Jackie O and John Perreault at Snug Harbor: A Literary Portrait
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Jackie O and John Perreault at Snug Harbor: A Literary Portrait
Featuring guest speakers:
Wayne Koestenbaum, Author of Jackie Under My Skin and Andy Warhol: A Biography
Daniel Rothbart, artist currently exhibiting at Snug Harbor and friend of John Perreault
On the 50th anniversary of Snug Harbor opening its doors to the community after the transition from Sailors’ Snug Harbor into Snug Harbor Cultural Center on September 12, 1976, join us for an intimate literary reading that traces the legacies of two essential figures within the Snug Harbor story.
When: Saturday, September 12, 2026 | 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Where: Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Main Hall Gallery, Building C
View Directions and Site Map: https://snug-harbor.org/visit/directions/
Admission: Free (Registration Required)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John Perreault were each instrumental in shaping the story of Snug Harbor Cultural Center. In the mid-1970s, when after being saved from demolition, the former sailors’ home faced an uncertain future, Kennedy toured the site on behalf of the Municipal Art Society, lending her influence to the preservation effort. Later, she famously piloted the Staten Island Ferry back to Manhattan. A decade later, Perreault became one of the first professional curators at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor (1985–1989), where he championed Staten Island artists such as Julia Healy, Elizabeth Egbert, and Cynthia Mailman, while also presenting off-island figures including Nancy Spero, Judy Chicago, and Gillian Jagger.
Though they moved in different circles, Andy Warhol forms a compelling link between them. As chief art critic for The Village Voice in the 1960s and ’70s, Perreault became a key chronicler of Pop Art and a close friend of Warhol—at one point speaking with him nightly for nearly two years. Warhol’s Jackie series, based on images of Kennedy
before and after the assassination, was among the works Perreault reviewed with particular attention. Jackie herself maintained a cordial relationship with Warhol and shared friends in New York’s art and fashion worlds, including Halston and Truman Capote. In the summer of 1972, she and her, Lee Radziwill, along with their children, stayed at Warhol’s Eothen estate in Montauk.
Another point of resonance between Jackie O and John Perreault is fashion. Kennedy helped define 1960s style through the so-called “Camelot” look—pillbox hats, tailored shift dresses, and Oleg Cassini-designed suits—later evolving into her signature “Jackie O” ensemble of oversized sunglasses, headscarves, and Gucci handbags. Perrealut, in turn, approached fashion as an artistic medium. In 1969, with Hannah Weine and Eduardo Costa, he co-organized the Fashion Show Poetry Event, a hybrid of runway, performance, and text. Twenty artists designed garments worn by fellow artists and poets, accompanied by live music and recorded readings written specifically for each look. Participants included Andy Warhol, James Lee Byars, Alex Katz, Marisol, Claes Oldenburg, and James Rosenquist, among others.
Artist and writer Wayne Koestenbaum is the author of Jackie Under My Skin, a book about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Andy Warhol: A Biography. In 1998, he curated an exhibition titled Bathroom at the Thomas Healy Gallery, exploring themes of the body, voyeurism, and personal territory, which included work by John Perreault. Artist and writer Daniel Rothbart met Perreault in 1999, and the two maintained a close friendship and ongoing creative dialogue until Perreault’s death in 2015, frequently writing about one another’s work. Perreault included Rothbart in The Ritual Feast at KK Projects in New Orleans in 2008. Drawing on personal experience and longstanding engagement with their subjects, Koestenbaum and Rothbart will reflect on the intertwined legacies of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John Perreault, and consider how each helped shape the cultural history of Snug Harbor.
This literary reading is part of our Serpentine Sybils public art exhibition on view at the Pond and the Glasshouse
Featuring guest speakers:
Wayne Koestenbaum, Author of Jackie Under My Skin and Andy Warhol: A Biography
Daniel Rothbart, artist currently exhibiting at Snug Harbor and friend of John Perreault
On the 50th anniversary of Snug Harbor opening its doors to the community after the transition from Sailors’ Snug Harbor into Snug Harbor Cultural Center on September 12, 1976, join us for an intimate literary reading that traces the legacies of two essential figures within the Snug Harbor story.
When: Saturday, September 12, 2026 | 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Where: Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Main Hall Gallery, Building C
View Directions and Site Map: https://snug-harbor.org/visit/directions/
Admission: Free (Registration Required)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John Perreault were each instrumental in shaping the story of Snug Harbor Cultural Center. In the mid-1970s, when after being saved from demolition, the former sailors’ home faced an uncertain future, Kennedy toured the site on behalf of the Municipal Art Society, lending her influence to the preservation effort. Later, she famously piloted the Staten Island Ferry back to Manhattan. A decade later, Perreault became one of the first professional curators at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor (1985–1989), where he championed Staten Island artists such as Julia Healy, Elizabeth Egbert, and Cynthia Mailman, while also presenting off-island figures including Nancy Spero, Judy Chicago, and Gillian Jagger.
Though they moved in different circles, Andy Warhol forms a compelling link between them. As chief art critic for The Village Voice in the 1960s and ’70s, Perreault became a key chronicler of Pop Art and a close friend of Warhol—at one point speaking with him nightly for nearly two years. Warhol’s Jackie series, based on images of Kennedy
before and after the assassination, was among the works Perreault reviewed with particular attention. Jackie herself maintained a cordial relationship with Warhol and shared friends in New York’s art and fashion worlds, including Halston and Truman Capote. In the summer of 1972, she and her, Lee Radziwill, along with their children, stayed at Warhol’s Eothen estate in Montauk.
Another point of resonance between Jackie O and John Perreault is fashion. Kennedy helped define 1960s style through the so-called “Camelot” look—pillbox hats, tailored shift dresses, and Oleg Cassini-designed suits—later evolving into her signature “Jackie O” ensemble of oversized sunglasses, headscarves, and Gucci handbags. Perrealut, in turn, approached fashion as an artistic medium. In 1969, with Hannah Weine and Eduardo Costa, he co-organized the Fashion Show Poetry Event, a hybrid of runway, performance, and text. Twenty artists designed garments worn by fellow artists and poets, accompanied by live music and recorded readings written specifically for each look. Participants included Andy Warhol, James Lee Byars, Alex Katz, Marisol, Claes Oldenburg, and James Rosenquist, among others.
Artist and writer Wayne Koestenbaum is the author of Jackie Under My Skin, a book about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Andy Warhol: A Biography. In 1998, he curated an exhibition titled Bathroom at the Thomas Healy Gallery, exploring themes of the body, voyeurism, and personal territory, which included work by John Perreault. Artist and writer Daniel Rothbart met Perreault in 1999, and the two maintained a close friendship and ongoing creative dialogue until Perreault’s death in 2015, frequently writing about one another’s work. Perreault included Rothbart in The Ritual Feast at KK Projects in New Orleans in 2008. Drawing on personal experience and longstanding engagement with their subjects, Koestenbaum and Rothbart will reflect on the intertwined legacies of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John Perreault, and consider how each helped shape the cultural history of Snug Harbor.
This literary reading is part of our Serpentine Sybils public art exhibition on view at the Pond and the Glasshouse
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Where is it happening?
Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, Staten Island Children's Museum, 1000 Richmond Ter, Staten Island, NY 10301, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherSnug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden
