Whether you've been to Coney Island or not, you know what it is and images of it from movies, TV shows, and countless magazines are probably burned into your consciousnesses.

From September 1 to October 20, the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum will host a special exhibit titled Coney Island: Visions of An American Dreamland. The exhibit, on loan from NEH on the Road, explores "America's Playground" as both a place and an American cultural idea and the influence its had on countless amusements parks and popular culture.

On Saturday, September 1, the museum will host a free family day from 10 AM to 2 PM, which will give families a chance to visit the exhibit for free and participate in free Coney Island-inspired activities. Experience a trip to Coney Island with boardwalk games, a live fortune teller, crafts, and free snow cones and popcorn to help set the mood. The Daniel G. Benes Science Show, will be the special guest on hand with awesome demonstrations of physics, high-voltage electricity, and chemical magic using scientific antiques to show off turn-of-last-century inventions.

At 2 PM Tuesday, September 11th, Tim Baldwin, editor of RollerCoaster! Magazine, will discuss the history of Coney Island and the roller coasters that made it famous. Mr. Baldwin is also Communications Director of American Coaster Enthusiasts. His passion for amusement parks and roller coasters has taken him around the globe to experience the greatest rides the world has to offer. He has ridden more than a thousand roller coasters and still considers the Coney Island Cyclone the benchmark to which all other wooden coasters should be measured.

Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum
Aaron Savage, Townsquare Media
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Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland can be viewed from September 1 to October 20 with regular admission to the museum, which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10:00 AM to 4 PM. The Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum is located at 315 W. Avenue B in downtown Temple.

For more information about the exhibit or the museum, please visit www.templerrhm.org or call 254-298-5194.

This exhibition is made possible by NEH on the Road, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is adapted from the traveling exhibition Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008 and organized by Robin Jaffee Frank, PH.D., former Chief Curator and Krieble Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture at the Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. It was supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Henry Luce Foundation, and The
Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Inc. It was adapted and toured for NEH on the Road by Mid-America Arts Alliance.

About NEH on the Road

NEH on the Road (NEHOTR) is a fully funded initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities, designed to create wider national access to the ideas, themes, and stories explored in major grant-funded NEH exhibitions. Mid-America Arts Alliance has provided the curatorial adaptation, design, production, and tour management of the NEHOTR program since 2002. Each exhibition is designed to fit within 2,000 square
feet and features abundant artifacts, integrated didactic panels, banners, and other supporting materials that best reflect the content and scholarship of the original large-scale exhibitions. Learn more at www.nehontheroad.org.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

About Mid-America Arts Alliance

Mid-America Arts Alliance (M-AAA) strengthens and supports artists, cultural organizations, and communities throughout our region and beyond. We achieve this primarily through our national traveling exhibition programs, innovative leadership development, and strategic grant making. We are especially committed to
enriching the cultural life of historically underserved communities by providing high quality, meaningful, and accessible arts and culture programs and services. We believe in more art for more people. Additional information about M-AAA is available at www.maaa.org.

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