Coney Island Dreamers Exhibit

The Brooklyn Public Library is hosting an exhibition called Coney Island Dreamers, now through October 1 at the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza. The exhibition in the Grand Lobby features sideshow banners of the inventors, eccentrics and visionaries who made Coney famous, documentary photographs by Charles Denson for The Coney Island History Project and multi-media artworks by Philomena Marano and Richard Eagan, artists and cofounders of the Coney Island Hysterical Society. According to the BPL, "This exhibition contrasts the iconic mythical Coney Island with the reality of the neighborhood as it exists today."

Charles Denson, executive director of the Coney Island History Project, grew up in Coney Island and started documenting the neighborhood when he was a teenager. Native Brooklynites Richard Eagan and Philomena Marano formed the coney Island Hysterical Society in 1982 to preserve the visual culture of America's famous amusement beach.

The Library is also hosting the Coney Island History Project Memory Booth, where people can share their Coney Island stories. Visit the Memory Booth to sign up for a session to record (in sound) your own Coney experiences.