“Clear mind, tabula rasa, the four corners of the frame, calm breath,” photographer Lew Schwartz says as he prepares to shoot. “Someone on the street brushes away a mosquito, waves […]
Arts & Minds
Celebrating the creative and sometimes quirky culture of the Outer Cape.
Browse all Arts & Minds stories below or dive into a topic:
MIXING MEDIA
Berger and Motherwell: An Artistic Friendship
The past isn’t always black and white, or red and black
A red sky is bisected by a darker red column, shadowed in black. Affixed are three paper fragments. The one at left is sheet music from Arthur Berger’s Trio for […]
BOOK REVIEW
Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar Tell It Like It Is
They write of casual racism with candor and humor
Under no circumstances should you crack the covers of Amber Ruffin’s and Lacey Lamar’s You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey in a place you need to be quiet — […]
CROSSWORD #17
Turn Up The Heat
Need some answers? Just ask and we’ll send them.
MEDIA
In Provincetown, Learn to Shoot Your Story for Free
Amy Davies teaches film and video in courses and at PTV
“Community television is about telling the story of a community directly through the voice of the residents,” says Amy Davies. “And that is very appealing to me.” Davies is executive […]
MUSIC
An Indie Playlist for the New Year
Musical picks from Provincetown Independent staff and contributors
For this new edition of the Indie Playlist, the focus was specifically on music videos and filmed performances. The result? “Radiated country music,” Dante pop, psychedelic Baroque, three harpists with […]
INDIE SCREEN
A Trio of Movies That Revise Romance
Set in the past, but conceived for today’s viewers
Watching the superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984 in my living room was a decidedly underwhelming experience. It has big-budget action set pieces and a surfeit of CGI magic, but they […]
DISPATCHES
Postcards From the Pandemic
Tuning in to the Outer Cape from a masked lap around the U.S.A.
In the fall, after finishing a summer fellowship at this newspaper, I began a pandemic-induced leave of absence from college. I dreamed of a normal gap year, in which I’d […]
LOCAL COLOR
The Paintings of Felipe Ortiz Explode With Life
He’s driven by memories of his native Colombia and an older brother
Felipe Ortiz stands on the deck of Wellfleet’s Lechay House, the modernist former home of the late painter James Lechay. The view stretches across the pine forest all the way […]
POETRY
A Secular Celebration of Love and the Earth
Five poems from a new Brendan Galvin collection
Editor’s note: Truro poet Brendan Galvin’s 19th volume of poems, titled Partway to Geophany, was published by Louisiana State University Press in November 2020. Galvin’s many awards include a Guggenheim […]
BOOK REVIEW
Alexis Pauline Gumbs Reveals Marine Mammals’ Radical Nature
Reclaiming the ocean from the heteropatriarchy
Alexis Pauline Gumbs describes herself as a “queer Black feminist love evangelist and marine mammal apprentice” in Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons From Marine Mammals, published this past November. The description […]
What’s Past Is Prologue
A special art & photography edition for the New Year
We are grateful to the artists and photographers included here who have helped us create a New Year’s greeting card to the Independent’s readers.
INDIE SCREEN
Racism, Corruption, and All That Jazz
Three movies that impress and inspire
August Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle of 10 plays, one for each decade of the 20th century, is a towering achievement, chronicling the history of African-American life through powerful, personal storytelling. Now, […]
PERFORMANCE
Bitch Is Back in Provincetown
She has a new album and video of ‘Pussy Manifesto’
“It’s a new year/ or about to be/ I wanna forgive/ everything that has harmed me.” These are the opening lyrics of the song “New Year,” by Bitch, formerly half […]
EYE FOR AN EAR
Judging Musical Performance on Film
Classical music criticism for the Covid era
As more and more music making goes online — with YouTube videos, pre-recorded concerts, and live-streams — music critics are having to become more like film critics. They are having […]
