Curated by
Joseph J. Sitt & Jeffrey Deitch

About Coney Art Walls

Presented by Thor Equities, Coney Art Walls was an outdoor museum of street art curated by Joseph Sitt and Jeffrey Deitch. Located at 3050 Stillwell Avenue near the beach and boardwalk in Coney Island, the public art wall project also offered live entertainment and popular eateries from across New York City. Coney Art Walls presented sixty-eight murals and wall projects from 2015-18 by many of the world leading street and graffiti artists. The project also introduced the work of emerging artists such as Timothy Curtis, Lauren Halsey, and Shantell Martin whose work became very influential.

In 2018, Coney Art Walls featured artwork from renowned local and international artists including Crash, Daze, Lee Quinones, Ron English and Miss Van, as well as Aiko, Alexis Diaz, Buff Monster, Chris Stain, D*Face, Eine, eL Seed, Ganzeer, Haze, How & Nosm, Icy & Sot, IRAK, Jim Drain, John Ahearn, Kashink, Lady Pink, The London Police, Mark Bode, Mister Cartoon, Nina Chanel Abney, Nychos, Pose, RETNA, Shantell Martin, Sheryo & The Yok, Tats Cru, Skewville, and Tristan Eaton.

Bordered by Bowery Street, West 15th Street and Stillwell Avenue near the Coney Island boardwalk and beach, Coney Art Walls attracted tens of thousands of visitors throughout the summer and beyond.

Located in the heart of the Coney Island Amusement District, Coney Art Walls was adjacent to the original Nathan’s restaurant and within walking distance of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Luna Park, the Cyclone, New York Aquarium, the new Ford Amphitheater and MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Welcome Letter From Joseph J. Sitt

I would like to welcome you to Coney Art Walls, an outdoor museum of street art featuring the work of numerous celebrated artists. We are looking forward to a great summer, and the opportunity to bring something uplifting and a little different to Coney Island for many years to come.

Coney Island has a long history of being the place for New Yorkers to go to escape city life, see the astonishing, or experience something new, if only for a day. Whether that experience came from seeing electric lights for the first time, watching a sideshow performer, or being jostled together with strangers on a ride, Coney Island has been a place to be exposed to the unexpected. These experiences were collectively shared, as spectacle, in a very public way—this is the magic of Coney.

Coney Art Walls continues this tradition. It brings together a large group of some of the best artists who paint outdoor murals to provide an art experience that is open and free to the public. The addition of the Smorgasburg team, which has brought a diverse and fun group of food vendors to the site, and an ongoing music program, fully round out the space into a true Coney Island experience.

Thor Equities’ and my own connection to Coney is a personal one. For me, it was the summer hangout of my youth. Coney Island has struggled for decades and lost a lot of the sparkle that once drew millions each summer from New York and beyond. In the long term, we aspire to return the luster to Coney and bring it back to being a playground not just for New Yorkers, but for the world. This is a vision that is still in its nascent form. There are zoning challenges, construction challenges, and design challenges still to define and face. But most important of all is to ensure that the future of Coney Island keeps the magic and wonder of the shared spectacle that has defined it throughout its history.

As passionate as I am to see this project come to life and return for many seasons, the Coney Island community has been looking forward to it just as much. People are happy to experience the artwork, the food and the music.

Coney Art Walls is Thor Equities’ way of bringing life to an empty site in the core of Coney Island, while keeping the Coney feeling and stretching it in new directions. The 2016 season is going to be an amazing summer, and I am extraordinarily happy that Coney Art Walls will be a part of it.

Regards,
Joseph J. Sitt

About Thor Equities

Thor Equities is a leader in the development, leasing and management of commercial, residential, retail, hotel and mixed-use assets in premier urban locations worldwide.
The company is also the exclusive representative of global retailers through Thor Retail Advisors, a premier leasing agent for marquee properties worldwide; and a leader in residential sales and leasing through TOWN Residential, a fully integrated real estate services firm.

About Joseph J. Sitt

Joseph J. Sitt is President & CEO of Thor Equities. Founded in 1986 by Mr. Sitt, Thor Equities owns prime property in the United States, Europe, Canada and Latin America.

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He has served on the board of the Real Estate Roundtable in Washington, D.C., the Department of Real Estate at Baruch College, and is a member of the Partnership for New York City. He also serves on the board of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, founded by Robert F. Kennedy and Jacob Javits.

Mr. Sitt has served on the boards of the Downtown Brooklyn Council economic development advocacy group, REBNY’s Board of Governors, and as Chairman of the Brooklyn Fulton Street Business Improvement District. He has spent much of his career focusing on youth development and education, serving on the Boards of Brooklyn's Flatbush High School and TAB High School, leading a teen program and acting as an ongoing mentor and guidance counselor to Brooklyn youth.

About Jeffrey Deitch

Jeffrey Deitch has been curating and writing about street art since 1980. He curated the popular Art in the Streets exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2011. He also co-curated Wynwood Walls with the late Tony Goldman in Miami. He is the co-author of a monograph on Keith Haring published by Rizzoli and Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1981, the Studio of the Street, published by Charta. Live The Art, a history of Deitch Projects, was published by Rizzoli in 2014.

Coney Art Walls
3050 Stillwell Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11224
All photos by Martha Cooper
except where otherwise noted