(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- Monmouth University's Center for the Arts presents a screening of Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 7:00pm in the Pollak Theatre. This is a 2-hour documentary exploring the life and art of the most important woman artist of the 20th century – the "Mother of Modernism." Following the screening, Producer Ellen Casey Wagner and Director Paul Wagner will host a discussion to share insights into the making of the documentary and answer audience questions.
In the 1920s, O’Keeffe became famous for her paintings of flowers, bones, and the beauty of nature. She posed nude for shocking photographs by Alfred Stieglitz, but denied that her paintings depicted sexual imagery. In the 1970s, she emerged as an iconic role model for women.
In 1989, one year after they got married, Paul and Ellen Wagner formed American Focus, their non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of documentary films about America and her people. Since then, they have released over thirty films, including several feature films broadcast nationally on public television: Out of Ireland, about the history of Irish emigration to America; Good Work, about master craftsmen in the building arts; and Black in Blue, about the four football players at the University of Kentucky who broke the color line in the Southeastern Conference. In 1999, Paul and Ellen released Windhorse, their award-winning dramatic feature film about young Tibetans and their struggle for freedom under the Chinese communist regime, filmed secretly in China and Nepal.
As a team, Ellen is the president of American Focus and assumes the producing duties, while Paul serves as the writer and director of their films. Prior to their formation of American Focus, Ellen worked as a producer for WETA, the public television station in Washington, DC. , and Paul was an independent filmmaker, winning an Oscar and several Emmy Awards for his documentary work.
Tickets are $23 (general public), $21 (seniors), $10 (child), and $5 (MU students). Tickets are available for purchase online. The Pollak Theatre is located at 400 Cedar Avenue in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
Monmouth University's Pollak Theatre is a recently renovated 700 seat theatre that presents live music, theatre and dance by national touring artists such as Rosanne Cash, Jason Isbell, L.A. Theatreworks, and Ailey II Dance Company. In addition, the Pollak Theatre also screens HD broadcasts of the MET Opera, National Theatre of London, and The Bolshoi Ballet, along with children’s theater and other programming presented by the Center for the Arts.
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