Press release from Aurora Studio and Gallery:
The sixth year for Zelda Fitzgerald Week Events are scheduled starting March 8th to honor the artist who was more than just the muse for the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Zelda was an artist in her own right. The week features a wealth of events including lectures on the couple’s turbulent relationship, art’s role in helping those deal with trauma and recovery issues, an imagined interview with Zelda and the opportunity to learn more about Zelda’s art and create your own Art Deco painting. An online auction will be held and excerpts from Roger Cook’s musical about Zelda will be featured on the last evening Saturday, March 13th.
And, you can participate in all the events from the comfort of your own home, using Zoom. While Covid has provided challenges, this year’s Zelda Week is truly a worldwide celebration of this remarkable woman. Each event is by donation, scholarships are available.
The week is the brainchild of Asheville resident James MacKenzie who wanted to honor Ms. Fitzgerald, who lived in Asheville on and off the last ten years of her life. She was receiving treatment at what was then Highland Hospital in Asheville’s Montford neighborhood, when she and eight other women tragically died in a fire there on March 10, 1948.
Zelda Fitzgerald, born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery, Alabama on July 24, 1900, had a zest for life and the arts. In 1920 she married F. Scott Fitzgerald and together they became early 20th century celebrities. In fact, Zelda was coined the first American Flapper and early on the muse for F. Scott.
Zelda embraced the arts. She began her painting career in the mid 1920’s while living in France. Her passion for ballet began a few years later in 1927. Additionally, Zelda was a published writer, although, it is said that her husband may have stolen much of her writings from her diaries for his own novels. This, along with other infidelities, drove a wedge in the couple’s relationship. Within ten years of marriage, her relationship with F. Scott and her own health severely deteriorated. Zelda was reported to have had her first “break down” and was hospitalized around 1930.
This event series is presented by Aurora Studio & Gallery, which is a supportive art space for artists who have been affected by mental health needs, addiction or being unhoused. Aurora Studio offers this series to shed light on the powerful healing aspects the arts have on wellness. During the pandemic, Aurora Studio & Gallery has continued to offer its therapeutic art program by hosting Zoom Groups online. The program maintains phone contact to those who are isolated; dropping off canned goods and art supplies. Like many, we are eager for a time when we can meet in person and do what we do best, make art and build community. To find out about how to get involved, the web-site is: www.aurorastudio-gallery.com.
Thanks to Jim MacKenzie, a proclamation is written and read to announce that March 10th is Zelda Fitzgerald Day in Asheville each year.
Our plans for this year include:
Zelda Fitzgerald Week March 8 – 13, 2021 – ONLINE
Monday, March 8, 7pm – THE MYTH OF THE SOUTHERN BELLE: Facts VS. Fiction of Zelda’s Formative Years. Dr. Alaina Doten, Executive Director of the Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama (the Fitz). Dr. Doten, a native of Montgomery, and noted Zelda Fitzgerald scholar, spent her childhood in the Old Cloverdale neighborhood where the “Fitz” is located. She produces a podcast called “Peaches & Biscuits”, which depicts the world Zelda would have grown up in the 1900’s in Montgomery. This is sure to be an illuminating evening that is kicking off our week long series that expands the reach of Zelda’s life.
Virtual Tour: A Glimpse of Zelda: The Wife, Mother, Writer & Painter
The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama (lovingly called “The Fitz”) is in the last house where Zelda, Scott and “Scottie” lived, as a family from 1931 to the Spring of 1932. Zelda wrote her only novel here SAVE ME THE WALTZ. Some of her original artwork and original furnishings are on display.
Tuesday, March 9, 7pm – Asheville’s Doomed Duo: F. Scott and Zelda.
Tom Hearron will be sharing the literature and letters of both Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, exploring their turbulent relationship, the creativity that it spawned and the connections between their lives and their fiction. Dr. Hearron’s work in literature will offer a historic perspective on this iconic couple who created a shift in the norms for writers in the 1920’s. Hearron holds a doctorate in American literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has taught college-level English for more than 40 years at universities in the United States, Africa and China.
Wednesday, March 10, 7pm – The Shadow and the Sunlight: Managing Internal Struggles with Art.
Evie Lindemann, ATR-BC, ATCS, LMFT. The Shadow and the Sunlight: Managing Internal Struggles with Art will offer an overview of the relationship between trauma, art and health, bridging the gaps often perceived by the general public. Using the collective stories from community members, artists with lived experience, Ms. Lindemann will invite the audience into a greater community dialogue which is hoped to inspire. Lindemann is a licensed marriage & family therapist and a board-certified art therapist, and until recently she has been an Associate Professor in the Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling Program at Albertus Magnus College. She also taught at Yale University’s Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute of Bioethics for seven years.
The Spotlight Gallery, 2nd floor Wedge Studios,129 Roberts Street, Asheville.
Will host an art show throughout the month of March, “The Shadow and the Sunlight: Managing Internal Struggles with Art”, which will offer an overview of the relationship between trauma, art and health, bridging the gaps often perceived by the general public. This art will be shared by Evie Lindemann on her March 10th Zoom presentation. Also on display will be mixed media panels that outline the story of Zelda Fitzgerald’s life. (More info on Aurora Studio & Gallery’s Zoom presentations are listed at: www.aurorastudio-gallery.com)
Thursday, March 11, 7pm – Discover Zelda’s art work & the Artist in You!
Create your own “Zelda Inspired” Art Deco Floral Arrangement painting.
Annie Gustely M.Ed, is an artist and teacher. In this workshop participants will have a brief look at the art work of Zelda Fitzgerald and discuss how “doing art” helps reduce stress, process feelings and lead to self-discovery. Participants will also explore the use of gouache and watercolor, art mediums often used in Zelda’s art work.
Materials Needed: Watercolor paper 9×11 or larger. A small set of gouache paints ( red, yellow, blue, greens and others if desired) or 1 small tube of white gouache and watercolor of choice. A few watercolor brushes. Suggest round #4,#6#8.
Annie Gustely is a Creative Grief Practitioner who has supported people in times of loss, grief and life transitions. She retired in 2012 from a 30 year career as a school counselor and educator with Asheville City Schools and Akron Public Schools. Annie’s art practice always found a way to weave itself into her counseling of students and into her classroom.
Friday, March 12, 7pm – UP close with Zelda Fitzgerald
Join Zelda (actor Terry Darakjy) and Asheville Citizen Times reporter (actor Carol Anders) during an imaginary interview, in March of 1948, days before the tragic Highland Hospital fire, in which Zelda will lose her life. The interview explores the therapeutic sustenance Zelda receives from her paintings, and being recognized as an artist. This “interview” is based on historic research.
Saturday, March 13, 7pm – ZELDA: A Life Put Into Music
Roger Cook along with the late Les Reed collaborated to create a musical based on the life of Zelda. Excerpts from this musical along with a video Cook filmed for this event will be shared with viewers.
Roger Cook is best known as the songwriter of “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” along with numerous other renown songs from the 70’s and beyond. He is the only British songwriter to date to have been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Join us in ending our week in music that celebrates Zelda’s life.
Information on tickets can be found on the Aurora Studio & Gallery’s website at: https://aurorastudio-gallery.com/zelda-2/
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