STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Freshkills Park Alliance has announced the addition of three prominent Staten Islanders to its organization, including two new board members and an artist in residence who will document the park’s ecological restoration through art.
An accomplished Dr. Kadirawel Iswara, a Staten Island resident and Sri Lankan native, has joined the Freshkills Alliance board of directors. He is pictured here, center, with his family. (Advance/SILive.com | Pamela Silvestri)Staten Island Advance
Dr. Kadirawel Iswara, a decorated U.S. Army officer and accomplished physician, has joined the board of directors. Born in Sri Lanka, Dr. Iswara completed his medical degree with honors from the University of Ceylon in 1968 and has worked at Maimonides Medical Center for more than 40 years. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army reserves during Operation Desert Storm, receiving the National Defense Medical and Army Commendation Medals.
Here are some officials who had a hand in establishing the Freshkills Park as it transitioned from a massive landfill. Pictured left to right: Mark Murphy, Freshkills Park Administrator; Parks Department Chief of Staff Joseph Homsey; Staten Island Borough Parks Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone; former S.I. BP James Oddo who is the current Commissioner for the New York City Department of Buildings; Borough President Vito Fossella; former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and former New York City deputy mayor for operations Joe Lhota, and his wife, accomplished cook and philanthropist Tamra Roberts Lhota. (Advance/SILive.com | Priya Shahi)Priya Shahi
“Dr. Iswara is an inspiration to us all,” said Mark Murphy, president of the Freshkills Park Alliance and administrator of Freshkills Park for the New York City Parks Department. “With Dr. Iswara’s guidance, the Freshkills Park Alliance will continue to grow as the leader in environmental education, science and the arts in Staten Island.”
Dr. Ram Raju, M.D. has received numerous awards, accolades and, most recently, an appointment as a Freshkills Alliance board member. (Courtesy of the Freshkills Alliance)Borough Presidents office
Dr. Ram Raju has also joined the board, serving on behalf of Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella. Murphy expressed gratitude to Fossella for the appointment, noting that “Dr. Raju brings years of public health experience to the Freshkills Park Alliance, and his guidance and knowledge will be invaluable as we grow Freshkills Park into a world-class park and cultural destination for all New Yorkers to enjoy.”
Beloved American artist Sarah Yuster has pieces hanging in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the National Air & Space Museum and in several other esteemed institutions. She is a Randall Manor resident who documents through brush strokes the beauty, grit and moodiness of every day New York City. (Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)
Perhaps the most unique addition is Sarah Yuster, who has been named artist in residence at Freshkills Park. Yuster, whose artwork is featured in two Smithsonian collections, will work with José Ramirez-Garofolo, director of the park’s biology station, on a multi-level project documenting the park’s transformation.
This image of Freshkills Park at dusk painted by Sarah Yuster captures its meadow-like views and waterways with a glimpse at the prominent smokestack from Australian-based Visy Industries/Pratt Industries recycle plant in the backdrop. (Advance/SILive.com | Pamela Silvestri)
“The Freshkills Park Alliance is excited to welcome Sarah to our band of educators, scientists and artists all of whom work, study and play out here in Freshkills where the wild things are,” Murphy said. “I have known Sarah’s work and respected her advocacy for decades, and we are so lucky to have her talent and vision creating art from the canvass of Freshkills Park.”
Freshkills Park is navigable by kayak, depending on the tidal flow. This section of the kill has remnants of a dock used in the 1920s as a hay transfer station. At that time this section of Travis, once traversed by the Lenni-Lenape people, was in the midst of farmland and flower nurseries that fed the rest of New York City. (Advance/SILive.com | Pamela Silvestri)(Advance/SILive.com | Pamela Silvestri)
Yuster, a self-proclaimed “marsh child and tree climber,” grew up exploring the area that now borders Freshkills. Her project will involve painting the current landscape, including scientists conducting field work and recreational users of the park. These contemporary scenes will be augmented by historical context, including the Lenape who inhabited the western shores of Staten Island for centuries, early European settlers, and the community of freed Africans at Sandy Ground established in the mid-1800s.
This 2013 photo shows the landscape of the old Fresh Kills Landfill. The dump was closed in 2001. (Advance/SILive.com File Photo)
Many of the paintings will echo allegorical styles and, once completed, could be used in a Ken Burns-style presentation to the public. Yuster plans to collaborate with scholars specializing in genealogy, archaeology, natural history, and anthropology, drawing on resources from local museums, historical societies, The Museum of the American Indian archives, and Lenape organizations.
Staten Island remembers its indigenous populations, thanks in part to the late, great sculpter Gregory Perillo. Here is his statue of a Lenape Indian Chief outside PS 62 in Rossville, the "Green School" as the new school was named and dedicated to the late Deputy School's Chancellor, Kathleen Grimm, and historic Sandy Ground. (Advance/SILive.com File Photo)Staff-Shot
Her previous work includes portraits of renowned scientists and naturalists like Edward O. Wilson, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and Diane Ackerman, which were featured in a solo exhibition titled “Biophiles, Habitats and Beasts” at the Staten Island Museum.
Artist Sarah Yuster's work can be spotted around Staten Island. This piece was featured at the Staten Island Museum at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens, Livingston. The image is of Idea Viola Reid, a local climate justice advocate. (Advance/SILive.com File Photo)
The collaboration aims to celebrate both the ecological restoration of Fresh Kills and the rich history of the area through art, writing, and eventually film, with the goal of encouraging environmental stewardship.
For more information on Yuster and the Freshkills Park efforts, go to freshkillspark.org.
Pamela Silvestri is Advance/Silive.comFood Editor. She can be reached atsilvestri@siadvance.com.