Meetings Ahead

Friday, Feb. 28

• Public Landscape Committee, 12 p.m., Lopes Square

Tuesday, March 3

• Conservation Commission, 6 p.m., Town Hall

Wednesday, March 4

• Historic District Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall

Thursday, March 5

• Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall

Conversation Starters

A Plan for Indigenous Memorial

The select board’s Lise King has found a consultant to work with the town to develop a public art project honoring Native Americans. The board unanimously approved $12,607 on Feb. 24 to be spent working with Jennifer Himmelreich, who has overseen the Native American Fellowship Program at the Peabody Essex Museum. Six to nine months will be spent researching and engaging with residents and the tribal communities to come up with an appropriate art project.

Tribal people call Provincetown “ground zero” for the impact of European colonialism on their communities, Himmelreich stated in her proposal to the town.

With the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims this year, this is an opportunity to “present a view of the Native American side of the experience,” she wrote.

The select board also approved words to be etched on a plaque at the Bas Relief and a paving stone at Pilgrims’ First Landing Park. It will read: “We, the town of Provincetown, acknowledge the Wampanoag people of the past and of the present, their heritage and continuance as the indigenous people of this land. While we cannot undo the mistakes of the past, we have a responsibility and opportunity to acknowledge them and work toward a continually better future.”

Jay Critchley to Send Off Old VFW

Artist Jay Critchley will hold a “community send-off” of the VFW building, which is being demolished to make way for affordable housing or a police station.

Used for parties and weddings since 1959, its main purpose was to provide a safe space for veterans, Critchley said.

Saying good-bye to the VFW will be a meditative experience, Critchley said, spanning April 3-12. He plans to invite people to bring art and personal mementos to fill the meeting halls. On the last two days he will hand out solar lights so viewers can explore the otherwise darkened building and see what has been left.

Critchley has held two other farewell installations, one at the Herring Cove Bathhouse in 2012 and one at the Meadows Motel, which was demolished in 2006.

The select board’s Bobby Anthony, a veteran, thanked Critchley.

“Veterans built that building, not contractors, so I appreciate you doing this, I really do,” he said.—K.C. Myers