The orders from town officials came down suddenly and in quick succession: on March 13, 2020 for Provincetown, on March 14 for Eastham, on March 16 for Wellfleet, and on […]
Arts & Minds
Celebrating the creative and sometimes quirky culture of the Outer Cape.
Browse all Arts & Minds stories below or dive into a topic:
ARTISTS
The Charmed, Haunting Art of Laura Peturson
She is inspired by the imaginative play of children apart from adults
Once upon a time, there was an artist named Laura Peturson. She lived in a forest in northern Ontario with her husband, daughter, and son. The children spent their days […]
THEATER REVIEW
Finding Love Amid the Culture Wars
The Provincetown Theater puts pink icing on The Cake
Della, the North Carolina baker at the center of Bekah Brunstetter’s play The Cake, is a deeply conflicted woman. She’s not a cultural punching bag — a Paula Deen or […]
ARTISTS
Blair Thornley’s Emotional Clearinghouse
Theatrical paintings of East and West Coast banality
“What humans do on the Earth is fascinating to me,” says artist Blair Thornley from her home in San Diego. Her paintings feel theatrical — outdoor stage sets populated by […]
OUTER CAPE PORTRAIT
Guardian of the Courts
STEVE OLIVER / TENNIS CLUB OWNER / WELLFLEET As youngsters, Steve Oliver and his siblings spent summers sweeping the red clay courts on Route 6 in Wellfleet. It was […]
ARTISTRY AND HEALING
Painting Before and After the Stroke
R. Mark Melnick’s show invites deep comparisons
Two paintings — Scenic New Mexico, which depicts a jagged butte seen from the perspective of someone standing farther back on its edge, and Mayo Beach Wellfleet, a view of […]
BOOK REVIEW
Re-evaluating the Guilt of Ethel Rosenberg
Anne Sebba’s biography of an infamous woman
The American press largely supported Judge Irving Kaufman’s decision at the height of the Red Scare to sentence Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death. In March 1951, a jury found […]
BOOK REVIEW
A Romance Set on the Outer Cape
Miranda Cowley Heller’s debut novel
Miranda Cowley Heller’s novel The Paper Palace tells the story of Elle, a woman whose life is both troubled and complicated. She must choose which man to share her life […]
LITERARY LIFE
New Owner Sought for Provincetown Bookshop
The shop was a haunt for a host of famous people during its long tenure
PROVINCETOWN — The well-loved bookstore where Norman Mailer and Robert Motherwell could frequently be found browsing will soon close unless some bibliophile steps forward to carry on the business. The […]
ARTISTS
For Josephine Halvorson, It’s All in the Details
Her work reveals how ‘objects have memories of their own’
A torn newspaper lies among fallen leaves. Tender weeds sprout inside the imprint of a coiled garden hose. “As a painter, there is no patch of ground that is uninteresting […]
MUSEUMS
A Walk Through ‘Hawthorne, Hofmann, and Hopper’
Canonical works from PAAM’s permanent collection
It’s convenient that three of the most influential artists in Provincetown history share the same initial. It makes for a catchy exhibition name. It’s also convenient that the Provincetown Art […]
ARTISTS
Keeping Time With Antonia DaSilva
Her mixed media works liberate the rectangular canvas
“People have this desire to control time, to record time,” says the Orleans painter and printmaker Antonia DaSilva. “For centuries, humans have tried to figure out time, but we can’t […]
BOOK REVIEW
Opening Up With Anne Peretz
Reimagining family therapy for those most at risk
“I knew I had to write this book because I’m the only one who knows the story from beginning to end,” says Anne Peretz from her Truro home. The book […]
DRAG REVIEW
Varla Jean Merman Gives Us a Chance to Breathe
And a calendar of drag for this week
The transition to a post-pandemic world happened at such breakneck speed that, to many, it didn’t feel like a transition at all. After spending 14 long months in quarantine, I […]
FESTIVAL RITES
How Provincetown Became a Place That Welcomes All
The Portuguese, who understood bigotry, embraced gays and artists
PROVINCETOWN — On the eve of Portuguese Festival weekend, this year again severely curtailed because of the pandemic, a question that is central to Provincetown’s identity as a welcoming place […]
