It’s 36 degrees on a February afternoon, and Provincetown painter Jim Broussard is standing with his easel on Tremont Street next to a melting pile of snow. “I got my […]
Art
COVER UP
Bye Bye, Brown Paper
This winter on Commercial Street, some empty storefronts glow with color
“Anything is better than brown paper,” says Marc Guerrette, the brains and the brawn behind “Winter Windows,” a project that aims to remedy a problem that has been bothering Guerrette […]
THE STROLL
In the Wellfleet Winter, Some Summer Sun
A strong showing of landscapes and figures with a healthy dose of abstraction
There was something quite unexpected in Wellfleet on Friday evening, Feb. 9: a full parking lot. People chatted, keys in hands, heading to their cars outside the public library. This […]
TEXTURES
The Intimacy of the Everyday
Oscar Morel’s collages escape the constraints of canvases
From a young age, Oscar Morel exhibited an interest in feeling, touch, and texture. “My mom used to call me Toca Mano — her nickname for ‘touchy’ — because whenever […]
IMPOSSIBLE ART
Beauty, Brokenness, and Moral Complexity
Galería Cubana’s annual art tour in Cuba is a revelation
Luis Rodríguez Noa, a young Cuban painter and graphic artist, won first prize in his country’s National Contest of Posters in 2005 for a witty entry commemorating the 400th anniversary […]
PORTALS
In Poland With Abraham Storer
In a solo show, the painter finds flashes of recognition in the unfamiliar
Abraham Storer was standing in a cemetery in Gliwice, Poland in the fall of 2020. He wasn’t there to mourn but to paint — positioned with easel, canvas, and palette […]
ARTISTS
Joan Hopkins Coughlin Works From Memory
Her landscapes and still lifes reflect on her times in Wellfleet and Jamaica
Joan Hopkins Coughlin’s Wellfleet home is perched on a hill overlooking Duck Creek, a subject she’s continually returned to in her paintings. By the door in her kitchen hangs a […]
INTER-MEDIATE
Jeff Gibbons’s Root Balls, Tiny Chairs, and Talking Rocks
An artist conjures surreal worlds that evoke whimsy and worry
Inside his studio off Pearl Street, Jeff Gibbons is mulling over his latest work, Orion’s Belty Button. The earthen sculpture, a helmet-size hornbeam root ball, rests on a wooden pedestal, […]
LIFETIMES
Peter Hutchinson Through the Decades
The artist’s work, spanning more than 70 years, is a provocative meditation on nature
Peter Hutchinson stands in his studio flipping through photos from past projects. He turns a page, and there he is — tiptoeing around the caldera of a volcano, dropping crumbs […]
IN THE ARCHIVES
Notes From a Native Daughter
Margaret Mayo, the subject of a Henry Hensche portrait, wrote her own early history
On the first floor of the Provincetown Public Library, in the magazine section, is Henry Hensche’s Portrait of Margaret Mayo Expecting Motherhood. The woman’s eyes are pained and sad yet […]
ON THE EDGES
The Art of the Frame
Provincetown makers talk about an artwork’s ‘boundary with the world’
Beveled or square-edged, gold or chartreuse, deep-set or floater? Does a frame enhance a work of art? The frame is a statement, a declaration by the artist. Finding a suitable […]
IN THE STUDIO
Sheryl Jaffe Explores Life’s Interconnectedness
The artist’s vision encompasses her birth story and the DNA of banana leaves
Sheryl Jaffe’s studio in her Wellfleet home feels equal parts science laboratory, industrial workshop, and cabinet of curiosities. Objects that she has collected on walks line the shelves and ledges: […]
ART HISTORY
Clare Leighton’s Wellfleet Legacy
An engraver who brought light to our shores’ humble scenes
In her 1954 book about Cape Cod’s land and culture, Where Land Meets Sea, Clare Leighton describes herself as “a Britisher by birth” and a Cape Codder for a decade. […]
BIDDING
Deep Pockets and Egos: Behind the Scenes at Bakker
Advice on buying and selling art from Provincetown’s only auction house
There are 50 galleries listed on the Provincetown Office of Tourism’s website, and that list doesn’t include the walls of the town’s museums, artist studios, hotels, inns, and boutique shops […]
ARTISTS
Out From the Margins and Onto the Pedestal
David Pirro celebrates classical art and LGBTQ culture
As a child, David Pirro dreamed of being an artist. He then spent most of his adult life in a stable career in information technology. “I’m an ’80s gay,” he […]
