In 2002, the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island, New York launched ARTFRONT/WATERFRONT: Artists Explore the Staten Island North Shore ~ SITE-ATIONS INTERNATIONAL PROJECT, an exhibition of thirty-six site-specific artworks and performances created by artists from fifteen countries in museums and public locations along Staten Island’s North Shore.
ARTFRONT/WATERFRONT reflected an attempt to formulate a new model for international exhibitions. The model is based on an invitation to artists to create site-specific artwork in ways that expand the specifics of “site” to history, ecology, commerce and culture as well as more evocative readings of place and locale. To explore such notions, partnerships between Staten Island organizations and individual citizens were encouraged and facilitated. The foundation for ARTFRONT/WATERFRONT was built over four years through meetings between curators, participating artists, and community representatives.
The animation of Staten Island’s North Shore, which faces New Jersey, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, provided an opportunity for Islanders and visitors to consider its rich heritage, its emergent present, and its ripe future.