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Charles W. Hawthorne, First Voyage, 1915
Provincetown Art Association and Museum Collection

For most of this century Provincetown has sustained an important, dynamic environment for the creation of art in all its manifestations -- fine art, fiction, theater and performance art. At the turn of the century it was the rarefied ocean light that drew the giants like Charles Hawthorne here. Beyond the ethereal there was also the paradox of a tightly knit community of iconoclasts living in splendid geographic isolation. The Portuguese fisherman and the tormented playwright like Eugene O'Neill eked out similar existences, forsaking mainland security to live on the frontier of America facing East. The artists were accepted as kindred spirits right from the beginning and enjoyed an intellectual freedom that more civilized communities may have denied them.

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum, founded in 1914, has the works of its masters, Hawthorne (who founded the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899), Henry Hensche (who founded the Cape School of Art in 1935), Hans Hofmann, Edward Hopper, Robert Motherwell in its collection, and many contemporary artists.

The Fine Arts Work Center draws writers and artists to Provincetown as fellows in its winter artist-in-residence program. A converted lumber yard, the FAWC houses 20 emerging writers and artists in the same studios inhabited by indigent artists before the FAWC was founded in 1968, when the lumber yard owners patronized starving artists by renting out disused lofts to them for a pittance.

The Pilgrim Monument has occupied a prominent place in the Provincetown landscape since 1910, when it was completed and dedicated by President William Howard Taft to commemorate the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims in 1620. The 252 ft. granite structure has been admired and climbed by millions of visitors to the area and generations of local residents. The annual lighting of the monument every November, which celebrates the Pilgrims’ stay in Provincetown before moving on to Plymouth, has become a much-loved tradition. The current museum, built in 1961, combines the collections of the PMPM and the former Provincetown Historical Museum. It offers permanent exhibits on Provincetown history-- highlighting the arrival of the Mayflower pilgrims, the town’s rich maritime history, the early days of modern American theatre in Provincetown, and the building of the monument.

Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill - Their mission is to foster the arts and crafts by providing a wide range of instruction for adults and children. Castle Hill holds exhibitions, lectures, forums, concerts and other similar activities in order to promote social interaction among artists, craftsmen, laymen, and the community at large. Find out summer or spring/workshop you would like to take and enroll on-line.

The works of artists, past and present, is displayed extensively in Provincetown. Major gallery owners promote the art of unrecognized artists along side the work of successful artists which sells itself. Friday night is opening night for most Provincetown galleries.

ART SCHOOLS, GALLERIES, MUSEUMS
THEATER, FILM and DANCE

Berta Walker Gallery, 208 Bradford Street, 508 487-6411, BertaWalker@BertaWalkerGallery.com, HO

Cortile Gallery, Located in the center of town Cortile Gallery offers a diverse collection of original fine artwork by local & regional artist., 230 Commercial Street, 508 487-4200

Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC), 24 Pearl Street, 508 487-9960

Highland Museum & Cape Cod Lighthouse, Inc., Lighthouse tour including video, gift shop. Off season tours by reservation. 48" height requirement for children., 27 Highland Light Road, P.O. Box 1123, North Truro, MA 02652, 508 487-1121, highland@earthlink.net, CCHH

Iona Print Studio & Gallery, 379A Commercial Street, 866 344-4662, 508 487-7500, O

Julie Heller Gallery, Julie Heller Gallery is committed to the artists who have shaped the town's cultural past & to their contemporary counterparts. The most extensive Provincetown art available for purchase anywhere. Once the box office of the famed Provincetown Playhouse on the Wharf, the gallery walls now set the stage for varied exhibitions that survey nearly a century of vibrant innovation & timeless tradition., 2 Gosnold Street, 508 487-2169, O

Julie Heller Gallery East, 465 Commercial Street, 508-487-2166

Lovinger Gallery, Fine art photography of Provincetown, Cape Cod, and exotic locations. Large format, panoramas, and canvas. Mixed media and encaustic art., 427 Commercial Street, 508 487-3788, O

Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum (PMPM), The Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum commemorates the Pilgrim's first landfall, signing of the 1620 Mayflower Compact, and Provincetown's heritage., High Pole Hill, P.O. Box 1125, 508 487-1310, CC

Provincetown Art Association & Museum (PAAM), 460 Commercial Street, 508 487-1750, HHOO

Provincetown International Film Festival and Workshops on Filmmaking, Established in 1997 with the mission to showcase independent American and international films; to nurture aspiring independent filmmakers, to honor industry luminaries; to preserve and sustain cinema as an art form and educational forum; and to add to the creative and economic vitality of our community. , P.O. Box 605, 508 487-FILM (3456)

Provincetown Theater, A state of the art performing arts venue open year round. Home to rental and resident productions Theater seats 140, lobby up to 90., 238 Bradford Street, fax 508-487-7433, 508-487-7487, HHOOPPRR

Studio S, Original oil paintings depicting Provincetown, Marine and Cape Cod Scenes. Also Available Pet Portraits from photos including Equine Art by Commission., P.O. Box 1692, 508 487-4288, petportraitsnmore@aol.com

Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, 10 Meetinghouse Rd., P.O. Box 756, Truro, MA 02666, 508 349-7511, HHOO

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT), 1 Kendrick Ave., PO Box 797, Wellfleet, MA 02667, 508 349-9428

Whydah Museum, Pirate Treasure & Research, MacMillan Pier, P.O. Box 493, 508 487-8899

Blanche Lazzell, Cape Cod in Autumn, 1918-19, oil on canvas. Courtesy Provincetown Art Association and Museum.