Artist Edward Ubiera is a self-described “roller coaster person.”
He has been captivated by amusement parks since he was a kid. So when Standard Amusements commissioned him to paint three murals at Rye Playland, he felt right at home.
Outdoor enthusiasts and exercisers on their way to Edith Read or the boardwalk may have caught a glimpse of Ubiera at work. He recently put the finishing touches on a mural he painted on the exterior of a decommissioned ticket booth that faces Playland’s parking lot.
“They wanted to make that booth a little more interesting instead of just boarding it up,” he said. His task was to create a compelling design that would showcase Playland’s various attractions and direct customers to the main entrance.
Playing off the boxy shape of the booth’s original windows, Ubiera’s colorful graphics and typography call attention to rides like the Crazy Mouse and Zombie Castle, along with the food and fun that await visitors to Playland. The mural’s beachy colors of gold, pink, and seafoam green are reminiscent of Playland’s Art Deco color scheme.
His artistry hasn’t gone unnoticed. Ubiera says many passersby have stopped to admire his progress, chat, and even on occasion, look out for him.
He recalled a day when he forgot his ladder and used an overturned bucket as a stepstool. “I was on top of this bucket and the bucket was almost ready to give out on me,” said Ubiera, “A man stopped and was super concerned, like, ‘Oh my God, you should really use the ladder.’”
The artist is an experienced mural painter. He has created and painted lively murals for American Express, Netflix, and Brooklyn’s Arbor School, to name a few. His work adds a punch of color and vibrancy to the interior walls of Meta’s New York office and the exteriors of buildings around New York City.
Ubiera, 50, grew up in Jersey City and the Dominican Republic and has been drawing and doodling since he was young.
“I remember in the eighties, sitting at the kitchen table with my older brother,” he said. “We would draw Transformers, Spider Man, and Batman and different cartoons that we were into.”
He went on to study advertising design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has worked as an illustrator, graphic and brand designer, and art director for the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Aeropostale, Kiehl’s, PepsiCo and Sir Kensington’s.
In addition to his freelance work as a mural painter and illustrator, Ubiera is an adjunct instructor of vector illustration at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and has a full-time graphic design position at an advertising and marketing firm in Manhattan. He lives in Nyack, N.Y., with his wife and daughters, ages seven and three.
Ubiera’s work offers a kaleidoscopic look at the everchanging human experience. His energetic and highly graphic signature style pops with bright colors, animated figures and whimsical shapes that grab the viewer’s attention.
The designs and branding Ubiera churns out have become part of people’s everyday visual experiences. From mustachioed Sir Kensington’s condiments on grocery store shelves to Aeropostale shopping bags to illustrations in The New York Times, his work brings a whimsical backdrop to every-day tasks.
Like the technicolor, fire-breathing dragon he wrapped around a storage building in front of the historic Dragon Coaster. Complete with scales and horns, it beckons park goers to take a ride.
“I painted the whole thing all the way around with this really fun dragon art that I created,” he said of his first Playland commission, which was finished in September.
Ubiera is contracted to do a third mural near the fountain at Playland’s main entrance. While work is slated for 2025, the design has yet to be determined, and the location might change because of possible construction in that vicinity.
But in the meantime, there’s no doubt he’s left his colorful mark on Playland.
Edward Ubiera’s work can be viewed at edwardubierastudio.com.