Coney Island: Art Walls

Last weekend we went to Coney Island to see the Phoenicia Flea—which turned out to be significantly smaller than I had hoped, but I finally got to see the Art Walls, "an outdoor museum of street art featuring the work of 34 celebrated artists."

The exhibition is exactly what it sounds like—34 free-standing walls that double as canvasses for a variety of different styles, words and imagery. Each wall is illuminated with overhanging lights like it's in a museum. I loved that each wall is different, and while I prefer some styles to others, they make a nice collection when viewed all together.

My favorites were the ones depicting classic Coney Island iconography, particularly the "Congress of Curious Peoples" by Marie Roberts. I adore her sideshow-banner style, and her paintings are one of my favorite parts of current-day Coney Island. The Art Walls definitely fit in with the hodge podge of new and old, artful and tacky, weird and family-friendly attractions that make Coney Island one of my favorite places in the city.