Last month, I participated in a historical tour of Surf Avenue with the Save Coney Island organization. You can read more about that tour here, but this post is about a surprise we encountered along the way!

Near the end of the tour, we encountered an artist working on the beautiful murals which decorate the Coney Island USA building. She was decked out in an old paint-splattered Mermaid Parade t-shirt and dock shoes, busy putting the finishing touches on a vignette on the east side of the building. I learned that this was none other than Prof. Marie Roberts, the Coney Island artist in residence who has been largely responsible for last 10+ years of iconic Coney Island imagery.

Of course, I asked her for a portrait. She graciously obliged and smiled.

Born and raised in Coney Island, Marie’s family has had strong ties to the community for several generations and her art reflects this deep bond with the landscape. She says that her “father’s family was involved in Coney Island at the turn of the 20th century; my grandfather was acting battalion chief of the Coney Island District until his death in 1924. My Uncles Harry and Guy were at Dreamland the night of the fire. I have an uncle buried in the Gravesend Cemetery. My father claimed he never got out of the 6th grade because he was too busy watching the horses cross the finish line at the Gravesend track. My Uncle Lester was the talker for the Dreamland Circus Sideshow in the 1920’s.”

I also hear she has loads of legendary stories about growing up in a sideshow family, many of which surface as inspiration in her beautiful sideshow banner work. Be sure to check it out on the web here or in person at Surf Avenue and 12th Street!