Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Art Colony

The Life of a Poet with Jeffery Berg

This week, we interviewed Provincetown native gallerist/curator Russ LaMontagne about growing up in the West End, early exposure to artists and local haunts, and how Provincetown has changed culturally and economically while remaining defined by art. He recounts co-founding a New York gallery in 2000, later opening LaMontagne Gallery in Boston in 2007, and discusses shifts in the gallery world and advice for artists. He describes curating shows with Twenty Summers’ Stanley space and his board role with the Provincetown Public Arts Foundation, including pier murals and an upcoming Penelope Jencks sculpture of Mary Heaton Vorse.

This week, we welcome Provincetown artist and Fine Arts Work Center arts administrator Naya Bricher ahead of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) annual gala, where she will be honored for Excellence in the Arts. Bricher describes her colorful oil paintings rooted in joy, featuring digitally collaged and projected imagery such as desserts, animals, and hands, influenced by childhood freedom with color, toile patterns, dreams, and artists like David Hockney. She recounts growing up in Connecticut with artist parents, studying painting/photography/printmaking at Smith College, first coming to Provincetown as a 2012 FAWC intern, and later building community through work, Zumba, and relationships. She explains her projector-based process, her large McMillan Pier mural (6.5x20 feet) and its relocation to the Provincetown Post, and shares details about the PAAM reception and gala dates.

Provincetown arts patron and fundraiser Gabby Hanna joins us this week as we talk about her background and work building platforms for the arts. Hanna, raised in Boston by an artist-psychologist mother and engineer-musician father, studied music before transferring to Barnard; after a friend’s AIDS-related death, she shifted toward nonprofit development, AIDS work, politics, and activism, including running Carolyn Goodman’s foundation and producing a youth activism documentary shown at the Provincetown International Film Festival. Reconnecting with Provincetown, she joined the Provincetown International Film Festival around 2000, became executive director in 2004 for about a decade, and is now board president. She recounts the festival’s origins, its focus on “filmmakers on the edge,” notable guests, Oscar-qualifying shorts status, year-round cinema programming at Water’s Edge, and the Gabriel Hanna Film Institute’s residencies. She also discusses co-producing theater and film and receiving an upcoming Provincetown Theater award.

Happy one year to The Art Colony! This week, we had a live recording hosted by Provincetown Commons and the Provincetown Art Gallery Association, noting 60+ guests, about 15,000 downloads across all U.S. states and many countries, grants from the Provincetown Economic Development Council and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and listener donations. Joined by Jill Rothenberg-Simons (OnCenter Art Gallery), Gavin Kennedy (Emergent Art Advisory), and Christine McCarthy (PAAM), the panel discusses future-focused trends including climate-change-driven and multidisciplinary work, recycled and repurposed materials, AI and technology, and a renewed emphasis on craft and authenticity. They stress sustaining institutions, galleries, and affordable housing, encourage buying art and supporting funds like the Commons’ Benji Fund, and predict continued reinvention, year-round arts activity, and Provincetown’s role as a creative safe haven. Audience Q&A covers post-COVID gallery shifts to online visibility, supporting nontraditional artists and venues, bringing Provincetown artists beyond town, balancing local and outside artists, and PAAM’s growing 12x12 fundraiser show.

Portrait photographer, Michael Joseph, joins us this week to bring us on a journey through his work documenting subcultures through long-term projects. He describes discovering photography at the New England School of Photography and shifting from studio work to street portraits, with a pivotal Las Vegas image sparking his decade-long “Lost and Found” project on the modern traveler subculture, built through trust, repeated encounters, and communication via social media; he notes ethical challenges and backlash around media exposure and explains his book used travelers’ own words. He then discusses his eight-year Provincetown series “Wild West of the East,” inspired by Norman Mailer’s book, shot with a vintage Polaroid Big Shot and often in an alley by Marine Specialties, including a Twenty Summers residency that produced a large wheatpaste mural. With pack film expired and scarce, he’s finishing the project and launching a Kickstarter (starting July 14) with MW Editions to publish a curated book.

Multidisciplinary artist Jimmy Lee Curtis (aka Mama Lee) joins us this week, kicking off by highlighting Momma Lee’s Fashion Show. Curtis explains his name’s origins at the Birch House, his path from Michigan to Atlanta to 1980s London fashion/textile study, and how the alternative London scene (including Vivienne Westwood and Leigh Bowery) influenced his aesthetic. He recalls British Vogue selecting one of his scarves for a Morocco shoot featuring Christy Turlington. After moving from West Hollywood to Provincetown, he describes the Birch House as a community hub and his role in the long-running Wednesday-night FΔg BΔsh, including themes and the Miss FΔg BΔsh pageant. He outlines his current work (painting, Polaroids, hand-painted silk scarves, upcycled fashion and hats) and how a Provincetown Commons residency led to starting the fashion show with Dave LaFrance in 2021, now expanded to include other designers; this year’s theme is “London Calling,” with the fundraiser show on Saturday, August 22 at 7:00 and tickets at provincetowncommons.com.

This week, we interviewed fashion and textile artist Daniel Hammond, a cashmere sweater designer with 25 years’ experience who studied at Parsons and worked for major 7th Avenue names including Emanuel Ungaro, Nautica, Oscar de la Renta, and Perry Ellis. He describes early sewing influences from his mother and grandmother, his technical approach to construction and knitwear, and mentorship that led him to specialize in men’s cashmere. He recounts first visiting Provincetown in 2011, buying a home in 2020 during the COVID shutdown, and opening his shop on 364 Commercial Street in fall 2021 (formerly Plush), later rebranding under his name as production shifted to primarily in-house, small-batch, hand-touched work. The conversation highlights limited runs, direct-to-consumer value, and major artist collaborations, including Gaston’s “Eclipse” sweater and projects with Trevor Makula, plus upcoming shows with Lindsay Porter (starting July 3) and Jared Heslip (late August).

Elizabeth Smith, founding executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, joins us this week to talk about painter Helen Frankenthaler and her connection to Provincetown. She explains the foundation’s origins, assets, and mission to promote understanding of visual arts. She recounts Frankenthaler’s New York upbringing, early art education (including Rufino Tamayo and Bennington College with Paul Feeley), brief 1950 Provincetown study with Hans Hofmann, and her sustained summers in Provincetown from 1960–1969 after marrying Robert Motherwell. They discuss her studio routine, locations (Days Lumber Yard, the Seed Barn, and a later “tree house” studio), evolving 1960s painting toward simplified geometry, and her soak-stain technique on raw canvas and later acrylics. She describes visitors, the 2018 PAAM “Abstract Climates” exhibition, how to view her paintings, upcoming exhibitions (including Basel and a 2028 National Gallery retrospective), her printmaking, the foundation’s research access, and its Climate Initiative Grants funding 401 U.S. arts organizations.

In episode 50 of The Art Colony podcast, former journalist Joe Woolley interviews our host, Gaston Lacombe. Gaston, a Canadian-born artist and American citizen, recounts earning history degrees in Ottawa, living 16 years in Latvia in roles from teacher and newscaster to embassy cultural work, becoming the first head of Latvia’s national LGBT organization, and leaving amid threats. In Washington, DC he earned a photography degree, worked as a photojournalist, and created the globally published Captive Project documenting animal welfare in zoos. After first visiting Provincetown in 2016, he left his marriage, moved there, and opened a Whaler’s Wharf studio in 2018. He describes evolving from mixed-media photography to hard-edge painting, his tape-and-color-code construction process, and how the podcast deepened his community ties, spotlit a thriving, largely queer-driven art colony, and led to plans for a July 21 live anniversary event.

Zoe Lewis, born in Rottingdean on England’s south coast, joins us this week as she describes becoming a largely self-taught multi-instrumentalist, learning through bands, travel, and absorbing world rhythms across 70+ countries. She recounts leaving planned tourism studies after joining punk-era bands, traveling with minimal resources, and eventually settling in Provincetown around 1990 after being offered extensive restaurant and late-night shows. She credits Provincetown’s community for sustaining her artistry, and explains her songwriting as joyful, story-based, nostalgic, and often inspired by everyday “magic,” including residencies in Greece and Key West. Lewis performs her song “Entre Chien Et Loup,” then shares current engagements: her long-running 1920s Speakeasy at The Red Room (July 21 and Aug 17, 2026) and “Zoe With a Z” at the Art House, plus touring, recordings, and collaborations.

Artist Joshua Wilmoth joins us this week as we talk about how he has shaped the town’s look through murals, store facades, interior decor, and massive Carnival installations. He describes his celebration-driven, maximalist, unapologetically queer mission against blank white walls, recounts growing up in South Florida with intensive arts education, studying at Tufts/Museum School, and pivoting fully to art. He explains his mural process (client consultation, digital renderings, chalk outlines, no projection), materials (latex house paint), and working fast outdoors amid weather and public attention. He discusses live painting, painting on found glass and frames, and announces gallery representation with Greg Salvatori, including a street-facing mural and a show opening June 26 (up through July 3). They cover Carnival floats, past large-scale pieces, dream projects (Town Hall, water tower), and a brief speed round.

This week, we bring on Eric Lesh, a figurative artist now in his fifth season, describes his path from musical theater to LGBTQ rights law (including work at Lambda Legal and directing the LGBT Bar Association of New York) and how figure drawing at the NYC LGBT Center and Zoom sessions during the pandemic grew into commissions and queer art fairs like Barnwood and Art Gaysel. He explains his whimsical, expressive line-based nude work and influences (Al Hirschfeld, Keith Haring, Jean Cocteau), his shift from digital to acrylics and oils, and his business model of private live portrait sessions and group commissions. He discusses managing public reactions to nudity, hosting pop-up artists, running the Tuesday life drawing group at the Gifford House, and serving as president of the Provincetown Business Guild to help sustain Provincetown’s queer identity.

This week, we welcomed returning guest Christine McCarthy of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) plus Elaine Grossman and Daniel Sagalyn to discuss the exhibition “Avital Sagalyn: Mid-Century Provincetown,” on view through August 2, 2026. McCarthy describes the exhibitions committee’s excitement at discovering Sagalyn’s “breathtaking” works and their maturity for an artist in her 20s. Daniel and Elaine explain Sagalyn’s life: born in 1925 in Palestine under the British mandate, raised in Brussels, fled WWII to the U.S. in 1941, studied art via MoMA teen classes and later Cooper Union, and worked in Provincetown in 1945–46 amid the Hofmann era. They recount her Fulbright to Paris, encounters with major artists including Picasso, and an Admiral McMillan/Monhegan Island story, while noting she rarely exhibited until late-life encouragement led to a UMass show and now PAAM. Resources include avitalsagalyn.com, @avitalsagalyn on Instagram, and PAAM.org, with related Outer Cape Chamber Orchestra concerts.

We have finally brought in the amazingly talented performer and artist Ryan Landry to talk about his life and work. Landry recounts growing up in Wallingford, Connecticut, moving to New York City, and arriving in Provincetown in 1979, describing the town’s earlier “Wild West” atmosphere and his early jobs. He explains how his prop-heavy performances in “Puttin’ On The Hits” led him to create the long-running Monday-night competition Showgirls in the late 1980s, emphasizing its curated, audience-participatory, mentoring spirit and celebrity guest stars; he previews a Sesame Street-themed set and venues including the Crown & Anchor and Provincetown Inn. Landry discusses studying art, painting intensely during COVID, exhibiting annually at the William Scott Gallery, his studio habits, plans for a puppet project, his theater company the Gold Dust Orphans and Boston Christmas productions, and his rock band Space Pussy.

This week, we interview Cole Cook, a sculptor who was born in New York, raised in Los Angeles by actor parents, and spent summers on Cape Cod. Cook describes being shepherded into baseball, playing professionally across all minor-league levels, then becoming unhappy and eventually leaving the sport after an eye-opening trip around artists in New York. After studying improv at UCB, writing, and working as a pitching coach, he moved to Cape Cod during the pandemic with his cats and began making wood sculptures, drawn to trees, woodworking, and the “truthfulness” of carving. He discusses learning tools through observation and experimentation, wood selection and sourcing.

This week, we welcome author, editor, and publisher Russ Lopez to The Art Colony to discuss his new book, Provincetown Stories. Lopez recounts first visiting Provincetown in January 1981, returning for decades with his husband, and eventually buying a home before COVID, while noting changes such as higher costs, heavier tourism, and evolving attitudes around race and performance. He describes his earlier LGBTQ history book Hub of the Gay Universe (2019) and explains that fiction offers freedom to convey “truths” without strict documentation. Provincetown Stories is a linked collection of short tales with recurring characters, renamed locations, frank depictions of sex and partying, and magical realism, including an immortal Cuban figure, Luna, and a made-up Feast of St. Bonaventure. Lopez reads excerpts about arriving over the Truro hill and Provincetown’s artistic creativity rooted in unconventional freedom, then shares where to find the book and upcoming local events.

This week, we interview Liz Carney, artist and owner-director of Gallery 411 on Commercial Street. She describes her roles as painter, educator, entrepreneur, and property manager, and traces her family’s Provincetown roots through her mother, a MassArt-trained art educator who bought 411 Commercial Street around 1980 and filled it with renters including artists, writers, and local characters. She discusses the building’s history as the Francis Guest House and its architectural changes in the 1960s. Liz explains founding the small storefront gallery in 2011, her shift from “studio” to gallery, her focus on local artists, and advice for artists seeking representation. She also discusses her plein-air painting practice, influences, and the next generation of creative Carneys, ending with a brief speed round.

This week, we welcome Provincetown musician and artist Mike Flanagan, a full-time resident, who plays saxophone and piano, as well as multiple other instruments, studied music education at Berklee, earned a master’s in Music Education at NYU, and now is the entertainment director at Provincetown's Tin Pan Alley and Post Office Café.  He also teaches band, keyboard lab, and co-teaches Italian at the Provincetown School. Flanagan recounts his path from Brockton to Boston and New York, his early inspirations, and how drag performer Liza Lott helped connect him to Provincetown gigs.  He discusses managing rowdy piano-bar crowds, taking requests, and memorable audience moments, plus collaborating with singers and producing tribute and cabaret shows. He highlights Billboard-charting releases, a John Lennon Songwriting Competition win, and a 1M+ view YouTube video, and previews his Bear Week Town Hall concert “Bear Hug” on July 16.

This week, we welcome Provincetown artist and teacher Pete Hocking. Pete discusses seven as a formative age before peer pressure. Pete recounts childhood Cape Cod trips, early dreams of living and painting here, and influences from comics, superheroes, and Snoopy. He describes a career balancing art with teaching activism and leadership at Brown and RISD and art at Goddard, adoption’s impact on his self-portrait and queer-themed work, and how an MFA in creative writing ultimately brought him back to painting. In Provincetown, street scenes and later dune and seashore walks shaped more abstract paintings focused on fragility, climate, and remaking the world; he outlines his workshop philosophy and upcoming classes, and reflects on social media as a long-term creative archive.

This week, we welcome 20 Summers program director Alice Gong to discuss the Provincetown arts organization and its spring festival. She shares her path to the Outer Cape and explains that 20 Summers was founded about 15 years ago to honor and activate the historic Hawthorne Barn, built in 1906 by Charles Hawthorne as an art school and later used by generations of artists. Privately owned today, the barn is programmed by 20 Summers for five weeks a year with mostly free or suggested-donation conversations, concerts, workshops, installations, and a residency. The episode previews May–June 2026 highlights including Ecosystems and Imagination with Mark Adams, concerts, a Hawthorne-style painting class with John Clayton, residents’ events and installations, and new partnerships, while also describing year-round programming at the Stanley space, including the Media Diet installation through Memorial Day.

Art in L'overalls with Myra Kooy.  Our guest today is a visual artist who also co-owns her own art gallery in Provincetown, the Radiance Art Gallery.  In this episode, we talk about how being a woman, and African-American, has played a role in Myra's life and art.  We journey through her growth as an artist, from selling handmade suspenders on the streets of New York City to owning an art gallery in Provincetown.  This episode is full of happiness and laughter, as we discuss choosing joy in our lives. 

This week, we welcome artist, educator, curator, and arts administrator Burt Yarborough to discuss his six-decade relationship with Provincetown and the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC). Yarborough recounts coming to Provincetown in 1976 after studies in architecture and photography, his FAWC fellowship, and how the center’s early, unrenovated lumber-yard facilities and local visual committee shaped artists through time, space, and support. He describes making site-specific work in the dunes, later shifting from photography and abstraction toward more figurative, emotionally driven painting, and a Fulbright year in Nigeria studying Yoruba carving that influenced his materials and imagery. Yarborough explains his current process using reactive dyes, acrylics, inks, and occasional bleach, previews a mural commission, notes exhibitions and a PAAM studio visit, and shares memories of living three summers in a dune shack.

This week, we interviewed a Provincetown multidisciplinary artist, educator, and curator Megan Hinton about how studios and process shape art. Hinton, raised in Ohio, describes coming to art through deep looking and connecting drawing to sports via eye–hand coordination, with art helping to live more freely and queerly. We describe current abstracted-realism bird collages built from drawings, photos, and cut canvas, using a blue-black palette and birds as a symbol of freedom amid a polarized society. Hinton discusses reappropriating historical and Provincetown painters as a transformative, long-standing artistic conversation. 

The Drag Philanthropist with Mackenzie

This week Gaston welcomes to the studio the very talented playwright and improvisation artist Cody Sullivan.  For the last seven years Cody has been making Provincetown audiences laugh with his witty and insightful stage performances.  Learn about his origins as an artist, about his connection and love for improvisation, about his popular event "Cody Plays," and about the plays he has staged and that he is currently working on.

Gaston welcomes multifaceted percussionist, singer, and innkeeper Brian Calhoun to discuss music in Provincetown and Brian’s path to the marimba. Brian describes his musical family, early piano and drum set lessons, and discovering marimba.

This week, we interviewed Marian Roth about arriving to Provincetown in 1982, helping start the Freehand writers’ school, and leaving a career in political science to become an artist. She recalls being inspired by women in nontraditional jobs and began photographing “The Working Women of Provincetown,” before finding her artistic voice through pinhole photography, including transforming a van into a giant camera—work tied to her Guggenheim Fellowship. Roth describes how the AIDS crisis shaped daily life through caregiving and activism with the PWA Coalition, though it did not directly drive her art. She discusses recurring themes of village, diaspora, and home, later work using silhouetted figures influenced by her mother’s dementia, and her current focus on making paper and building collage “villages,” guided by a love of learning and beginner’s mind.

The Art Colony Podcast welcome Cherie Mittenthal, artist and Executive Director of the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. We take a journey through the long history of Castle Hill, and talk about the myriad offerings of classes at the center. We also discuss Cherie’s art, especially her passion for welding, pottery and encaustic. And this leads us to review the annual International Encaustic Conference happening in Provincetown and Truro this May for its 19th year. 

Gaston talks with author Jeannette de Beauvoir, a France-born writer and historian who settled in Provincetown and created the Sidney Riley series. She explains how the town’s festivals, shifting seasonal crowds, and real locations inspire her plots, discusses “Dead in the Water,” and notes she weaves Provincetown history into the series. She previews her next novel and shares her Dune Shack–inspired historical novel “Our Lady of the Dunes,” reading an excerpt. She also describes “Making Light,” her monthly Commons gathering for artists to support each other.

Gaston invites PJ Kierans, a PTown chocolatier, on this week to discuss the mastery and artistry of chocolate making. PJ, who hails from London and trained in culinary arts in the UK and the Netherlands, explains his journey from a busy restaurant kitchen to becoming a full-time chocolatier in Provincetown. He delves into the intricacies of chocolate production, from the fermentation of cocoa beans to creative flavor combinations like thyme and tangerine or cranberry cabernet. The episode also touches on the impact of climate change on cocoa supply and the future of chocolate. PJ shares his unique experiences and innovative creations, including his viral lobster-flavored chocolate bar.

Wall Writer and Wave Rider with Andrew Jacob

Artist at Work - Trevor Mikula

Cut and Paste with John Derian

Phil Jimenez, a celebrated comic book artist, shares his artistic journey and the influence of Provincetown on his work. Phil discusses his early inspirations from TV shows, comic books, and his dedication to breaking into the industry through comic conventions and persistent networking. He highlights major projects, including working on iconic characters like Wonder Woman and the X-Men, and transitioning to digital art for improved detail. 

This week, we interview Roddy Bottum, and explores topics such as Roddy's journey in 1980s and 1990s rock, his experiences with addiction and coming out as gay, and his new book which reflects his life and the cultural landscape of San Francisco during that era. They discuss his move to Provincetown, the magic of the town, and his ongoing musical projects. 

Action, Activism, and Performance with Jay Critchley

The Birthplace of American Theater with David Drake

Gaston interviews Sian Robertson, a distinct artist known for her unique style of cutting intricate designs out of maps. 

Comedian Kristen Becker shares her journey and experiences in the world of comedy and activism. Kristen discusses her roots in Buffalo, New York, and her career progression through comedy, including her start in Toronto and extensive tours in the Deep South. She recounts her move to Provincetown, the significance of queer representation in comedy, and her efforts to promote diverse voices through her show, Fruit Basket. Kristen also highlights her involvement in the Summer of Sass program, which brings queer youth from the South to Provincetown for a transformative summer experience. She reflects on the importance of community, her unique characters such as Sandy Claus and Sergeant Roach, and her ongoing contributions to the Provincetown art scene.

This week, Gaston talks to musician, singer, actor, all-around great guy, Jonathan Richardson. We more learn about his journey toward becoming a musician, and his arrival in Provincetown in the 2010s. In the second half of the interview, they talk at length about Jonathan’s new musical, “The Jack of Hearts Club,” which premiered to great acclaim at the Provincetown Theater in the fall of 2025, and will return for the summer of 2026.

In this episode, We interview Beth Faherty, an artist residing in Provincetown. Beth shares her story of moving from North Carolina to Nantucket and eventually settling in Provincetown. We discuss Beth's transition from writing to painting, her love for bright and joyful artwork, and how the loss of her twin brother influenced her artistic journey. Beth also talks about her experience at the Commons, where she recently completed a three-year residency, and her current transition to a new studio at Whaler's Wharf. The conversation explores the impact of the artistic community on Beth’s work, her unique creative processes, and her plans for the future.

Grace Hopkins discusses the history and proliferation of art galleries in Provincetown. She shares insights about her father, an abstract expressionist painter and his unconventional methods in curating art shows. She recounts memorable incidents at HCE Gallery, including controversial exhibitions and humorous anecdotes such as an artist cutting out all works but his own. The discussion also touches on art pricing and the dynamics of gallery operations.

In this episode of the Art Colony, Gaston interviews Regina Binder about her work in uncovering forgotten artists in Provincetown. Regina, who has lived in Provincetown for over 40 years, shares her efforts in expanding the definition of historical significance to include marginalized artists, particularly those from the LGBTQ community. She highlights her projects, including documenting dune shacks for the National Park Service and her current work supported by a National Park Service grant aimed at linking LGBTQ stories to physical properties in Provincetown. The conversation covers the challenges and triumphs of documenting these forgotten figures and their contributions to the art and culture of Provincetown. Regina also discusses the importance of preserving the stories and histories of these overlooked artists for future generations.

Gaston and guest, Jim Bokker, discuss various off-season art activities, such as art classes, theater productions, and ongoing exhibitions like the Blanche Lazzell retrospective at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM). The conversation dives deep into Lzzell's life and work, particularly her contribution to the Provincetown Print and white-line woodblock printing. Jim Bocker provides insights on Lazzell's artistic journey, her modernist evolution, and the economic strategies she employed to sustain her career. They also touch upon the significance of Provincetown for artists and the ongoing tradition of white-line printing. The episode concludes with recommendations on how to indulge in and contribute to Provincetown's rich art culture during the off season.

Gavin Kennedy discusses his passion for the Fine Arts Work Center and his mission to connect contemporary emerging artists with collectors. He highlights the importance of contemporary art in fostering understanding, empathy, and storytelling. Kennedy appreciates the supportive nature of the current generation of emerging artists and believes that crises bring more art to the forefront.

In this episode, we discuss the development and achievements of drag artist Johnny Pirroni, also known as Delta Miles. Johnny  shares stories from his early career, his breakthrough in the drag scene, and the inspiration behind his performances. The dialogue delves into the challenges and rewards of a drag performance career, the differences between Provincetown and Puerto Vallarta audiences, and Johnny’s aspirations for future shows. The episode offers a rich narrative about dedication, passion, and the art of drag, highlighting the unique community and artistic heritage of Provincetown.

Lesley Marchessault, Executive Director of The Commons, discusses the impact of The Commons on the artistic community in Provincetown. She reflects on her personal journey into art, starting from a childhood fascination with Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait to her permanent move to Provincetown. The Commons serves as a collaborative and supportive space for diverse artists, fostering growth and innovation. Despite the recent loss of an artist named Benji, the community continues to thrive, with successful exhibits and charitable contributions. The arrival of The Commons has significantly invigorated the local art scene with new artists, exhibits, and events.

In this conversation, artist and scientist Mark Adams reflects on his journey in Provincetown, describing how his scientific background influences his art. He emphasizes the importance of observation in understanding nature, the role of poison ivy in dune ecology, and the community's response to the AIDS crisis. Mark teaches art by focusing on observation and the experience of nature, rather than rendering skills, and believes that humans can adapt well by understanding and integrating with nature.

In this episode of the Art Colony podcast, Gaston  speaks with Anastasia Egeli about her family's multi-generational artistic legacy in Provincetown. Anastasia shares her experiences growing up in an art-centric community, her family's association with notable artists, and the pressures and blessings of belonging to a renowned artistic family. She also reflects on her personal journey to finding her own artistic voice amidst familial expectations. They discuss the historical and current art scene in Provincetown and Anastasia's current work in Venice, California. The episode highlights the unique cultural and artistic environment of Provincetown and its impact on artists.