**Due to inclement weather, this opening reception is being postponed to Sat, Oct 17 at 11:30 AM. See you then!**

Join us for the opening of El Dorado: The New Forty Niners, a new public art installation by Cecile Chong. Exploring ideas of transformation, immigration, and community, this outdoor display pays tribute to the 49% of New York City households that speak a language other than English.

Enjoy brief opening remarks by artist Cecile Chong and Melissa West, Snug Harbor’s VP of Curation, while reconnecting through art with friends and neighbors.

WHERE: North lawn of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301

WHEN: October 17, 2020 | 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

ADMISSION: FREE | RSVP REQUIRED HERE

About the Artist
Cecile Chong is a multimedia artist working in painting, sculpture, installation and video in which she layers materials, identities, histories and languages. Her work addresses ideas of culture interaction and interpretation, as well as the commonalities humans share both in our relationship to nature and to each other. Inspired by materials as signifiers, she is interested in how we acquire and share culture, and how world cultures now overlap and interact in ways previously inconceivable.

With uncertainty looming in everything from our economies to our weather patterns, she’s concerned with the fragility of our civilization despite the universality of its cultural underpinnings. In her work she’s been looking at traditional artifacts and wondering what tangible relics we may leave for future generations and what they may say about who we were and how we lived.

EL DORADO – The New Forty Niners is supported in part by generous funding from the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. 

As you enjoy public art at Snug Harbor, please remember: 
– Maintain a distance of 6+ feet away from other visitors whenever possible
– Wear a mask while on campus
– Practice good hygiene and sanitization
– Stay home if you are sick