One of Pamela’s richest and most vital roles was in the two-person play, Alfred Stieglitz Loves O’Keeffe, based on the volatile love and artistic relationship between two of America’s most formidable artists, painter Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Producing as well as starring in the play, she put together a team of gifted designers, actor (Jim Ortlieb), director (Mary-Pat Green), and support staff to see this piece to fruition. As an actor, she explored both characters in depth by extensive reading, traveling to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. to see the acclaimed Stieglitz exhibit, as well as enjoying a semiprivate tour of Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu, New Mexico, retreating at Ghost Ranch.
“A character lives on after the play,” Pamela recounts, “and I’m happy to have O’Keeffe with me, under my skin. She was a bigger-than-life character. In my everyday life, if I tended to feel more demure than O’Keeffe, onstage I was bigger, louder and bolder. With Georgia and Alfred, there was a power to move beyond the mundane into the sublime, through a joint passion and respect for each other’s art. It was my hope through presenting this piece, that each of us can learn an enormous amount regarding our own creative process, the power of expression, and about how all creative endeavors are connected when approached spiritually and with inspiration. As it did with Stieglitz and O’Keeffe, art moves us beyond the mundane, and into the sublime.”
The critics shared enthusiasm for Pamela’s work –
Backstage: “Walker beautifully conveys O’Keeffe’s inner turmoil, self-centeredness and eroticism…volatile, sensuous, playful, withholding and insecure…” Pasadena Weekly: “Walker and Ortlieb bring the lovers to life. Alone, each performer is formidable. Together, the play leaps off the stage and into the stratosphere.”
Having received rave reviews and awards, in venues large and small, for her portrayal of Georgia O’Keeffe, Pamela moved the show according to requests – to the studio of painter Steve Houston and sculptor Andrea Favilli; to the Castle Green in Pasadena on invitation from painter Kenton Nelson – which gave the show’s history a life of its own and establishing the show as a signature piece for Pamela.
The then Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, Dick Cook, flew to Pixar Animation Studios with the Vice President of Buena Vista Pictures to see the show Pam put up in the main screening room at Pixar. Pam had by then written a biopic based on her own interpretation of the O’Keeffe/Stieglitz love story, conveying, “It’s imperative that the story be told from a woman’s viewpoint”. The script was sent to Miramax, but that company met an untimely demise. Gaye-Walker was told in many subsequent meetings “Give us something like Judd Apatow”. Undaunted, Pamela has continued to write female-centric scripts, rich in character and dialogue.