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Posts Tagged ‘mural’

Presidents Day Weekend at Coney Island USA’s Hall of the Presidents

Posted in Events, Photo of the Day, tagged Brunch, Coney Island, Coney Island USA, Freak Bar, gift shop, Marie Roberts, mural, Presidents Day Weekend on February 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Marie Roberts murals for Hall of the Presidents, 2008 Creepshow at the Freakshow at Coney Island USA. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Happy Birthday Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge! We’ve been saving this pic of the seldom seen Hall of the Presidents in the Coney Island USA Building for Presidents Day. CIUSA artist in residence Marie Roberts painted the murals in a back stairwell for the 2008 Creepshow at the Freakshow . The artwork still exists though it will be painted over next Halloween. The theme was Phantom of the Presidential Wax Museum. The mural is meant to be viewed under black light as seen in this superb photo from jamie nyc’s flickr set of the haunted freak show tour.

While the Hall of the Presidents is not in a public area of the building, you can celebrate Presidents Day Weekend in Coney Island by watching the Polar Bear Club Swim on Sunday at 1 pm. Join the Bears for brunch afterward at CIUSA’s Freak Bar. Bagels, cream cheese, coffee, espresso and cappuccino will be available for purchase at Sunday’s Polar Bear Brunch.

While America honors Presidents Day with sales galore, Coney Island USA continues its online gift shop sale of Mermaid Parade, Film Festival and Creepshow posters; Funny Face, Madame Twisto and Serpentina T-shirts; and Dreamland Bar & Grill tokens. Winter hours at the Coney Island Museum and Gift Shop are Saturday and Sunday, 12-5 pm.

Coney Island USA, 1208 Surf Ave, Coney Island. B,D, F, Q trains to Stillwell Ave.

Bruce Handy’s Photo Album: Doomed Dreamland Artist Club Mural

Posted in art, Photo Album, tagged Bruce Handy, Coney Island, demolition alert, Dreamland Artist Club, Jones Walk, mural, Rita Ackermann on January 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Over the weekend ATZ contributing photographer and Coney Island resident Bruce Handy/”Pablo 57″ took some lyrical photos of the Rita Ackermann mural. The artwork is on the west wall of the soon-to-be demolished Feltman’s Building. You can view the complete flickr set as a slideshow here.

Freaky Sideshow Girls: Detail of Dreamland Artist Club Mural by Rita Ackermann on the soon-to-be Demolished Feltman’s Kitchen (Home of the Hot Dog), Coney Island. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

As ATZ reported last week in “Nathan Slept Here! Coney Island’s Feltman’s Kitchen Set for Demolition” (January 19, 2010), the last remnant of the hot dog inventor’s empire is set to be demolished to make way for new amusements on the City-owned “Parcel A”—the former Astroland site. The Ackermann mural, which was valued at $250K by Dreamland Artist Club founder Steve Powers, is likely to be demolished along with the building. (“Demolition Alert: Dreamland Artist Club Mural on Feltman’s Bldg“)

Photographing the mural wasn’t an easy job, but somebody had to do it. ATZ found very few pix of this mural on the web. We’re grateful that Bruce Handy documented details of the Jones Walk artwork before it is gone forever. Bruce used a tripod and held the camera up in the air to take a photo of the complete mural.

“The problem is the mural is in a bad spot for a good photo,” says the photographer. “It’s too high and the angle is bad. To get a good photo you need a zoom lens standing on W 12th, but you also need a straight line of sight. You need to be perpendicular to the wall that’s why you need to be so far away. The ideal photo would be if someone drove a car up there and stood on the roof. That’s how Ansel Adams got all his great photos.”

Dreamland Artist Club Mural by Rita Ackermann on the soon-to-be demolished Feltman’s Kitchen (Home of the Hot Dog), Coney Island. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr