‘Life is wonderful’

Naeme Clark at the Dinner Bell.

Naeme G. Clark has been a Dinner Bell patron for the past two or three years, dining at table number 2 with Rosemary Griffing, Flo Evans, Audrey Marshall, Alma Ryder when she’s in town, and Dorothy Bloom among others. She is easily identified by her signature Dutch boy cap and her sunny smile, which she lavishes on her table mates and, to my delight, on me when I‘m working in the kitchen. “ I love the meals,” she enthuses, “especially the chicken dishes and the soups.” 


She was born Naeme Gustafson in the King’s Park section of Brooklyn. Naeme, pronounced phonetically “naymee”, was her Swedish aunt’s name. When she was graduated from Bay Ridge High School in the late 40s, she had already focused on a career devoted to the arts.


And what a career! She has sung second soprano with the All City Chorus; taught painting and sketching at the Norheim Art Studio in the Scandinavian section of Brooklyn and was awarded the St. Gordon’s medal for fine draftsmanship by the Museum of Natural History.


Among the memories of her long career in the arts that Naeme prizes is her association with the Art Students League. She painted portraits on weekends with the league’s Brockman group, a great privilege.


Another special memory is the scholarship she won to the Museum of Modern Art. Not only did she become a member of MOMA, but she was able to study with Victor D’Amico at the Institute of Fine Arts. She retains a close relationship with Mr. D’Amico to this day. 


Naeme is one of the South Ferry Clarks, having married Bill Clark, one-time president of the South Ferry Corporation, 19 or 20 years ago. She still lives in the “old homestead,” as she calls it at the end of Route 114 where, she says, “the wind is awful.”


She had become friendly with Bill and his wife during the years she and other artist friends summered on Shelter Island. Bill was in his 70s when his wife died and he married Naeme.


“Life is wonderful,” she says. She continues to paint from the “old homestead” — there is one glorious landscape of the Mashomack shoreline that she can see from her lawn — and she is determined to complete a sculpture for the ArtBarge, which her old mentor Victor D’Amico established in Napeague.


Life is wonderful. You’re right, Naeme.


This is the third Dinner Bell portrait and profile in a recently revived series designed to introduce the reader to those Islanders who enjoy the fine dining experience on Monday and Friday at the Nutrition Programs’ Dinner Bell.