I had The National Arts Club experience the other night. Founded in 1898, the club itself is as lush and dramatic as the members, performers, and artists who fill its Gothic Revival brownstone in the Gramercy Park area. Upon entering, I was greeted by a parrot and a collection of beautifully textured people and paintings.
While I was there, I caught the film committee’s presentation of Donald Boggs’ striking documentary, “A Ripple of Hope.” The film traces the tense moments before and after Robert F. Kennedy’s speech announcing the death of Martin Luther King Jr. The showing was followed by lively conversation led by the committee’s effervescent chairwoman, Sharyn Grossman.
Boggs’ expert interweaving of the importance of King and Kennedy culminates in a shot of the Landmark for Peace Memorial that shows the two dead idols reaching out to each other from their metal confines. At the film's end, the audience was filled with the faces of people who had just relived a powerful slice of history.
--Caroline Hagood
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