Coney Island Reliefs Painted on the Ocean Parkway Viaduct

In 1992, Deborah Masters was awarded the MTA Arts for Transit Commission for the Ocean Parkway Viaduct station (then the D-Line, now the Q-Line). The original commission was for the inside of the subway station, but when the artist looked at the Viaduct surface, she noticed indentations she felt sure were intended for reliefs. She felt that the Olmsted Parkway, the widest old road to the beach, and the Art Deco Viaduct decorated with red, green, blue, yellow, and orange deco tiles from 1915 was intended by Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of landscape architecture, to be the "Gateway to Coney Island". She proposed adding 1650 sq. ft. of reliefs about Coney Island to the viaduct.

Deborah drew and photographed the Coney Island population. On the Boardwalk, she found an obviously eccentric community: aged members of the Polar Bear club, sunning and preening in the winter sun, odd members of the Side Show eating glass, hammering nails in their noses, reading Beat Poetry, playing with enormous albino snakes in scant bathing suits, showing films of Siamese Twins and vicious elephants while the fat lady sang. On the beach, Masters found kids building sand castles, gang members lounging, handsome lifeguards, relaxed gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples, a supposed FBI Agent who didn't want to be photographed, and many bathing beauties. On the Boardwalk were colorful blow-up toys, ice cream, lemonade, and hotdogs. There were seagulls, banners, and Jamaicans selling strange and delicious handmade pastries. There were old Russian ladies sitting primly on benches, clutching their purses. The oldest member of the Polar Bear Club combed out her bleached blond hair. People came in every color and every age. They all wanted to be drawn or photographed. All had ideas for the sculptures: include the Amusement Park, the Aquarium, the Side Show, and each of them!

These images finally congealed with the inclusion of the Mermaid Parade. Deborah found that the parade was fantasia itself, Brooklyn's Mardi Gras. She determined to put a Neptune and a Mermaid above every arch of the Viaduct, and to have 2 different large panels at each end of the bridge. These would include a scene devoted to the Sideshow and another to the Cyclone and the amusement park. No fantasy could surpass this reality.

The 1650 sq ft of reliefs were created in clay and cast in concrete in rubber molds. A crew of 15 cast the panels. The pieces were completed in 1994, but the viaduct had disintegrated and needed repair before the tons of concrete panels could be hung on its façade. The reliefs were stored in 4 different MTA storage facilities and have finally been installed on the viaduct!

Thanks to: Greg O'Connell donated a coffee factory space for production and storage in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Wendy Feuer, Director of MTA Arts for Transit was the Viaduct Project Director. Sandra Bloodworth followed as the next Arts for Transit Director, Lester Burg was Project Director. The overworked assistants were: Kim Couchot, was chief mold-maker with Jens Veneman and Robin Murphy. Concrete casting and moving were done by Geoffrey Wilcox, Fritz Welch, Pedro Pantoja, Kim Couchot, Joe Murphy, Christine Sheilds, Paige Martin, James Johnson, Jeff Schroeder, James Nelson, and Chad Bush.