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On Friday, Bill Muench will be returning to his hometown of Syracuse, eager to reunite with his friends from Jamesville-Dewitt High School. This homecoming isn’t part of a high school reunion, but the premiere of Muench’s passion project.

“There is no way I ever dreamed that when I was 61 years old, I would come back to Syracuse to premiere a film that I had made,” Muench said.

The film, titled “The Artist and The Astronaut,” is a documentary chronicling the relationship between Pat Musick, an artist, and Jerry Carr, an astronaut. The endeavor was a dream for Muench, having known them for over 20 years. He wanted to explore the unique life experiences of the couple and all the notable events they experienced.

“They both showed up at major historical events through the ‘60s in the ‘70s, either by accident or design, and the film is kind of reliving these famous events through the eyes of the artist and the astronaut,” Muench said.

He originally conceived the documentary at Musick’s 90th birthday party in 2016, at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas. While there, Muench reflected on Musick’s life and legacy as an artist and wanted to tell her story.

Musick said that when she and Carr first heard about Muench’s plan for the documentary, they were happy that their relationship was going to be shown to the public.

“Well, both of us were very excited about it. The story of our lives is intriguing to so many people that we’ve met around the world that couldn’t figure out how we put our space together,” Musick said. “That was what Bill saw and wanted to document that, it was just exciting.”

After years of research, interviews and production, the documentary wrapped nearly six years later, on Musick’s 96th birthday. Muench will be screening the film at the Museum of Science and Technology of Syracuse this Friday.

Muench said he wanted to depict the evolution of the relationship between Carr and Musick throughout the decades and their work in their specific fields, ending with their time together since retirement.

“I could see how [the documentary] would go back and forth, you would just bounce between the two of them during those decades, and then they got together in 1978,” Muench said. “And for the rest of their time together made art that dealt with all those issues we just spoke about.”

To help tell a story that takes place across many eras, Muench sought the help of experienced composer and Rochester native Todd Hobin, who he had been a fan of for years. Hobin has been a composer for over 50 years and Muench said he brought a lot of creativity to the documentary’s score.

Hobin composed 11 original pieces for the documentary. Courtesy of Bill Muench

The film has three different music drops and features 11 original songs composed by Hobin. He said creating music that resembles a specific place and time was easy for him, as he lived through many of the events that Muench features in the documentary.

“Somebody says, hey, guess what — this riot happened to take place on the Cornell campus in 1968. See, I know where I was in ‘68, I know the music I was playing.,” Hobin said. “I know it was on the radio and I played all that music. So for me, it was an instant.”

Hobin said he played at the Jamesville-Dewitt high school prom in 1980 when Muench was a senior. At the time, Muench could not have imagined that the two would ever work together. For both Muench and Hobin, coming back to the central New York area to present their film is something they do not take for granted.

Hobin said that he spends a lot of time performing on the road and doesn’t get many opportunities to come back to the New York area. Being able to perform for people who have been with him since the beginning of his career is a welcome feeling after years of traveling.

Muench said many people he grew up with will attend the screening, as well as family friends and relatives. He hasn’t seen many of these people in a long time, and is overwhelmed that he can present his passion project to them.

“It’s not coming in for a victory lap or to take a bow,” Muench said. “It’s absolutely humbling, the support we’re getting from the Syracuse community.”

Published on February 1, 2023 at 11:05 pm