The Jewish Museum Presents "Irene Williams: Queen of Lincoln Road," which features a documentary by Eric Smith.
Eric Smith remembers the day in 1994 when he saw Irene Williams. She stood out, dressed all in green. Well, chartreuse, really.
The colorful figure who, for over 40 years beginning in the 1960s, would walk up and down Lincoln Road daily; she lived on one end of the pedestrian mall and had a stenographer's office on the other. She became a sight to see, and a bonafide South Beach icon.
Smith, from San Francisco, had taken one of his many sojourns to South Beach in the early 1990s, with a small video camera in tow. He had a loved forPolaroid cameras, but after a trip to Japan on business, found that video gave him the same "instant" picture, yet with more verve.
On Jan. 25, 1995 (the time stamp on his video camera says so), while walking Lincoln Road, he came across the diminutive Williams on her way to work. It began a ten-year friendship between Smith and The Queen of Lincoln Road.
The encounter, captured on video tape, went something like this:
ERIC: Are you a fashion designer?
IRENE: Yes.
ERIC: Do you have a shop or something?
IRENE: No, I do it for my own pleasure?
ERIC: What's your name?
IRENE: My name is Irene. What's your name?
After Williams passed away in 2004, Smith began to contemplate what to do with the footage. "I knew if I didn't do something with it . . . if someone doesn't tell this story, it's going to disappear."
Then, he says, he was put in touch with Carol Coombes, the veteran film festival pro and, at the time, the programming director of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
"She looked at the rough footage, and suggested I turn it into a 20-minute documentary," said Smith. "Carol has been the catalyst that discovered the film and helped bring it into the world."
Since "Irene Williams: Queen of Lincoln Road" was released in 2005, it has screened at more than 100 film festivals worldwide and won 12 awards.
When Williams died, he also left Smith her collection of original handcrafted hats. The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU is presenting a summer pop-up show, opening Thursday, July 13, that borrows its name from the award-winning documentary ,"Irene Williams: Queen of Lincoln Road." The installation features 33 of Irene’s original handcrafted hats, historic photos and her letters that together illustrate the spirited story of one of South Beach’s most beloved characters. The film will be shown at the opening.
"I was just taking a video picture of her, like so many people did. But when I saw who was inside the clothes . . . the humor, the intelligence, the tenacity, and she took and interest in me. It was a very, very mutual friendship," says Smith.
Smith recalls deciding to get the documentary made. "I thought I could craft a story out of this. I have an idea of what I want to say," he remembers. He hired an editor, gave them the footage, and asked their advice. Smith said to the editor: "Tell me what you see."
What they saw was a story of two friends. "They told me it was about Irene and me. But I just wanted it to be about Irene," says Smith. He resisted, but in the end, knows it was the right choice.
The nuance of the friendship is an integral part of the film, adding to the character of of the story of the outrageous outsider,, who made couture from unconventional materials such as fake-fur toilet seat covers, bath mats, and towels.
All the objects on view were willed by Williams to Smith, and he has donated the memorabilia to the museum’s permanent collection.
"One of the letters is from her stenography days. It's a funny letter of complaint; a bill to Orson Welles's secretary where she tells the woman that Welles was the most difficult person to work with. It shows how funny, articulate, smart, and very resourceful she was," says Smith.
In the late 1960s Orson Welles hired Williams's stenography services while he was in town (She often referred to herself as “a call girl with a typewriter”).
“She was a survivor who found creative ways to make life thrive. I believe her legacy encourages us to be independently true to our nature, to find and explore our own passion and creativity. I am thrilled that the Jewish Museum of Florida- FIU will celebrate Irene’s centennial (she would have turned 100 this year) and will preserve her fashion creations and memorabilia in its permanent collection,” adds Smith.
The exhibition remains on view through the summer and is sponsored by Danny and Merle Weiss, Miami Beach philanthropists who along with so many South Beach pioneers also admired Irene Williams’ daily fashion statements on Lincoln Road.
“Our museum’s collection of more than 100,000 items includes a treasure trove that celebrates the heart and soul of Miami Beach,” said Nancy Doyle Cohen, the membership and programming director for the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU.
“When Eric Smith came to us with his donation of Irene Williams’ hats and memorabilia, we realized that her centennial was cause for celebration. This summer pop-up show honors the individualism and character of the personalities that define South Beach’s enduring spirit and tenacity.”
Also on view are a series of similarly splashy hats on loan from the personal collections of community leader Isabel Bernfeld Anderson, and preservationist/tourism guru George Neary.
The film will be shown at the opening reception of the pop-up show, Thursday, July 13 at 7 p.m.
Watch clips from the film.
The museum, located at 301 Washington Avenue, is open Tuesday-Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Closed on Mondays and holidays. Admission: Adults $6; Seniors $5; Families $12; Members and children under 6 always free; Saturdays is free admission. For more information, call 305-672-5044 or visit the website.
