Honoring Adrienne Shelly in NYC

The murder of Adrienne Shelly was obviously not just a devastating loss to her friends and family, but to the people who followed her work eagerly from her early days as a star in Hal Hartley movies like The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. (By the by, Trust is only available on VHS, and I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one rushing to buy it on DVD.) She was also just getting back into writing and directing after taking a break for a few years; Waitress, which she wrote, directed, and also acted in, had just been accepted to Sundance when she was murdered. (Read Jeffrey M. Anderson's take on the movie and her murder.)

Through the efforts of her husband Andy Ostroy and friends and costars like Cheryl Hines and Keri Russell, Waitress was shephered through the festivals, inevitable press days, and release. Ostroy also began the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which was created to "support the artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors who are either working on current short and feature film projects, new productions, or are seeking to transition from acting to writing and directing."

Cheryl Hines directed one of Shelly's last scripts, Serious Moonlight, a funny, sweet movie starring Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton as a couple whose squabbling takes a turn for the bizarre when she decides to duct-tape him to the toilet so they can continue "discussing" their relationship. I liked it a lot, and I'm glad to see Magnolia picked it up earlier this week.

Ostroy is also producing Shelly's script The Morgan Stories, although details are scarce on the project.

The latest Shelly news is that there will be a garden dedicated to her next week in NYC. Here's a press release:

A memorial garden honoring the late actor, writer and director Adrienne Shelly will be unveiled in a ceremony to take place Monday, August 3rd at 10:00 am at Abingdon Square Park, located at 8th Avenue and 12th Street. Andy Ostroy, Ms. Shelly's widower and Executive Director of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a 501 c 3 non-profit organization he founded 2 1/2 years ago to support women filmmakers, will give a brief dedication speech. The ceremony is expected to be attended by local politicians, family, friends and colleagues of both Ms. Shelly and Mr. Ostroy. Ms. Shelly was murdered by a construction worker in her office on November 1, 2006.

The Adrienne Shelly Garden is situated on the Southeast side of the park, directly facing 15 Abingdon Square, the building where Ms. Shelly was killed. The garden has recently been beautified with a variety of new plantings, and in the ground in front of it will be a memorial plaque. The project is spearheaded by Mr. Ostroy, with the support of Community Board 2, the Abingdon Square Alliance and the Greenwich Village Block Association. An annual contribution to the Park for maintenance and upkeep will be made by the family.

"This has been a long but very satisfying journey to honor my late wife in the park she loved so much, across from the building in which she lived for many years, worked and died," said Mr. Ostroy. "The Adrienne Shelly Garden could not have happened without the support of Bill Castro and Rick Zeidler of the NYC Parks Department, Brad Hoylman and Community Board 2, Marilyn Dorato of the Greenwich Village Block Association and the Abingdon Square Alliance. I'm deeply touched by how the community rallied around this memorial."