The Artist & The Astronaut

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Walton Arts Center will be screening the Arkansas Premier of the award-winning film The Artist & the Astronaut. See the unlikely love story between the artist Pat Musick, a civil rights activist, and the Apollo astronaut Jerry Carr unfold, as they participate in some of the most historic events in human history. The film is filled with never-before-seen footage of the early space pioneers and features interviews with key figures from that era. It chronicles Pat and Jerry’s vastly different paths as they traverse uncertain times, eventually coming together to render some of America’s most enduring art. The Artist & the Astronaut is an uplifting love story proving that curiosity, perseverance and empathy for others can be powerful agents of change.

The story of the making of this documentary is as unlikely as the story depicted in the film. At the urging of his wife, Bill Muench, a full-time teacher and basketball coach, decides to make a documentary on a local Vermont couple. He embarked on this journey with no plan or budget. In the next six years, he traveled to nine states and two continents to interview numerous Apollo astronauts, their wives, award-winning authors, artists, art historians and even NASA directors of mission control. Eventually teaming with music legend, Todd Hobin, they produced a story that otherwise would have never been told.

Writer and director Bill Muench and music composer Todd Hobin will be answering questions after the screening.