Arc of Twenty Years

On view through December 5, 2021

In the twenty years since 9/11, the way we see ourselves and each other as Americans has taken a marked trajectory spurred by one event.

Examining the “arc” Staten Island has experienced since 9/11, this exhibition offers insight, imagery, and dialogue about the changes on our island after the attacks. The work by the artists honors the memories of the people killed, reflects our collective pain, and illuminates efforts for resolution.

270 Staten Islanders died on September 11, 2001, many first responders. The identity of the Island changed. Not everyone lost a loved one that day, but everyone knew someone who did. We grieved as a community for friends and neighbors.

Staten Island is, in many ways, a microcosm of the United States in terms of ethnicities, economics, and ideologies. An immediate and long-term aftermath rippled through the country. The initial agony of three-thousand innocent lives lost at once, ensuing spasms of fury and fear, were felt intensely here. Empathy, camaraderie, and unity soared for weeks, galvanizing New Yorkers, but quickly dissipated into dissenting factions.

Patriotism rose, but it also formed into nationalism and xenophobia within many communities. Security measures and surveillance grew exponentially. Air travel became an odyssey of checkpoints and restrictions, privacy seemingly became non-existent, as did any public expectation of having it.

Arc of Twenty Years offers reflection, consideration and a wider view of our history.

— Sarah Yuster and Michael McWeeney, Curators