Daniel Rothbart has spent decades floating vessel forms on water in cities around the world, and Serpentine Sibyls is the Staten Island installment — sculptures drifting on the water, shifting with light and wind. The work is framed around climate and memory, which reads differently on an island whose shoreline has been rewritten by storms twice in living memory. If you like public art you have to sit with rather than photograph and leave, this rewards ten quiet minutes.
What to expect
Sculptural vessels float on the water features of the Snug Harbor grounds, visible from the surrounding paths. The installation shifts appearance through the day as light and wind move the pieces. It sits within an eighty-three acre campus of botanical gardens and nineteenth-century Greek Revival buildings you can walk freely.
Good to know
- Free Staten Island Ferry to St George, then the S40 bus
- Free to view, outdoors on the Snug Harbor grounds
- Daylight hours are best; the reflections are the point
- Pair it with the Chinese Scholar's Garden and the Tuscan Garden on the same site
- Accessible paths run alongside the water features
- Quiet — this is a contemplative work rather than a spectacle
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Common questions
Where on the grounds is it?
On the water features of the Snug Harbor campus, visible from the surrounding paths.
Is there an admission charge?
No. The installation is free to view on the Snug Harbor grounds.
Who is Daniel Rothbart?
An artist known for floating vessel sculptures installed on water in cities internationally; this is his Staten Island installation.
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