Beverly McIver Talks Raising Renee
Raising Renee
An Interview with Beverly McIver
By Wilson Morales
February 21, 2012
Playing on Feb.22 (8:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO2 is the extraordinary documentary, ‘Raising Renee,’ which explores the life of painter Beverly McIver and hers efforts to make good on her promise she made to her mother.
Directed by husband and wife team Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan and filmed over the course of six years, Beverly McIver was enjoying a skyrocketing career when she promised her mother, Ethel, that she would take care of her mentally disabled sister, Renee. Years later, following Ethel’s death, that promise came due.
Beverly McIver is currently the Suntrust Endowed Chair Professor of Art at North Carolina Central University. Her work is in the collections of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro and the Baltimore Museum of Art, among other institutions, and has been reviewed in Art News, Art in America and the New York Times.
What was your first response when Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan talked about filming you?
Beverly McIver: Well, I never thought that it would be on HBO. I just thought that they are artists, and I’m an artist and they are interested in following me around. That’s fine. I understand that. We’ll just see where it goes. That’s how I first thought of it. I didn’t see the film until they had filmed it for five years.
What was the endgame to this project?
BM: I had no idea. I didn’t know it would last for six years and I didn’t know what they were filming. I knew that they were filming me but I didn’t know what they were focusing on. It’s pretty interesting. Steve the cameraman was fabulous at making himself invisible. He wasn’t intrusive when he was filming me and he wasn’t judgmental and he didn’t laugh or say “I can’t believe you said that.” He was quiet the whole time. That really allowed me to be me.
How long did it take for Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan to come up with the title of ‘Raising Renee’?
BM: ‘Raising Renee’ was the title of one of my exhibitions at the museum in Andover, MA. I had a show there and it stuck. They liked that title.
Not only were you followed around, but so was your family. Were they as giving in the beginning as you were?
BM: My family has always considered me to be ‘the artist.’ They were used to me taking pictures and stuff like that. Now ‘the artist’ has more artists following her and taking videos and pictures and they want to film us too. They were like, “Ok. Whatever. We understand.” They were pretty open to it.
How much involvement did you have with the editing process?
BM: I didn’t have a lot of say in that in part because, if I were making a story about me, and because I love my cats, it would be a cat film. I saw after five years of footage and there were a couple of things, that during the process of making the film, like a scene where my mother is at the hospital with the minister of her church and they were holding hands and laughing. Jeanne took it out and I told her that I really missed that scene and that’s an important scene because it describes my mother’s life so much. So she put it back in, which was terrific. The other scene they asked me about was the scene where I talked about Renee getting raped. We wanted to make sure that was okay with Renee and that was okay with me if they shared that information. I thought it was important to use that information even though it’s painful to hear. Women get taken advantage all the time and they don’t report it. The perpetrator gets away and does it again and it was important to talk about it.
How has the documentary affected you career?
BM: I tell my students because I’m a professor that this could happen to them too. It’s really given hope that anything’s possible. In terms of my career, I have a gallery here in New York and there are paintings on display. A lot of people who have seen the film actually want to come and see the paintings in person. It had indeed increased my art sales, which is lovely. Ironically, every time I’ve been at a film festival where the film is playing, most of the audience is laughing at the same point throughout the film, which is fabulous. To experience and witness over again with different audience across the country is a joy. To have a universal reaction is pretty fabulous.
Loading ...
I enjoyed the film- it reminded me of my life with my sister. Although my sister was developmentally delayed and physically impaired, she was a good soul that loved making potholders and doing wordsearch books. She died in 2005-at the age of 46, I miss her dearly. I remember having the same anxieties as Beverly. I often asked the question when did my life begin? Beverly had art throughout this process to keep her going- I also used my work- I am a professor. My mother passed away in 2010,she was 87, her constant concern was who was going to take care of my sister. I am glad I was there to help her, but the toll it takes on your life can never change. I applaud you Beverly, for allowing Renee to be herself, with her potholders and books. She will always be on your mind and you will always be the most important person in her in life. Cherish these moments.