printing, and journaling their experiences.

Community Arts Commission – Staten Island Songwriters: Showcase Series
Staten Island Songwriters showcases are unique music experiences highlighting songwriters, vocalists, and musicians. There will be two showcases both held at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Gardens in the Spring and Summer. The intention of these events is to provide paid performance opportunities, marketing, and networking for local artists to enhance their practice, present their work, and expand their audience, all well creating programming that further connects communities to the local art scene.

Kimbra Eberly – The Community we call home, Music and Arts festival
The Community We Call Home Music & Arts Festival, a daylong event featuring live performances where audiences will enjoy a sampling of our borough’s favorite original and cover bands, singers, and songwriters. Visual artists will be invited to display and sell their work. The festival aims to build, strengthen, and diversify, community and cultural relationships and partnerships that infuse the arts into life in Staten Island and beyond.

Staten Island Philharmonic Orchestra – Concert: Elegy for Alex
Elegy for Alex, a tribute performance for SI Philharmonic’s founding music director, José Alejandro (Alex) Guzmán, who died in March 2021 of cancer at age 74. Alex was an extraordinary musician and a wonderful person, much beloved by players and audiences. He was also well-loved by the other groups he conducted around New York City. The concert is meant to celebrate the many contributions he made to Staten Island culture, and to music throughout the city. This concert will involve a full symphony orchestra of 52 musicians and narrator, and will be conducted by Alex’s good friend and colleague, Scott Jackson Wiley. The concert will be held at the Staten Island Hilton Garden Inn.

Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company – SIST Presents: Romeo and Juliet
Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre Company presented William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in a unique hyper-local way that pitted North Shore versus South Shore, liberal versus conservative — a unique, hyper-local take on the age-old divisions between Verona’s Montagues and Capulets. Production expenses went primarily towards stipends for the actors, technical crew, designers, and additionally for costumes, props, sets an venue fees.

Spotlight Theatre Company – Into The Woods
Spotlight’s Into the Woods was a professional production of the Stephen Sondhiem musical with local youth performers who have been studying within the Spotlight Performing Arts Academy. The production staff and band are professional working artists. Funding will be used to supplement the pay of those involved.

Stella Fiore – An Artist Residency in Motherhood: Work Made at Home
An Artist Residency in Motherhood: Work Made at Home was a free, outdoor, public literary reading and musical performance hosted at the historic Rutan-Becket House at Conference House Park on Staten Island. Six writers (Stella Fiore, Nicole Haroutunian, Apryl Lee, Catherine Mueller, KC Trommer, and Sara Weiss) read a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, all of it made at home during the pandemic by mothers juggling remote school and lockdowns with children at home.

Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble – Viva Voce: The Great American Songbook
Viva Voce will bring their little big band and community chorus together for the first time in Viva Voce: The Great American Songbook  which will be performed on the lawn at Zion Lutheran Church. The term Great American Songbook refers to the best in popular songs, jazz, and show tunes from the first half of the 20th century. The songs Viva Voce Chorus and Little Big Band will perform include Cole Porter’s Too Darn Hot, from the musical Kiss Me, Kate, the Gershwins’ Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off, and Duke Ellington’s It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got that Swing.