Documentary Traces Unlikely Pairing of Artist and Astronaut
COLONIE —“I dare you to find a seat,” joked artist Pat Musick Carr.
She pulled out books about her and artwork she'd created over a lifetime. and a large framed movie poster for the upcoming “The Artist and the Astronaut," and set them all on the wooden kitchen table and two armchairs in her tidy Shaker Pointe apartment.
But when the artist and activist is sharing stories about her and her late husband, NASA astronaut Jerry Carr, you do want to find a seat so you can settle in and listen. Or, if you are longtime friend and filmmaker Bill Muench, even make a documentary about the Carrs’ lives on and above Earth.
“I am a fanboy of this film, and not because of anything I did,” Muench said. “It’s because of the people who are in the film, the things they say and how well they resonate in today's world.”
“The Artist and the Astronaut” traces Pat and Jerry’s separate lives during the heat of the space race, Vietnam War protests and civil rights movements through their life together after a bit of matchmaking magic linked the two who, at a glance, seemed an unlikely pair. The documentary makes its soft premiere at a private screening Wednesday night Oct. 26 at Shaker Pointe, the active retirement community where Pat and two of her daughters currently live, before its official world premiere next month in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“It’s really a thrill,” Pat said. “I'm so grateful to everyone at Shaker Pointe for what they've done to bring this about.”
The Carrs first met Muench when they moved to Manchester, Vt. in 2005 to be closer to their children. Muench taught several subjects, including cinematography and a course titled “Space and Time,” at Burr and Burton Academy. Space buff Muench wanted to meet Jerry, who was the space communicator on Apollo 8 and 12 and commander for Skylab 4, but Jerry got called away from home the day Muench was scheduled to come by. Instead Pat opened the door and led Muench on a tour of their home and its works of art, many created by her.
From there, a genuine friendship grew. After Pat’s 90th birthday celebration, Muench recalled telling his wife someone should make a documentary about the Carrs. His wife suggested Muench should do it.
Muench said he was met with some resistance from the humble Carrs, remembering Jerry questioning why anyone would be interested in a movie about him. Pat and Jerry were happy to be interviewed and share a part of their lives, though, Pat said.
“Any opportunity, I think, to review your life is a worthwhile enterprise,” she said.
And the two had storied lives. While Jerry was studying the fragility of Earth from space, Pat was watching it from the ground and channeling it into her art. When her first husband got a job at Cornell University coaching football in the late 1960s, Pat went back to school. She was enrolled when students from Cornell’s Afro-American Society took over Willard Straight Hall in protest after a cross was burned on the lawn of a Black women’s dorm. She attended anti-war protest gatherings. She even stood up to the dean who refused to let her enroll in Cornell’s graduate program until the university reluctantly accepted her — then encouraged her to pursue her doctorate.
“I didn’t march,” Pat said. “But I used my art to express my objections.”
After Pat’s first husband died, she moved to Houston to teach art and psychology. She found a church, which just so happened to be the same church Jerry attended. The resident matchmaker saw an opportunity.
“She saw the artist and the astronaut, the young widow and the recent divorcé.” Pat said. “She decided that we should get together.”
The two ended up having unexpected connections. Both were raised in Depression-era households in Santa Ana, Calif., attended the same schools six years apart and learned from the same teachers. Jerry’s best friend was Pat’s first husband’s nephew. And on a quiet night years before meeting in Houston, Pat watched one of the Skylab missions arc through the sky and wondered who was onboard, not knowing she’d soon marry its commander.
After six years of filming, countless hours of interviews with the Carrs, family, writers, NASA engineers, astronauts, artists and activists and almost a year of post-production, “The Artist and The Astronaut” is ready to share with audiences.
“We couldn't do everything that they did,” Muench said. “It could be a 20-hour miniseries if we put in everything.”
There are some sources who died before the final edit was ready, including Jerry. Muench shared rough cuts throughout filming with Pat and Jerry for fact-checking, so the astronaut saw a version of the film before his death on Aug. 26, 2020 in Albany, four days after his 88th birthday.
“These are precious interviews,” Muench said. “I would love for him to have known that people now we're seeing it, responding to it.”
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Katherine Kiessling covers arts and entertainment for the Times Union. The New Jersey native has written for syracuse.com, Central New York Magazine and Charleston City Paper. You can reach her at katherine.kiessling@timesunion.com.
