Brooklyn Museum's Target First Saturday to Celebrate Coney Island

Today, December 5, Target First Saturday will explore the history, culture, and fantasy of Coney Island, with music, dance, and performances from the famed amusement park. The evening's highlights include a pin-up mermaid costume contest, a screening of The Wiz, entertainment by Brown Girls Burlesque and sideshow acts,and musical performances by Amour Obscur, Fright Barker and Sons, and Raya Brass Band.

Also on view will be Stephen Powers: Coney Island Is Still Dreamland (To a Seagull), a site-specific installation inspired by the uniquely American and wholly Coney Island style of sign painting, and Forever Coney: Photographs from the Brooklyn Museum Collection, which includes 42 images.

Brooklyn Museum's Target First Saturday events attract thousands of visitors to free art and entertainment programs each month. Some Target First Saturday programs have limited space and are ticketed on a first-come, first-served basis. *Denotes a ticketed event.

5 p.m. Music: Fright Barker and Sons present gritty jump Dixie punk guaranteed to get you moving.

*6 p.m. Curator Talk: Robin Frank, Chief Curator, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, discusses the magic behind Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008.

*6 p.m. Film: The Wiz (Sidney Lumet, 1978, 134 min.) revisits your favorite New York landmarks, including Coney Island, in this popular film starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the scarecrow.

*6:30-8 p.m. Hands-On Art: Design a wire model of your own Coney Island ride.

6:30-8:30 p.m. Pop-Up Gallery Talks: Enjoy lively ten-minute discussions about works of art around the Museum.

*7 p.m. Book Club: Photographer Harvey Stein discusses Coney Island: 40 Years, 1970-2010, which features over 200 photographs from the iconic beach and amusement park.

7 p.m. Music: Brooklyn-based gypsy band Amour Obscur hosts a theatrical performance inspired by the visual aesthetics of the American sideshow and Weimar cabaret.

7 p.m. Pop-Up Sideshow: Don your finest for our pin-up mermaid contest. Experience the best sideshow acts that Coney Island has to offer, from sword swallowing to snake charming. Curated by Adam Rinn, professor of Sideshow Arts, Coney Island University.

*8:30 p.m. Performance: No strangers to Coney Island, Brown Girls Burlesque presents BodySpeak, an evening of theatrical burlesque that tackles topical historical, political, and social issues, with a side of glamour. Adult content: 18 years of age and up.

8:30 p.m. Talk: Visual AIDS presents a screening of Radiant Presence (2015, 5 min.) and hosts a conversation with Ted Kerr, Shawn Torres, Rusti Miller-Hill, and Jawanza Williams about the use of art and social media in AIDS activism to combat stigma and increase awareness and esteem for people with HIV. This presentation is held in conjunction with World AIDS Day/Day With(out) Art, held every year on December 1.

9 p.m. Music: Raya Brass Band performs energetic dance music with influences ranging from the Balkans to New Orleans.

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