[Staten Island, NY – Thursday, February 4, 2021] The Staten Island Museum has been approved for a $20,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the exhibition, Magicicada by Jennifer Angus opening in July 2021. This project enables the Staten Island Museum to bring a nationally reputed artist to the Staten Island community and showcase the intersection between the Museum’s disciplines in art and natural science. The Staten Island Museum’s exhibition is among 1,073 projects across America totaling nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from the Staten Island Museum,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “The Staten Island Museum is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year.”
“We are thrilled that the National Endowment for the Arts is supporting this exhibition that is so on point with our mission, connected to our collections, and will be an exciting use of the Museum’s galleries,” stated Janice Monger, Staten Island Museum President and CEO. “After a difficult year, it is a joy to look ahead and bring this exhibition full of wonder to the Staten Island community.”
The Staten Island Museum will present Magicicada by Jennifer Angus beginning in July 2021. Using responsibly-collected and preserved specimens, the artist Jennifer Angus creates site-specific installations of insects pinned directly to a wall and other surfaces creating exquisite patterns reminiscent of textiles or wallpaper. Angus’ intricate installations reveal themselves up close to be comprised of actual insects, often species that would not traditionally be considered beautiful, confounding viewer expectations. Her work motivates viewers to understand the role insects have in our ecosystem and the importance of biodiversity. In preparation for the exhibition, Angus will spend time in the Museum’s collections, including one of the world’s largest collections of cicadas, to find inspiration and inform her resulting artwork.
Jennifer Angus is a professor in the Design Studies department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She received her education at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA) and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA). Angus has exhibited her work across the United States and internationally including Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and Spain.
For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
Memento Vitae, courtesy the Shelburne Museum.