Chelsea Facade Finally Full

I can’t remember a time when there were more people in the Chelsea Hotel lobby, must’ve been more than a hundred.  As we munched on sausage strips and potato balls courtesy of El Quijote, long time tenant Merle – remarked that Stanley should have theme parties for the residents and guests every week, since we pay so much in rent.

     Be that as it may, the occasion of the festivities was to honor the filmmaker Shirley Clarke with a plaque on the façade of the hotel.  Clarke, who lived at the Chelsea for 25 years, first in the 60s & 70s, and then, after a stint in California, for a time in the 80s is famous for such groundbreaking works as The Cool World, Portrait of Jason, and The Connection.  Clarke is the first woman to be so honored, joining a roster of male artists commemorated on the front of the hotel.

      Most of the people in attendance last Thursday, September 21, seemed to be from the film world, as most Chelsea residents who stumbled upon the proceedings seemed either confused or annoyed as they fought their way through the lobby-choking crowd.  But we did get to chat with a few Chelsea friends: Artist Judith Childs told us about her recent trip to the South of France, and Jazz Singer Sathima Bea Benjamin told about her fascinating -- though arguably not so recent -- association with Duke Ellington.  The Chelsea never gets boring.
     After some wine and cheese we moved out to the street for the unveiling.  We couldn’t stay out there more than 3 minutes due to NYC regulations (We exceeded that). The speakers were brief, and then a dignitary yanked down the red cloth and we all cheered. “There sure are a lot of words on that,” a lady next to me remarked.  “There’s no way anybody could read that,” an elderly gentleman said.  The plaque was too high up on the building, and the print was too small, but Clarke easily wins the prize for most reading material crammed on a plaque.  (There was no room for her plaque anywhere else on the building, but perhaps another plaque could be moved so it could be brought closer to eye level.)  Filmmaker Barbara Hammer received the first ever Shirley Clarke Avant Garde Film/video grant, and told of riding her motorcycle with Shirley on the back, clinging tight, through the hills of San Francisco.

   Perhaps the most touching part of the evening was the reading of Wendy Clarke’s letter to her deceased mother.  (Read by Howard Weinberg) She wrote of planting Shirley’s ashes in her garden on the roof, and of throwing a handful over the edge, down onto 23^rd St.  It was a tribute fitting to any Chelseaite, and of course Shirley Clarke would have approved.  (Ed Hamilton) (Photo of Wendy & Shirley at the Chelsea courtesy of Howard Weinberg. Event photos courtesy of Linda Troeller. The letter is after the jump. Report from Sept. 20 event is here.)

Dear Shirley,

I’m writing you this letter because I would like to know if you approve of what I did with the remains of your body.  We never had a chance to talk about it.  You would not talk about your illness and I respected that but it left me having to imagine what your wishes would be.

So when you died I let myself imagine what I thought you would want.  I had you cremated and after your Memorial at Anthology Film Archives I took your ashes up to the roof of the Chelsea Hotel. (I called up Stanley first to make sure my plans were OK with him - he said yes).  I took the elevator to the top floor and walked up the stairs and opened the heavy metal door that opened to the roof garden that you so exquisitely made.  Your nieces, Tracy Tynan and Liza Lorwin and colleague and friends Andrew Gurian and Lech Kowalski were with me.  We each took a red long stemmed rose and a handful of your ashes and went to different places in the garden.  We dug holes in the earth and planted your ashes, covered them over with the earth and placed a rose on top.  After we had each planted your ashes there was a handful left and I threw them over the edge of the roof on to 23^rd street.  I know how much you loved the Chelsea Hotel and 23^rd Street.

Please give me a sign that you are pleased with our burial ceremony.  We all felt great about it and I really hope that you do to.

I love you so much and am so grateful for the amazing life you so generously gave me.

Love your daughter Wendy