The Ptown Gallery Stroll, a nonprofit organization of more than 30 art galleries in Provincetown, was formed in the spring in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the threat it posed to the art community of the Outer Cape.
The Stroll is named after the traditional “art walk” or “gallery stroll” that would happen on summer Friday evenings in Provincetown’s East End, when galleries would have exhibit openings and welcome patrons to their premises to meet the artists and see the work. During the pandemic, live openings were mostly canceled and the few that remained had restricted access or went virtual. So, the Ptown Gallery Stroll, and its website, ptowngallerystroll.com, were meant as a free online substitute.
In late summer, a new initiatives committee was formed to create a fund-raiser to help with administrative expenses. Marla Rice, of Rice Polak Gallery; Jill Rothenberg-Simmons, of On Center Gallery; and Chris Nagle of Outermost Designs came up with the idea of having an auction of artwork from any gallery that wanted to participate.
“We decided on having pieces be displayed, either in the windows or outdoors, unique to that gallery, to give ‘hope.’ ” Rice says. “The idea is to literally ‘stroll’ around the galleries, if you’re in town, or do it remotely, if you’re out of town.”
The Hope Project has its own web page, accessed through the Ptown Gallery Stroll or the Provincetown Commons sites, through which the Stroll operates. Bidding on pieces starts on Friday, Oct. 2, and will continue through Oct. 12. A sampling of some of the works offered can be found on this page. —Howard Karren
Always Forever, an oil and graphite painting by Karen Cappotto, is at AMP Gallery, 432 Commercial St. Estimated value: $3,200. (Photos courtesy Ptown Gallery Stroll)
Have Hope, an archival pigment print by Jane Paradise, is at Alden Gallery, 423 Commercial St. Estimated value: $650.
Out of Darkness, an ink and acrylic painting by Gaston Lacombe, is at Studio Lacombe, 237 Commercial St., Whaler’s Wharf. Estimated value: $275.
Hope, an acrylic on paper by Rebecca Doughty, is at Schoolhouse Gallery, 494 Commercial St. Estimated value: $1,200.
Required Reading, an oil on panel by Pete Hocking, is at Four Eleven Gallery, 411 Commercial St. Estimated value: $1,400.
Hope I, a terra cotta sculpture by James Tyler, is at Rice Polak Gallery, 430 Commercial St. Estimated value: $2,500.
