Monthly Archives: June 2010

Greetings Grey Gardeners,

It has been just a few days since I last wrote on our group,life here in New York can take one day and turn it into ten with one rush hour.

Ive kept my promise to myself to complete what I had set out to , and this month helped at a fund raiser at Grey Gardens. It was a fund raiser for the Harvey Milk School. 

Life continues to circle ever more positive, you see the choices I ve made include pressing on making the best of things for those who come from the inner city.

Ive had my sculpture seen by curators who had given it a ”best in show” award. That incourged me as the sculpture chosen was a subject I had not planned. It was suggested to me that even if i did not understand why I should stop carving ~~Temple~~and enter it into the annual school show.

It has been some time now since the musical opened on Broadway, and it was on July 29 that it closed . That was another Grey Gardens moment seeing Mrs.Beale had mentioned that very date in the documentary. 

That was simply magic, to experience Grey Gardens on Broadway. The musical was everything in one place and Mrs.Beale & Edie would have been thrilled to know there lives have been so loved in a musical. The very venue sought by Mrs.Beale , Edie in the confines of a delapitated mansion,with only themsleves to share and support there own lives , for the most part alone .

I am certain that they are both at ease now and live in harmony amongst the angels.

Life for me continues to be all I had prayed it might one day become, having friends,sharing ideas,carving stone.

”You and the night and the music dance till the music is through”

There are times in our lives when the most delicate of memories are things of the past. To be reminded of such delicate memories is a certain joy that occurs without planning and is exciting for it reminds me of a light hearted time in life, that at the time i had been living it it was just common practice in the day. 

 Something not taken for granted a style of life that allowed the basic joys of being alive like the serenity of a summer night .
The fireflies hovering in the dark , the stars bright above our earth, the sound of crickets. Through the shadows of the trees hanging plants spot the dark night with ever so subtle color, delicate purple, white & red.
The reach of the ever traveling grape vine with its twists and feelers reaching into the absent space grasping a hold in which to continue to travel and set its vine onto further spaces.
I think to my self the bird-feeders are full and the local bluebirds , Cardinals,Finches are nestled somewhere this first night of summer.

I wait with wonder for the dawn , when these friends of my garden will return to there feeder to find it full of feed and then fill the morning with song of treasure.
It is good to be alive to feel the joys of nature on this summer eve, the dawn will bring light and life back to our earth .
What a precious gift the earth .

Sunday, June 20

Friday, June 18th – Sunday, June 20th This year STAUNCH! loosely draws upon the world of the two Edith Bouvier-Beales – their past, their influences, and the life of one of the people they had a profound effect upon, Jerry “The Marble Faun” Torre. Film screenings, panels, an art exhibit and a special brunch on Sunday round out this weekend celebrating everything Grey Gardens.

Special Brunch Screening with Jerry “The Marble Faun” Torre
@ 12:00 pm
The Beales of Grey Gardens
Dir. Albert Maysles & David Maysles, 2006, 91 min.
@ 1:30 pm
Sneak Preview:
The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens
Dir. Jason Hay & Steve Pelizza, work-in-progress, 13 min.
- Followed by a discussion with sculptor Jerry Torre about his life with the Beales and beyond! Jason Hay and Steve Pelizza will also be on hand to discuss their work-in-progress film, The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens.
- Light brunch fare and mimosas available before, during and after the screenings/discussion.

This year Staunch loosely draws upon the world of the Bouvier-Beales – their past, their influences, and the life of one of the people they had a profound effect upon. On Friday we will start with the basics – Grey Gardens itself, and our panel will include executive producer Lucy Donnelly who did extensive research for the HBO narrative film, also titled Grey Gardens. A double feature of films from the ’30’s, the era of Little Edie’s youth, explores the tension between women’s familial allegiances, societal expectations, and their own ambitions- Blonde Venus starring Little Edie’s beloved (and Big Edie’s despised) Marlene Dietrich, and Imitation of Life. Exploring the other side of the Bouvier coin, represented by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Albert Maysles will screen Robert Drew’s Primary, which follows JFK’s first primary election – an early example of the intimate Direct Cinema style that informed Grey Gardens. The festival concludes Sunday with a brunch celebration of sculptor and one-time Grey Gardens handyman, Jerry “The Marble Faun” Torre, and a screening of The Beales of Grey Gardens.

On Display: Sculptures and drawings by Jerry Torre, Grey Gardens photographs and film-stills by Albert Maysles, photographs by Ron Lieberman (who photographed Little Edie for her Reno Sweeney cabaret performance poster) and other artists TBA.

For Sale: Grey Gardens books, posters, DVDs, T-shirts, original Grey Gardens film programs and tote bags, all proceeds going towards the Maysles Institute’s cinema and education programs.
Thanks to all who came last year – the proceeds from ticket sales and merchandise bought us our new theater seats!

Sneak Preview:
The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens
Dir. Jason Hay & Steve Pelizza, work-in-progress, 13 min.
From the filmmakers: “Jerry Torre’s life story unfolds as a classic American tale. A compromising childhood, then a dash for freedom leading him indirectly to Grey Gardens, a formative event in his life. Later awakening to his sexuality in the 1970’s in New York City, going on to travel in Europe and the Middle East under unique circumstances, and sadly falling into some of the darker passions in life. Eventually pulling himself up and dusting himself off, he decides to heed a lifelong call to carve stone and discovers his love for the craft. Jerry Torre’s sculptures help free him, and he fully develops into the beloved individual he is today.”

Followed by a discussion with sculptor Jerry Torre, about his life with the Beales and beyond! Jason Hay and Steve Pelizza will also be on hand to discuss their work-in-progress film, The Marble Faun of Grey Gardens.

Light brunch fare and mimosas available before, during and after the screenings/discussion.

Please allow me to invite my fellow Grey Gardeners to the Red Dot exhibition .

~~Temple~~ will be amongst other works of art chosen for best in show scholarship’s.

The Leagues is located 215 West 57 St Manhattan between 7 Ave & Broadway.
Current and Upcoming Exhibits

All exhibitions are held in the League’s second-floor Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery, except as noted, and are free and open to the public.

June 1–15, 2010
Red Dot Exhibition
An exhibition of student work deemed “best” by League instructors.
Reception: June 8, 6–8 p.m.