Within recent years, Brooklyn has become a place that many artists have flocked to. One such artist is Dianna Carlin, who has been active within the Brooklyn arts scene since 2000. Carlin who is better known as Lola Star, has become a local celebrity through her popular Lola Star’s Dreamland Roller Disco. Dreamland Roller Disco first opened in 2010 and combined Carlin’s love of rollerskating and the glamor of Coney Island for a wide audience to enjoy. However, the skating rink sadly closed in 2010.

After four years of searching for new location, Dreamland recently reopened in Prospect Park’s Lakeside Rink. Each Friday Lola Star will host themed skating parties in the new location. This week’s party will be based on the 1980 film “Xanadu” staring Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. With more dance parties on the horizon, Carlin is “excited” to have Dreamland up and running again. The skate parties are scheduled to go through the end of August but Carlin hopes to offer more parties in fall and winter months.

Lola Star in Prospect Park’s Lakeside Rink Photo Credit: Lola Star

I recently spoke with Carlin about how she got the name Lola Star, how she has adapted to the changing face of Brooklyn and what role community activism has played within her work. Carlin got the nickname because, “I use to skate around my parent’s basement listening to Barry Manilow’s ‘Copacabana’ on repeat and dreamed of being a rollerskating star. My parents would yell downstairs ‘What are you doing down there Lola?’” This was in reference to the song’s main character, a showgirl named Lola. The nickname became a part of Carlin’s artistic alter ego and she would eventually name her Coney Island boutique after it.

After Carlin graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in fine art, she moved to Brooklyn. Although she studied oil panting in college, Carlin had always had an interest in screen printing and had been an entrepreneur from a young age. Carlin said, “I was always an entrepreneur. For example, when I was a kid and first learned how to french braid, I made a catalog of the different styles and sold them to my neighbors for a quarter. When my parents gave me a weaving loom, I wove blankets for my friends’ Cabbage Patch dolls. I was always trying to make and sell things.”

People have fun at the first Lola Star Roller Dance Party on 7/11/14. Photo Credit: Lola Star

Carlin’s “make and sell things” attitude continued through high school as well. As a teenager, she began to design t-shirts and sell them. Carlin said “I learned to screen print in high school in art class and really enjoyed it. In the summer between high school and college, I opened my first store, The Groovy Rainbow Planet. At the time, I was selling t shirts at raves, clubs and other venues within the electronic music community around Detroit.”

When Carlin moved to Brooklyn after college, she became fascinated by the history of Coney Island and what it had become. After spending a lot of them there, Carlin noticed “there wasn’t a cute place to buy a Coney Island t shirt.” With her background in screen printing, and prior business successes, Carlin set out yet again to start a new enterprise which specialized in Coney Island themed clothing. Today, Carlin has two shops located on Coney Island’s boardwalk and plans to open a third shop in Williamsburg in the fall.

Currently, Carlin works out of her production studio in Sunset Park where she makes many of the products she sells. Like Sunset Park, Coney Island has undergone many periods of change. In 2008, after yet another effort to develop the historic Coney Island amusement district, Carlin intervened with the help of others to form Save Coney Island, a non profit dedicated to stopping the development of the area. Although more changes have come in recent years Carlin said, “When I first opened my store in Coney Island 14 years ago, I had no idea it was on the cusp of change and resurgence. Since then, it has been a wild roller coaster of change. With Echelon closing and the city rezoning Coney Island, there has been even more developments which have come about.” Through Carlin’s efforts and genuine investment in the Coney Island community, she has helped to make Coney Island a better place in her own way.

Carlin hard at work in her Sunset Park studio.

However as a working artist and female business owner in Brooklyn, Carlin has faced many obstacles, “My experience of being an artist in Brooklyn has been really positive. I think Brooklyn in general is really supportive of the arts. Although, I faced a lot of challenges as a female business owner in Coney Island. When I first opened my store, I was met with lot of opposition because I am a woman and was not from Brooklyn.” Although Carlin faced a lot of challenges in the beginning, she has overcome them and is now strong than ever.

Lola and her sidekick, Shimmer.

As an artistic individual with a unique vision, Carlin has continued to work on the kinds of projects she is passionate about. And she has done this a community she feels a part of. Carlin said “From starting Save Coney Island, I learned I was extremely passionate about community in general. I see it as a larger component of my art and creativity and it is something that has become a huge part of who I am.” Carlin realizes the importance that community ties have and this has been demonstrated within her work in the Save Coney Island organization as well as being active within animal rights by fostering dogs who are in need of a home. She has also organized free weekly Yoga classes that take place on beach at Coney Island. Currently, Carlin is busy writing a book about her adventures which will have illustrations while also adding to her growing number of products in her boutiques. It is Carlin’s enthusiasm and genuine love for the Coney Island community and it’s history, which will help keep her involved in it for decades to come.

Lola Star’s fantastic skate parties take place from 8-10 PM on Friday nights in Prospect Park’s Lakeside Rink. Admissions is $15 which includes skate rentals and a list of the party themes can be found here

–Anni Irish