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 colony of

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...

. The Work Center was founded in 1968 by a group of American artists and writers to support promising individuals in the early stages of their creative careers. The Work Center, whose founders included

Stanley Kunitz Stanley Jasspon Kunitz (; July 29, 1905May 14, 2006) was an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress twice, first in 1974 and then again in 2000. Biography Kunitz was born in Worcester, Massac ...

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

, Myron Stout and

Jack Tworkov Jack Tworkov (15 August 1900 – 4 September 1982) was an American abstract expressionist painter. Biography Yakov Tworkovsky, more commonly known as Jack Tworkov, was born in Biała Podlaska on the border between Poland and the Russian Empi ...

, annually offers ten writers and ten visual artists seven-month residencies, including a work area and a monthly

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

. The Center also offers a Master of Fine Arts degree in collaboration with the

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

, seasonal programs, and readings and other events. The Center was awarded a 2010

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Access to Artistic Excellence grant to support the Winter Fellowship program. The Center’s website summarizes the importance of the Center in this way: Notable former fellows include writers

Michael Cunningham Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952) is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for his 1998 novel '' The Hours'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999. Cunningham is a senior lectur ...

Alice Fulton Alice Fulton (born 1952) is an American author of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Fulton is the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English Emerita at Cornell University. Her awards include the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, ...

Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". He ...

Denis Johnson Denis Hale Johnson (July 1, 1949 – May 24, 2017) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and poet. He is perhaps best known for his debut short story collection, '' Jesus' Son'' (1992). His most successful novel, ''Tree of Smoke'' (2007) ...

Yusef Komunyakaa Yusef Komunyakaa (born James William Brown; April 29, 1941) is an American poet who teaches at New York University and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Komunyakaa is a recipient of the 1994 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, for ''Neo ...

Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...

Susan Mitchell Susan Mitchell (born 1944) is an American poet, essayist and translator who wrote the poetry collections ''Rapture'' and ''Erotikon''. She is a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry. Life Mitchell grew up in New York City, New York ...

and

Franz Wright Franz Wright (March 18, 1953 – May 14, 2015) was an American poet. He and his father James Wright are the only parent/child pair to have won the Pulitzer Prize in the same category. Life and career Wright was born in Vienna, Austria. He graduat ...

; and visual artists Yun-Fei Ji,

Madhvi Parekh Madhvi Parekh (born 1942) is an Indian contemporary artist living in New Delhi. Her work revolves around childhood memory, women’s craft, folk art and Indian myths. Although her inspirations are traditional, her style is contemporary as she ...

, Sam Messer and

Lisa Yuskavage Lisa Yuskavage (1962) is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. She is known for her figure paintings that challenge conventional understandings of the genre. While her painterly techniques evoke art historical precedents, her ...

History

The Fine Arts Work Center was founded in 1968 by a now illustrious group of artists, writers, and patrons, including

Fritz Bultman Fritz Bultman (April 4, 1919 – July 20, 1985) was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor, and collagist and a member of the New York School of artists. Biography A. Fred Bultman was the second child and only son of A. Fred and ...

, Salvatore and Josephine Del Deo,

Alan Dugan Alan Dugan (February 12, 1923 – September 3, 2003) was an American poet. His first volume ''Poems'' published in 1961 was a chosen by the Yale Series of Younger Poets and went on to win the National Book Award for Poetry and the Pulitzer P ...

, Philip Malicoat,

, Myron Stout,

, and Hudson D. Walker. The founders envisioned a place in Provincetown, the country's most enduring arts colony, where artists and writers could live and work together in the early phase of their careers. The founders believed that the freedom to pursue creative work within a community of peers is the best catalyst for artistic growth. The Work Center has dedicated itself to this mission for over forty years.

The Fellowship Program

Today the Fine Arts Work Center is a leading long-term residency program for emerging artists and writers and one of the most renowned. Each year the Visual Arts and Writing Committees, composed of internationally recognized artists and writers, select twenty Fellows (ten visual artists and ten writers) from some 1,000 applications worldwide. The selection process is rigorous, and the Fellows are accepted on the basis of the quality of work submitted. For the seven-month period of October 1 to May 1, the selected painters, sculptors, installation, and time-based media artists, photographers, fiction writers and poets bring their lives to Provincetown to devote their time to their work. The Fellows receive living and studio space and a modest stipend. The only thing asked in return is that they stay in Provincetown and focus on their work. Each year, writing Fellows have the opportunity to publicly read from their work and visual artists are invited to exhibit in solo shows. All Fellows can publish their work online in the in-house art and literary journal ''Shankpainter''. Since the Work Center's founding, more than 800 Fellowships have been awarded. Fellows have made an enormous impact on American arts and letters, publishing hundreds of books and exhibiting their art in countless museums and galleries worldwide. Past Fellows have won virtually every major national award in their respective fields, including the

Pulitzer Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 20th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) * Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-pro ...

, MacArthur, Whiting, Pollock-Krasner, Tiffany,

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, Guggenheim, NEA, and

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. The Fine Arts Work Center awards more fellowships each year than any other program of its kind. It is among the most competitive fellowship programs anywhere. Its presence in Provincetown, with its rich artistic heritage, stunning natural beauty and legendary light, enhances its renown.

The Summer Workshop Program

Each summer, the Fine Arts Work Center offers approximately eighty workshops focused on creative writing and the visual arts. Hundreds of students study with a faculty of master artists and writers; the workshops are week-long, extending over ten weeks from mid-June through late August. The Summer Workshop Program has been accredited by American University, Lesley University and Maine College of Art in Portland. Revenues from this program help support the Fellowships.

Other residency programs

The Fine Arts Work Center offers a Returning Residency Program that encourages former Fellows to return to Provincetown by offering apartments and studios at discount rates during a number of weeks in the Spring and Fall. The Long-Term Residency Program for former Fellows was recently inaugurated, and extends the opportunity to live in Provincetown for up to three years at below-market rents. Five new live/work spaces at the Meadow Road development on Bradford Street are offered to former Fellows (for up to three years) who meet the affordable rental guidelines; each unit is approximately with separate studio space. In collaboration with other arts organizations around the country and abroad, the Fine Arts Work Center hosts one- to three-month Collaborative Residencies in the Summer and Fall. Writers or visual artists are selected on the merit of their work by the collaborating organization. Apartments, studio space and stipends are sponsored by the collaborating organizations; the Work Center provides the space in which to work and, perhaps most importantly, a community of like-minded peers with whom to share and discuss ideas, the very essence of collaboration. The

Ohio Arts Council The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Ohio. History Established in 1965, its mission is to "foster and encourage the development of the arts and assist the preservation of Ohio's cultural heritage." Each year it awar ...

, a collaborative residency partner since 1994, sends a writer and a visual artist for three months every summer. The

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...

sends one visual artist each year for a two-month period. For the past several years

Four Way Books Four Way Books is an American nonprofit literary press located in New York City, New York, which publishes poetry and short fiction by emerging and established writers. It features the work of the winners of national poetry competitions, as well ...

has sponsored one month-long residency for poets published by the press. The Copley Society of Boston, also a long-time collaborative partner, awards a one-month residency to a visual artist. The Gaea Foundation also works in collaboration with the Work Center, though its residents live off-site in a cottage on Commercial Street. Artists, writers, musicians and performers, usually with a political or activist bent, are given one- to two-month residencies and a stipend to live and work in Provincetown.

The MFA in Visual Arts

Since September 2005 the

has collaborated with the Fine Arts Work Center to offer a low-residency Master of Fine Arts program in Provincetown. Candidates selected by the Boston-based MassArt study and work in Provincetown at the Center during four 24-day residencies in September and May over the course of the two-year program. They are taught and evaluated by a faculty of prominent resident and visiting artists. During the periods between the Provincetown residencies, the students, many of whom are already pursuing careers in the arts, return home to work under the guidance of approved mentors who visit their studios once a month. On-line history and academic courses support an understanding of the historical and cultural context of contemporary work, including their own. At the conclusion of the program, candidates return to the Work Center for a final two-week residency in September to present their thesis shows, participate in thesis reviews and submit their written theses.

The Visiting Artists and Writers Series

Since 1968 the Fine Arts Work Center has brought nationally recognized artists and writers to Provincetown for public lectures, readings and exhibitions. Each year thousands of people enjoy these presentations, which are free and open to the public. These events occur throughout the year. Recent visiting artists and writers include

Galway Kinnell Galway Mills Kinnell (February 1, 1927 – October 28, 2014) was an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1982 collection, ''Selected Poems'' and split the National Book Award for Poetry with Charles Wright. From 1989 to 1 ...

Marge Piercy Marge Piercy (born March 31, 1936) is an American progressive activist and writer. Her work includes ''Woman on the Edge of Time''; ''He, She and It'', which won the 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award; and ''Gone to Soldiers'', a New York Times Best ...

Mark Doty Mark Doty (born August 10, 1953) is an American poet and memoirist best known for his work ''My Alexandria.'' He was the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. Early life Mark Doty was born in Maryville, Tennessee to Lawrence an ...

Paula Vogel Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play ''How I Learned to Drive.'' A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Bro ...

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of ...

Oscar Hijuelos Oscar Jerome Hijuelos (August 24, 1951 – October 12, 2013) was an American novelist. Of Cuban descent, during a year-long convalescence from a childhood illness spent in a Connecticut hospital he lost his knowledge of Spanish, his parents' ...

Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Earl Franzen (born August 17, 1959) is an American novelist and essayist. His 2001 novel ''The Corrections'', a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, was a Pulitzer Pr ...

Richard Prince Richard Prince (born 1949) is an American painter and photographer. In the mid-1970s, Prince made drawings and painterly collages that he has since disowned. His image, ''Untitled (Cowboy)'', a rephotographing of a photograph by Sam Abell and ...

Ha Jin Jin Xuefei (; born February 21, 1956) is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (). ''Ha'' comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement. Early life Ha Jin was born in L ...

Marilynne Robinson Marilynne Summers Robinson (born November 26, 1943) is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and ...

Mark Strand Mark Strand (April 11, 1934 – November 29, 2014) was a Canadian-born American poet, essayist and translator. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1990 and received the Wallace Stevens Award in 2004 ...

, and Bill Jensen. Readings and talks are scheduled year-round.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 42, 03, 19.94, N, 70, 11, 04.13, W, display=title Art schools in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1968 Provincetown, Massachusetts 1968 establishments in Massachusetts Artist colonies