Provincetown Art Association and Museum
Encyclopedia
The Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) is located at 460 Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...

. It is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is the most attended art museum on Cape Cod. The museum's permanent collection includes over 2,500 objects, a number which continues to grow through donations and new acquisitions. PAAM mounts approximately forty exhibitions each year,serving as a significant cultural and educational resource for the Provincetown and Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

 communities.

Mission Statement

The objects and purposes of this association shall be to promote and cultivate the practice and appreciation of all branches of the fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....

s, to assemble and maintain in the town of Provincetown and environs a collection of works of art of merit, to hold exhibitions, and by forums, concerts and similar activities to promote education of the public in the arts and social intercourse between artists and laymen. To these ends it shall operate strictly within its charter as a nonprofit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, educational, artistic and cultural organization.

Constitution and By-laws Provincetown Art Association and Museum, 1921

Origins


Prominent artists Charles Hawthorne, Oscar Gieberich, William Halsall
William Halsall
William Formby Halsall was a marine painter born in Kirkdale, England. He lived at Provincetown, Massachusetts and died as a US citizen in 1919.- Marine life & Fresco painting :...

, Gerrit Beneker
Gerrit Beneker
Gerrit Albertus Beneker was an American painter and illustrator best known for his paintings of industrial scenes and for his poster work in World War I.-Biography:...

, E. Ambrose Webster and several local business men and women established the Provincetown Art Association in 1914. The organizing artists donated works and mounted two juried exhibitions in the summer of 1915, beginning a tradition of collecting and exhibiting the work of local artists. By this time, Provincetown had become a refuge of artists and expatriates returned from war-torn Europe. The town was firmly established as "The Biggest Art Colony
Art colony
right|300px|thumb|Artist houses in [[Montsalvat]] near [[Melbourne, Australia]].An art colony or artists' colony is a place where creative practitioners live and interact with one another. Artists are often invited or selected through a formal process, for a residency from a few weeks to over a year...

 in the World" (Boston Globe, 8/8/16). PAAM strengthened its role as the anchor of this art colony through the purchase of its present building in 1919.

Twentieth Century

PAAM’s artist founders had come out of the Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...

 tradition and thus did not readily accept the new Modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...

 movement. Faced with aesthetic differences among its artist membership, however, the organization worked to maintain a balance in the work it exhibited. True to its mission, PAAM mounted separate "Modern" and "Regular" summer exhibitions between 1927 and 1937. Partial conciliation was reached in 1937 when concurrent exhibitions were hung in the same gallery on opposite walls. The rise of Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...

—intensified by the location of Hans Hofmann's
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.-Biography:Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Bavaria on March 21, 1880, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann. When he was six he moved with his family to Munich...

 summer school here—again riffled the deep divisions within the arts community during the '50s.

The Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 years of the '30s and the war years of the early '40s were difficult times for the town and the Association. Although annual shows were canceled, volunteers managed to maintain a reduced schedule. By 1947, the regular schedule of two summer exhibitions had been reestablished. The rise of Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...

—intensified by the location of Hans Hofmann's
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.-Biography:Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Bavaria on March 21, 1880, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann. When he was six he moved with his family to Munich...

 summer school here—again riffled the deep divisions within the arts community during the '50s.

When PAAM celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1964 with a retrospective show of its major artists, the organization focused on gaining national attention for Provincetown's considerable contribution to American art
Visual arts of the United States
American art encompasses the history of painting and visual art in the United States. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, artists primarily painted landscapes and portraits in a realistic style. A parallel development taking shape in rural America was the American craft movement,...

. The effect was a boon for the organization. Activities increased, new galleries were added, the exhibition schedule expanded, a storage vault was built to house the expanding collection, and once again PAAM showed itself as the center of the local art world.

As PAAM grew throughout the next three decades, the organizational structure of the museum continued to include strong representation from both the artist and lay communities. PAAM'S dual purpose of the organization—to be a collecting museum and a professional artists' association—has been consistently supported over the course of its history. The collection has been the basis for many exhibitions and has served scholars, researchers and other museums. Including close to 2,500 works from artists who have lived or worked on the outer Cape, the collection is a burgeoning historical record of the art colony.

Recent

PAAM continues to acquire both historical and contemporary works that span a number of genres and styles to increase the vitality of its collection
Collection (museum)
A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...

. The artists' association has also been a vital source of contemporary exhibitions; it also enables PAAM to employ the talents of working artists with exceptional ability as instructors of classes, workshops, lectures and demonstrations.

PAAM's recent renovation and expansion has improved its facilities to reflect its mission. The contemporary wing enables artist members to show their work in contemporary galleries beside our significant American art collection and other world-class exhibitions. The galleries also offer accommodating venues for chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, dance and spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

 performances. The new studio classrooms offer appropriate spaces for children and youth education programs, as well as for adult courses in the Lillian Orlowsky/William Freed Museum School at PAAM.

AAM Accreditation

In 2009 PAAM received the honor of accreditation by the American Association of Museums
American Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...

. Accreditation allows PAAM more grants opportunities, possibilities to partner with more museums, as well as establishing it as a professional and established institution. Out of the estimated 17,500 museums in the US, only 775 are accredited.

Timeline

Select art historical events in Provincetown over the past 100 years
Date Event
1899 Charles Hawthorne establishes the Cape Cod School of Art
Cape Cod School of Art
The Cape Cod School of Art was the first outdoor school of figure painting in America; it was started by Charles Webster Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1898....

1900 E. Ambrose Webster establishes the Summer School of Painting
1914 Provincetown Art Association established on August 22
Influx of artists and writers from New York and Paris
1915 The Provincetown Art Association has its first exhibition at Town Hall
The Provincetown Print Makers formed, inspired by B.J.O. Nordfeldt
Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt
Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt was a Swedish-American artist who painted seascapes and depictions of New Mexico's indigenous culture.-Background:...

1916 George Elmer Brown forms the West End School
The Modern School of Art is formed by B.J.O. Nordfeldt, William
William Zorach
William Zorach was a Lithuanian-born American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the arts.-Life and career:...

 and Marguerite Zorach
Marguerite Zorach
Marguerite Zorach was an American fauvist painter, textile artist, and graphic designer and was an early exponent of modernism in America. She won the 1920 Logan Medal of the Arts.-Life:...

, Frederick Burt, and M. Musselman Car
The Beachcombers, a men’s club of artists and writers, established
1921 7th Annual Exhibition opens at the Provincetown Art Association – first exhibition at its current location, 460 Commercial. Association constitution and bylaws created
1927 The First Modernist Exhibition opens as a result of a petition drawn up by Ross Moffett, Tod Lindenmuth, and thirty other artists in 1926
1933 Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann
Hans Hofmann was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter.-Biography:Hofmann was born in Weißenburg, Bavaria on March 21, 1880, the son of Theodor and Franziska Hofmann. When he was six he moved with his family to Munich...

 School of Fine Art established – located on Miller Hill in the rented studio formerly occupied by Charles Hawthorne’s Cape Cod School of Art
Cape Cod School of Art
The Cape Cod School of Art was the first outdoor school of figure painting in America; it was started by Charles Webster Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1898....

1937 The first combined exhibition of modernists and traditionalists is held at the Provincetown Art Association
1946 Hans and Miz Hofmann purchase the Waugh studio on Commercial Street at Nickerson Street; Hofmann continues teaching
1949 Forum 49 exhibition opens at Gallery 200
1950s Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...

 flourishes
1959 Galleries and Artists’ Cooperatives reach a peak on Commercial Street
1968 The Fine Arts Work Center
Fine Arts Work Center
The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoration of the year-round vitality of the historic art...

 is established
1970 The Provincetown Art Association changes its name to the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, recognizing its mission as a repository of artworks, objects, and archives relevant to the history of art in Provincetown
1978 The Lower Cape Arts and Humanities is formed
1979 The First Annual Fall Arts Festival is launched
1982 The Museum School at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum is established
1987 Consortium for the Arts in Provincetown
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...

 and Truro
Truro, Massachusetts
Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located two hours outside Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the northern tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as the "Outer Cape"...

 is formed to encourage cooperation between existing arts organizations
1999 Provincetown celebrates its 100th anniversary as an Art Colony
Art colony
right|300px|thumb|Artist houses in [[Montsalvat]] near [[Melbourne, Australia]].An art colony or artists' colony is a place where creative practitioners live and interact with one another. Artists are often invited or selected through a formal process, for a residency from a few weeks to over a year...

2006 Renovation and expansion of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum completed by the architectural firm of Machado and Silvetti Associates
Machado and Silvetti Associates
Machado and Silvetti Associates is an architecture and urban design firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1985, the firm's principals Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti have been in association since 1974...


Facilities

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum has five ground-floor galleries with rotating exhibitions
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

 on view throughout the year. Three sculpture garden
Sculpture garden
A sculpture garden is an outdoor garden dedicated to the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings....

s surround the building. The Museum School facilities include second-floor drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...

, painting, and print
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...

 studios. The entire building is equipped with an all-season climate control system.

A recent renovation and expansion of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum has dramatically improved the museum’s ability to store and display art. In 2006, the square footage of the facilities was increased from 11,000 to 19500 square feet (1,811.6 m²).

PAAM's physical plant has been awarded a Silver LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....

 rating by the United States Green Building Council
United States Green Building Council
The U.S. Green Building Council , co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built, and operated...

 to recognize PAAM’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The rating quantifies PAAM’s environmental performance, and assures the public that PAAM’s facility is designed and operated to help save energy and natural resources.

The renovation project, designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates
Machado and Silvetti Associates
Machado and Silvetti Associates is an architecture and urban design firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Incorporated in 1985, the firm's principals Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti have been in association since 1974...

, has also received a 2006 American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 Merit Award for Design Excellence, and recognition within the AIA's 2007 Committee on the Environment (COTE). The building is wood-frame construction over a concrete basement. The historical portion of the Museum, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, is clad with white cedar shingles; the new portion of the Museum is clad with custom Spanish cedar shingles and louvers.

Collection

PAAM's permanent collection features artists who have lived and worked on the Outer Cape. Some artists represented in the collection include Varujan Boghosian, Paul Bowen, George Elmer Browne, Oliver Chaffee, Carmen Cicero, Ciro Cozzi, Charles Henry Demuth, Edwin Dickinson, Chaim Gross, Charles Webster Hawthorne, Robert Henry, Henry Hensche, Hans Hofmann, Franz Kline, Karl Knaths, Blanche Lazzell, Peter Macara, Ross Moffett, Robert Motherwell, Man Ray, John Singer Sargent, Jack Tworkov, Andy Warhol, E. Ambrose Webster, Mike Wright, and James R. Zimmerman. For a complete inventory list of the collection, please visit the PAAM collection webpage.

Educational Programming

The Lillian Orlowsky/William Freed Museum School offers a range of classes and programs throughout the year. Over seventy summer studio courses are offered from May through September, including courses in drawing, printmaking, mixed media, plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...

 painting classes with prominent local artists, and computer classes. Life drawing
Figure drawing
In art, a figure drawing is a study of the human form in its various shapes and body postures - sitting, standing or even sleeping. It is a study or stylized depiction of the human form, with the line and form of the human figure as the primary objective, rather than the subject person. It is a...

 sessions are offered twice a week year-round, and the Museum School holds open print studio hours during the winter. Fall, winter, and spring courses include week-long master classes, multi-week workshops, and semester-long offerings. This exciting program exemplifies PAAM’s commitment to year-round educational opportunities for absolute beginners, established artists, and everyone in between.

In addition to adult courses, the Museum School also coordinates classes for children and teens. Art Reach, a 28-week after-school program created in conjunction with Provincetown High School
Provincetown High School
Provincetown High School is a public high school located in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The school serves 32 students in grades 10-12. There are no students enrolled in grades 8 or 9. Provincetown has one of the smallest high school enrollments in the country as of 2008-2009, and the school...

, runs from October through May. PAAM also facilitates student curating sessions and offers children's art workshops in the summer.

Studio workshops are supplemented by free educational lectures. The Fredi Schiff Levin Lecture Series runs from June through September, with additional lectures taking place periodically as well. Guest lecturers include artists, authors, and art historians
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...

who are brought in to discuss the history of the Provincetown Art Colony as well as its contemporary art scene.

External links


Further reading

  • Ahrens, Nyla. Provincetown: The Art Colony, A Brief History and Guide. Provincetown: Provincetown Art Association and Museum, 2000.
  • Bridges, Robert and Kristina Olson. Blanche Lazzell: The Hofmann Drawings. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2004.
  • From Hawthorne to Hofmann: Provincetown Vignettes, 1899-1945. New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 2003.
  • Moffett, Ross. Art In Narrow Streets: The First Thirty-Three Years of the Provincetown Art Association 1914-1947. Provincetown: Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association, 1989.
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