At the SIR New Dorp station, artwork by Keri Sheheen honors the area’s natural landscapes and rich architectural history. Metal and glass panels line the walkway to the elevator on the Tottenville-bound platform, and screen-printed and hand painted art glass panels are installed on both sides of the station house portico. The installation, titled “Creeping On Where Time Has Been”, totals around 350 square feet of glass and metal artwork fabricated by Mayer of Munich and Ferra Designs, Inc.

The bold artwork is an appreciation of the borough’s historical architecture and includes imagery of notable structures such as the Vanderbilt Mausoleum and New Dorp Beach bungalows. Sheheen drew from her research of the station area with the Historic Richmond Town Archive and New York Transit Museum Archive, as well as firsthand accounts from her mother who grew up in New Dorp. Sheheen went to high school near the station and currently resides nearby.

Noting the presence of ivy-covered farmhouses that date prior to the 1960s development of suburban housing in the historical photographs, Sheheen created a visual pattern to connect the window and railing designs. The artwork title, a line from the poem “The Ivy Green” by Charles Dickens, is an allusion to the ivy motif that symbolizes the persistence of time and nature’s substantial presence on Staten Island despite manmade developments.

A suite of nine cut metal panels lines the walkway to the new elevator on the Tottenville-bound side of the station and features blue, yellow, and red glass squares lining the top and bottom of the panels. The colorful border is also seen on the laminated glass panels of the station porticoes and references the stained glass of the original 1889 station house, which was relocated to Historic Richmond Town in 1965. In the metal design, the ivy motif is a backdrop to stylized beach bungalows alluding to New Dorp’s past as a turn-of- the-twentieth-century beach resort destination. Sheheen based the bungalow representations on historic buildings such as the Lang's Hotel, the Elm Tree Lighthouse, the Munger on the Beach Hotel, and the Cedar Grove Clubhouse.

The St. George-bound side of the station portico features a towering rooster in a nod to the farmland that once stretched across the neighborhood and acts as a greeter for morning commuters. The rooster stands over Britton Cottage, originally on New Dorp Lane, which was home to famous botanist Nathanial Lord Britton, founder of the New York Botanical Garden. It is one of the oldest structures on Staten Island and was also moved to Historic Richmond town.

On the Tottenville-bound side is a serene evening scene for commuters returning home. A deer, common on Staten Island, stands over an illustration of the Vanderbilt Mausoleum located in nearby Moravian Cemetery. Cornelius Vanderbilt owned the New York Central Railroad and one of the first ferry services from Staten Island to Manhattan, indelible contributions to the daily commute of Staten Islanders. 

Keri Sheheen is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Staten Island, NY. She has a profound interest for the macabre, local history and the strange that is explored through means of illustration, design, printmaking, and vintage forms of animation. With a BFA in printmaking from SUNY New Paltz as her foundation, she has exhibited works in galleries and shows throughout the tri-state area. This work includes screen printed posters, animations converging with printmaking techniques, and stop-motion animation. Beyond the gallery scene, Keri collaborates frequently with Coney Island USA, where she brings her art to life in the form of hand-painted banners for their annual Mermaid Parade in Brooklyn. Keri also frequents local art markets and fairs with her traveling print company, Parlor Trick Prints LLC. She currently lives and works from her home studio in New Dorp alongside her partner, Carl, and two cats, Charlie and Evelyn Bean.