Jerome Lagarrigue

“Distant relative # 18” 2026, 59”x59” oil on linen. Will be featured in a very moving and important documentary entitled “American Graveyard”.

In the 1950s, Cherry Lane Cemetery—a 19th-century Black burial ground on Staten Island—was paved over for commercial development and erased from public memory.

American Graveyard is a documentary about the effort to recover Cherry Lane’s history. With few surviving photos or illustrations, the film faced a critical challenge: how do you tell this story when most of the visuals are maps and deeds? In response, artists across disciplines created new work inspired by Cherry Lane, the people buried there, and their descendants. The result is Black Cherry Lane: Presence, opening October 1.

Over the past year, the artists have also been documented creating their own responses to Cherry Lane, and the exhibition’s opening will form the ending of American Graveyard, making the artists and their work a crucial part of the entire film.

📍 Location: Empire Outlets, Staten Island
🗓 Dates: October 1–25, 2026
🔗 More Info: blackcherrylane.org
@americangraveyardmovie and @blackcherrylane #BlackCherryLane #AmericanGraveyardMovie