How Does a Ball of Wax Affect Art?
As the first blog, I thought it appropriate to write about one experience and meeting that changed the direction of my life after leaving the world of business.
Landing in Key West, I encountered a woman, described by playwright Toby Armour as,
“The eccentric Gallery mistress known as Marion Stevens.”
Key West Locals called her crazy, bipolar, nuts, or just simply mad. When Marion loudly announced her arrival, people would run in opposite directions. The infamous story of her chasing a naked Paul Stevens, her then husband, down Duval Street in the middle of a quiet night with a knife wailing over her head still remains a part of her legacy.
She came from Germany as a dancer, where she studied with Mary Wigman whose students included Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan. Those animated, freestyle moves stayed with her during her life as one of the talented and outspoken Key West Characters. Her love for Key West and Haiti influenced her to open a Haitian Art Gallery at 217 Duval St.
And this is where the story begins.
We were looking for an investment property and to enjoy the Florida Keys full time. We have had a part time home in Key Largo for many years. Marion was looking to sell as she arrived back from a visit to Haiti where she’d been purchasing art. She had been mugged and was very shaken by the ordeal. Being free from the constraints of a business was foremost on her mind.
People who knew her claimed, “Marion will never sell that property.” There was something about our meeting that changed her mind. She set her parameters before she would sign the papers, but, to everyone’s surprise, we made it to the settlement table. Marion had a sense of relief, which caused her to momentarily be endearing and kind. Though she would begin screaming, ranting, and raving again when she forgot her medication as time passed.
As a highly intellectual woman, she gave me one line of advice,
“Art is like a ball of wax, it follows you throughout your life.”
That statement has been at times though provoking, observed, and contemplated. We hear or receive these messages at the most unexpected moments. In the next post, we will contemplate the meanings of this line.
That ball of wax continues in the memory of Marion Stevens by a fund that she set up.
Purpose of the Marion Stevens Fund:
To benefit children, particularly in the areas of health, education, and teenage pregnancy; to support the visual and performing arts; to sustain those persons and groups which strive to abolish discrimination in all of its forms; to advance the cause of those individuals and entities which seek to improve the quality of life for all of us, for humanity, and for our future generations.
The Marion Stevens Fund also supports The Studios of Key West, a center for the arts in Key West, an island community at the southern most tip of the Florida Keys. This is possible with other institutional partners such as the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, Florida Keys Council of the Arts, and the noted Marion Stevens Fund.
