Anastasia "Stas" Kuznetsova & The Working Waters Planters
For Working Waters, we commissioned local artist Anastasia "Stas" Kuznetsova to bring Staten Island's maritime history to life, painted directly onto steel planters fabricated from reclaimed ship steel by Ali Fayed.
Anastasia "Stas" Kuznetsova is a Siberian-born, Staten Island-based artist with 17 years of experience across a range of mediums. She holds a BA in Studio Art from the College of Staten Island. Stas has built a reputation as one of Staten Island's most distinctive and community-rooted emerging artists, Her work is passionate and deeply personal, shaped by the people and stories around her.
As a Staten Islander shaped by this borough's waterfronts and her own family lineage of laborers, Stas brings a personal lens to this commission, a natural kinship with the welders, shipbuilders, and dock workers who've defined this waterfront for generations. For her, these murals are a chance to give visibility to a community that builds and creates but rarely sees itself reflected in public art. They'll remain in Mariners Harbor as a lasting tribute, painted by an artist who calls this island home.
Here's a closer look at the collection:
Hands Wielding Fire
A welder at work, set against the iconic silhouette of the Bayonne Bridge. This planter is a tribute to the tradespeople whose skill and labor built, and continue to maintain, Staten Island's industrial waterfront.
Guiding the Giants
A tugboat at rest along the harbor. Small in size but outsized in role, the tugboat is one of the most familiar sights along Staten Island's shoreline, guiding larger vessels safely through these waters. This planter is a quiet homage to the unsung workhorses that keep a working harbor moving.
Drafting the Horizon
A group of workers gathered around a blueprint, a scene about vision as much as labor. Staten Island's waterfront has always been shaped by the people who plan for what comes next, not just the ones who build it. This planter honors that forward-looking spirit, the quiet planning that keeps a working harbor alive for the next generation
Rooted in the Tide
Two oyster fishermen at work, with the Mariners Harbor sign in the background. Long before it was an industrial hub, this stretch of shoreline was defined by its waters and the people who worked them. This planter is a nod to that maritime lineage, the fishing traditions that predate the cranes and container ships, and the community identity still tied to the harbor's name.
Lifted Together
A worker driving a forklift, carrying fellow workers on the lift itself, a moment of everyday trust and teamwork on the job site. It's a small, human detail that captures what keeps an industrial waterfront running: not just machinery, but the people who rely on and look out for one another to get the work done.
Scouring the Deep
A worker cleaning the bottom of a ship's hull, unglamorous, essential labor that rarely gets seen but keeps every vessel in the harbor seaworthy. This planter honors the maintenance work that happens below the waterline, literally and figuratively: the upkeep that makes a working harbor possible.