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Smithtown Township Arts Council is pleased to feature Greetings from Coney Island, an exhibit featuring the artwork of four artists for whom the phenomena of Coney Island creates boundless inspiration...Kelynn Z. Alder, Carol Fabricatore, Candy Heiland and Marie Roberts. The exhibit will be on view from May 27 through June 25, 2017 at the Mills Pond Gallery, 660 Route 25A, St. James, NY.
Mills Pond House Gallery hours are: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 10 am – 4 pm and Saturdays - Sundays 12 pm – 4pm. The gallery is closed Mondays and Tuesdays and holidays. Please call 631-862-6575 or visit www.stacarts.org for directions or more information. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, June 10 from 4 – 6 pm to meet the exhibiting artists and view their work.
Long Island painter, writer and teacher Kelynn Z. Alder has described herself as a “visual essayist with a wanderlust” The artist is internationally recognized for documenting the lives of indigenous people and their artifacts through sketching, painting and writing. For Kelynn, Coney Island is “a feast of the senses”. “When it comes to Coney Island, I have what they call ‘sand in my shoes.’ Initially lured there to sketch people walking along the boardwalk’s brightly colored hand-painted signage, I instantly felt at home…the atmosphere reminds me of Latin America where I grew up. It is a place where I return again and again to be among like-minded artists and a large cast of talented sideshow performers…a destination guaranteed to inspire…”
Artist, Editorial and Book Illustrator Carol Fabricatore has produced art for an extensive list of books, magazines, newspapers and projects for design and advertising firms. She received her MFA from School of Visual Arts in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Program and has taught narrative drawing in that program since 1994. Carol “always have a sketchbook in my bag wherever I go. My sketchbooks are my playground for new exploration and enjoyment. When speaking about her favorite place to draw on location Carol shared “I guess that’s the magical aspect about drawing. Anywhere can be a location, from your bathroom to the freak show at Coney Island to the cannoli-eating contest in Little Italy. It’s all in how you see things through you own eyes…what’s important to you and what story you’d like to tell.”
New York City artist Candy Heiland was first introduced to Coney Island while working on set design for the television series Law and Order and she immediately fell under the “’carny spell.’ “In the course of one evening at Coney Island, a whole part of myself, left dormant for years, reawakened to my true purpose as an artist.” Using black paper and oil pastels, Candy is able to capture the texture of weaving while exploring images of color, light and the subculture of Coney Island at night. Candy has Art Department, Costume Department, and Set Decorator credits for a long list of movies and TV series, all of which enhances fodder for her prolific body of work on the carny world and Coney Island. Candy is also a teaching artist at Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation.
Born and raised in Coney Island, Brooklyn painter and Fairleigh Dickinson University professor Marie Roberts’ Coney Island connections go back 100 years. Her family home once housed the famous freaks and oddities of the 1920's and 1930's where her late uncle Lester was the "talker" luring audiences in to see them. Marie grew up listening to family stories of Coney, replete with tales of traveling sideshow freaks who stayed as guests at the family house while in town to perform. Marie ran away from her family sideshow traditions to “join the normal” and to study art and become a painter. Marie was called back to Coney Island in the 1990s when she befriended Dick Zigun, founder of the Coney Island USA where she is now Artist in Residence… “a haven where both sides of my life can co-exist – the academic and the sideshow. It is the only place in the earth where I feel back at home, with my (deceased) family and my (alive) sideshow family gathered around. Marie’s large, colorful banners hang prominently outside of today’s Sideshow. Her work reflects a deep bond with Coney’s past and invites a new generation to explore the Snake oil and sideshows of this magical place.
STAC, a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Funding is provided by Town of Smithtown and Private Donations