Ralph and Zelda Patterson, Directors
Gladys Barker Grauer…Photo Courtesy Coleen Gutwein
Screening Wednesday, March 27th – The Newark Museum
For over seventy years Gladys Barker Grauer has advocated for the poor, the working class and the liberation of herself as a Black woman through the power of her art. Born during The Great Depression and just a mere 60 years after The Emancipation Proclamation, Gladys has evolved as an artist using not only brush and paint, but weavings and found objects to create her art. Despite the odds against her she found the love of her life and despite the odds against her she has spoken truth to power not to create controversy, but to be true to herself. At 95 she is not “a little old lady”. She remains a force and an example. Her story and the story of her determined efforts to sustain the work of women artists in Newark and the lives and careers she has touched are told here in Being Gladys.
Zelda Patterson is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a Master’s degree in Psychiatric Nursing. She has worked in local hospitals, outpatient settings as a therapist, carried caseloads and taught at two universities. She is certified both state and nationally as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Advanced Practice Nurse. Her strong belief in the use of visual drama has led her to develop teaching tools using high quality film and video. Her teaching package “Better, One Woman’s Journey In and Out of Seclusion and Restraint” is now a part of the curriculum at several universities and hospitals around the country.
Zelda co-produced “A Woman Under Construction” a full length documentary on the life of one woman’s struggle from substance abuse to peer counselor and the short film “Spirit Children” following the life of Sister Stan Mario Teresa Mumumi, a Ghanaian nun fighting the age-old custom of putting children to death who are born with disabilities. ” Her most recent productions have been two half-hour documentaries. Newark’s Old First Church aka First Presbyterian Church Newark commissioned, “Old First Church- Church at The Crossroads” during the 350 year celebration of Newark’s founding. Bethany Baptist Church-Newark commissioned “A Testament of Faith” on its history as told by its 90 year-old and older members. Both productions were done with her filmmaking partner Ralph Patterson. Zelda and Ralph work as co-facilitators at Women in Media-Newark’s New Jersey Filmmakers’ Lab from which the documentary on Gladys Grauer was conceived.
Ralph Patterson is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in Film and Broadcasting. He is a Master of Arts graduate in Media Studies from New School University. The majority of his professional career was spent at WNBC New York and NBC as a cameraperson and tech supervisor for local camera crews.
Ralph is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards for news-gathering including: The New York Press Club Best Spot News Award for 9/11, the Florida Bar Association Award, Special Recognition from The Committee of 100 for “Tragedy in Chinatown” and many others. The New York Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences granted him an “Emmy” for his work on “9/11” We Remember. He also holds an Edward R. Morrow Award for his work in covering “Super Storm- Sandy”. Recently he and his filmmaking partner Zelda Patterson have produced two half-hour documentaries. Newark’s Old First Church aka First Presbyterian Church Newark commissioned, “Old First Church- Church at The Crossroads” during the 350 year celebration of Newark’s founding. Bethany Baptist Church commissioned “A Testament of Faith” on its history as told by its 90 year-old and older members. Ralph and Zelda work as co-facilitators at Women in Media-Newark’s New Jersey Filmmakers’ Lab from which the documentary on Gladys Grauer was conceived.
