Fall Bakker Auction
Bakker Antiques is holding its fall online auction on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. There are 148 lots with a selection of Provincetown art spanning over 100 years.
There are works by Henry Hensche and Ross Moffett, as well as white line prints by modern practitioners Sally Brophy and Kathryn Lee Smith. Abstraction is well represented with works by William H. Littlefield, Taro Yamamoto, and Karl Knaths.
Contemporary pieces include work by Richard Baker, a portfolio of prints by Pat de Groot, a wiry etching by Salvatore del Deo, and another by William Behnken that shows a Provincetown night scene with beams of car headlights mimicking the shape of the monument. View the catalogue and register for bidding at invaluable.com.
Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra Gets Spooky
Just in time for Halloween, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra presents “Ghost Hunters,” two concerts centered on the story of Liza Tower Hill, also known as the “witch of Barnstable,” who was said to dance on Half Way Pond, today known as Mary Dunn Pond. Apropos of the legend will be a program of music that includes The Banshee by Henry Cowell, The Death of Tintagiles by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Divertimento for Strings by Béla Bartók, and Symphony No. 73, “The Hunt,” by Joseph Haydn.
The first performance will be at St. Christopher’s Church, 625 Main St. in Chatham, on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. The second will be at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 533 Route 28 in Harwich Port, on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35, children and students free, at capecodchamberorchestra.org.
Two for One’ and ‘Retro’ at the Commons
The Commons, 46 Bradford St. in Provincetown, is hosting “Retro,” an exhibition chronicling 10 years of recent work by octogenarian artist Richard Pepitone. Working in multiple disciplines, Pepitone will be showing ceramics, monoprints, and sculptures that walk a confident line between figuration and abstraction. There will be a reception on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
A concurrent exhibition, “Two for One,” is a study in compliments and contrasts. Curated by Karen Cappotto and James Ryan, the show pairs artists who together create one piece. Some potentially exciting collaborations include Mark Adams and Mike Sullivan, Bill Evaul and Carmen Cicero, Jay Critchley and Jamie DeSouza, and Michael Stuetz and Jen Bradley. There will be a reception on Sunday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 6 p.m. Both shows run through Oct. 31.
Marc Berger Goes Solo
Americana singer-songwriter Marc Berger will perform a solo concert at the Wellfleet Public Library, 55 West Main St., on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. As much a storyteller as a singer, Berger brings his East Coast sensibility to his explorations of the American West through a blend of country, folk, blues, and rock. He channels the cultural touchstones of Woody Guthrie, John Ford, and Frederick Remington, among others. To register, call the library at 508-349-0310.
Mary Ann de Buy Wenniger at Gallery 444
Former Provincetown resident and gallery owner Mary Ann de Buy Wenniger returns to town for an exhibition of her collagraph prints at Gallery 444, 444 Commercial St. in Provincetown, from Thursday, Oct. 21 through Tuesday, Oct. 26. There will be receptions on Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Collagraph prints use materials and textures that are adhered to a backing plate and applied with ink or paint before passing through a press. An artist can pull multiple prints from the same plate, though each will be slightly different. Wenniger, who just turned 90, is a master of the technique and the author of a book on the subject. She aims to create images that “are beautiful celebrations of American life, people, and places,” she says in a statement.
Some of the prints celebrate the Outer Cape, such as an image of Days’ Cottages in North Truro, slung low and tiny against the bay. Another, Dodsworth Cove, includes a dense foreground of beach and rocks set against a sky ablaze in orange and yellow.
The ‘Unpredictable’ Verena Smith
Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main St., hosts “Unpredictable,” a show of paintings by Verena Smith on exhibit from Friday, Oct. 22 through Nov. 30.
Smith spent seven years in Rome when she was in her early 20s. The experience of being immersed in art and culture helped to catalyze her own art making. “After overcoming my self-doubt, I went with my feelings and hopes to have some inspirational impact for someone,” she says in a statement. “Vision, feeling, and curiosity are my main motivating heart/mind qualities.” There will be an opening reception on Friday, Oct 22, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Tony Straiges’s ‘Stages’ at the Commons
Tony Award-winning set designer Tony Straiges will be showing a collection of set designs, models, and pencil drawings in a show titled “Stages” at the Provincetown Commons, 46 Bradford St., through Oct. 31. There will be a reception on Thursday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m.
Straiges moved to Provincetown four years ago after a 40-year career on and off Broadway. He had vacationed in Provincetown for several years and always loved the ocean and landscape. “When I decided to leave the city, this was the place I was most drawn to,” he says.
Trained at the Yale School of Drama, Straiges became sought after for his inventive approach to set design. Straiges designed sets for the Yale Repertory Theatre and for 17 Broadway musicals including Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. Straiges also worked with the American Ballet Theater and the Royal Ballet of Sweden.
Since moving to Provincetown, Straiges has designed sets for two local shows in collaboration with Margaret Van Sant, artistic director of Provincetown Dramatic Arts. In 2017, his first year here, Straiges designed the set for a production of Eugene O’Neill’s Anna Christie at the Wharf House at the Provincetown Marina. “I used the open doors at night with views of the boats in the harbor because the final two scenes of the play take place on a dock,” Straiges explains.
That same year Straiges designed the set for Payomet’s production of Hopper’s Ghost by Kevin Rice at the Provincetown Theater. “The only resources Tony used for the set were the artifacts left for years at the Wharf House — all kinds of fish nets, tubs, coils of rope, and old Provincetown memorabilia,” says Van Sant.
When working on a set, Straiges says, “I try not to think about the design until I listen to what the director has to say. Then I’ll start researching.” Most often Straiges’s first sketches are inspired by photographs and paintings in art books. The real work begins when he has created an initial “white model” that allows him to work with the director in three dimensions.
Since retiring to Provincetown, Straiges has also found time to work on a series of pencil drawings that will be shown at the Commons alongside his set designs and models. “I really love drawing faces and textures,” says Straiges. “Living here, I’ve been inspired to draw fishermen, drag queens, and other entertainers. It’s been very nice to be able to work independently as an artist. That’s something I hadn’t had the opportunity to do in a very long time.” —Susannah Elisabeth Fulcher
