“Sometimes the ancestors push forward stories that need to be examined in a new context.” - Phyllis May-Machunda

From the moment we began working on this film, we tried to find any photograph or illustration of the church or cemetery on Cherry Lane. Despite our best efforts, we came up empty-handed, until we realized there was a new way to think about this film.

That’s when we turned to art to help tell Cherry Lane’s story.

Thanks to curator Lazarus Nazario, a painter from Staten Island, we’re working with these multidisciplinary artists now creating their interpretation of Cherry Lane Cemetery. Here is a sample of their previous work.

We filmed the artists meeting descendants from Cherry Lane and the historic Sandy Ground community, and at work in their studios.

The exhibition will debut October 1, 2026 at Empire Outlets by the Staten Island Ferry.

THOMAS DOYLE

LAZARUS NAZARIO

BRANDON PERDOMO

MARY EDWARDS

YELENA TYLKINA

TAHA CLAYTON

JEROME LAGARRIGUE

TIM OKAMURA

JEN FITZGERALD

BEVERLY Y SMITH

CAMILLE CLAVERY

MARIO ROBINSON

GREG SHEA