Getaway Signs: Coney Island

Now that we’ve passed Memorial Day on the calendar, we can officially declare the summer travel season underway. Even during trying economic times, the family summer vacation remains a rite of passage for most (although the trip to Rome or Paris might now mean Rome, Georgia or Paris, Kentucky). Of course, signs play a role in cultivating the visitor experience. It’s signage the kids sign from the road when they exclaim, “We’re here! We’re here!”, or, to exclaim “Cool!” when they see one that identifies an interesting event or attraction.

As we languidly stroll towards the fun season, ST will feature theme-park signage project that celebrates the places and events that bring out the kid in all of us.

Situated on Brooklyn’s southern tip, Coney Island looms as the grandfather of amusement parks. In 1884, the world’s first roller coaster debuted there, and several parks – Luna Park, Dreamland, Steeplechase and Sea Lion, among others – opened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1920s, local officials initiated the Boardwalk, which became Coney Island’s major pedestrian thoroughfare.

The parks continued to boom until shortly after World War II, when more modern attractions began to siphon business. Gradually, the parks and their surrounding neighborhoods declined, and attendance dwindled. However, Coney Island has attracted renewed interest in recent years as developers are seeking to reinvigorate its magic. This year, Zamperla, an Italian theme-park operator, re-opened Luna Park (the original burned down in 1944) amid much fanfare.

Coney Island has retained its nostalgic kitsch – it still plays host to burlesque and circus-style sideshows. To promote these offbeat events, Marie Roberts, Coney Island’s artist-in-residence, paints colorful banners on traditional, cotton canvas.

“I like to paint several banners at once,” she said. “I hand them on a wall or flat service, prime them with acrylic gesso, and them compose them in range from light to dark colors. Working in series helps me focus. If I stare at one painting too long, I lose focus.”

Advertisement

Roberts uses Utrect artists’ acrylics to paint her banners because they offer high pigment concentration and retains color better over time. Because she’s classically trained as a fine artist, Roberts tends to use heavy layers they help her banners withstand the elements.

She continued, “In my mind, all art is fine art. I want some part of my art to be public art that people like my mother, who never went to a museum, could enjoy in her neighborhood. Painting the sideshow banners at Coney Island helps beautify my native section of Brooklyn. Going back throughout Coney Island’s history, handpainted signs and banners have been a common thread. I’m delighted to preserve the tradition into the 21st Century.”