Serpentine Sibyls: A Floating Sculptural Installation at Snug Harbor

Serpentine Sibyls: A Floating Sculptural Installation at Snug Harbor by Daniel Rothbart, curated by Melissa West at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301.
On view through September 28, 2026. Open daily, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM.

The installation is located outdoors in the ponds adjacent to the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art and is freely accessible during campus hours.

The installation takes its title from the Sibyls—female prophetesses and oracles consulted in times of crisis. In an era marked by floods, heat waves, and wildfires, their presence resonates anew, reflecting the growing precarity of human life amid climate change and environmental loss. Rothbart’s sculptures evoke aquatic organisms and botanical forms from a distant past, conjuring life forms that feel at once primordial and speculative, alien yet strangely familiar. Rooted in deep history while gesturing toward an uncertain future, the works occupy a threshold between memory and prophecy. Situated within Snug Harbor’s historic landscape—a former refuge for sailors—the installation becomes a space for contemplation on where humanity has been and where it may be headed. 

Once set afloat, Rothbart’s sculptures are animated by wind and water. Through a visual language of structure, light, buoyancy, and motion, they transform perceptions of the surrounding environment.

For more, visit snug-harbor.org