NJ Monuments to Migration & Labor artist Oni and the Flagship mobile public art installation.
The New Jersey Monuments to Migration and Labor Project (NJMML) and the Bayshore Center at Bivalve are thrilled to share Immanuel Oni’s exciting new work of public art, Flagship, during the Second Friday event on Friday, October 9, from 5 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday, October 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve, 2800 High Street, Port Norris.
Inspired by a year’s worth of conversations and programs with community stakeholders in Millville, Bridgeton, Seabrook, Port Norris, Roebling (in Florence Township, NJ), and Atlantic City, Flagship is a mobile monument in a former schoolbus that brings to life the stories of labor and migration that define South Jersey’s past and present. The bus materializes the shared diverse legacy of Bivalve’s oyster heritage, Atlantic City’s tourism, Millville’s glassmaking, and Seabrook’s global village.
Second Friday will feature live music with the Eddie Morgan Trio. At 6:30, Oni will share how this public project celebrates a unified past while also hosting art and memory-making activities that will be added to the bus as it prepares to tour regional events in South Jersey. Patrons may purchase dinner from the Oyster Cracker Cafe, oyster raw bar and beverages from A.J.’s Pub. On October 10, patrons may tour the bus and also participate in activities led by Oni and Dr. Linda McBride. Both days are free to attend.
Prominently displayed in the bus are legacy flags that community stakeholders designed at events facilitated by Oni and NJMML, as visual devices for telling personal, familial, and communal stories connected to migration, immigration, and labor. Audio from interviews greet visitors and play when activated by motion around the vehicle. The inside of the bus doubles as a traveling exhibition, with longer interview segments appearing as video installations mounted on seatbacks. Referencing these histories, and water as a conduit for migration, the bus includes an inflatable mast and sail – that can be raised and lowered when it is stationary.
Flagship was developed through community dialogues facilitated by NJMML, community partners, and Oni, over the series of nine public events that took place in 2025 and 2026. In South Jersey, NJMML has partnered with the Bayshore Center at Bivalve, Gallery 50, Noyes Museum of Art of Stockton University (South Jersey regional lead), Roebling Museum, Seabrook Buddhist Temple, the Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center (South Jersey regional lead), and the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, along with representatives of immigrant and migrant communities, and descendants from those communities.
“As an artist and spatial designer, I’m interested in how we create spaces that carry memory and bring people together,” Oni says. “The Flagship Sailbus grew from conversations with South Jersey residents and descendant communities, transforming their stories of migration, labor, and belonging into a mobile monument that can travel across the region and spark new connections. My hope is that people don’t just see the monument—they see themselves in it and recognize that our shared histories become stronger when we move, remember, and gather together.”
