Conversation

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The Art of Journalism
Jun
15
5:00 PM17:00

The Art of Journalism

$35 — All proceeds benefit the Local Journalism Project

Featuring Tessera C. Knowles, Ed Miller, Adam Moss, Daniel Okrent, and Andrew Sullivan in conversation.

Journalism informs. It investigates. It holds the powerful accountable. But can it also be art? Adam Moss makes that case in his new book, The Work of Art, featuring visual artists, novelists, poets, musicians, and journalists like Gay Talese, Ira Glass, and the front-page editors of the New York Times. Join Moss and Provincetown Independent editor Ed Miller, along with journalist and historian Dan Okrent, journalist and podcaster Andrew Sullivan, and journalist and artist Tessera C. Knowles, to discuss the creative side of journalism — as it is practiced now, as it has flourished historically, and as it takes ever-new forms on the way to an indefinite future.

This event benefits the Local Journalism Project — the nonprofit organization that supports next-generation journalists at the Provincetown Independent.

Daniel Okrent is the author most recently of The Guarded Gate; he also invented Rotisserie League Baseball and was the first public editor of the New York Times. Andrew Sullivan, who writes The Weekly Dish, is the author of The Conservative Soul and was the editor of The New Republic. Ed Miller has worked as a writer, editor, and book publisher; he is co-author of How to Produce a Small Newspaper. Tess Knowles, an artist and garden designer, was a reporter at the Provincetown Independent. Adam Moss was the editor of New York, the New York Times Magazine, and 7 Days.

From Howard Karren’s review of The Work of Art in the Independent:
“In 2019, when Adam Moss left his powerful perch as top editor of New York magazine after 15 years, he decided to devote himself to painting. It didn’t go well. He was obsessed and tormented with his progress as an artist, and the harder he worked, the more frustrated and unsatisfied he became. To lift himself out of that quagmire, he embarked on a project that would employ his skills as a journalist: he would talk to artists of all stripes and genres and explore how they did what they did so well. The result is a book, The Work of Art: How something comes from nothing, which was published by Penguin Press in April. It is, in itself, a splendiferous piece of work, filled with thoughtful analysis, joyful and humorous stories, and hundreds of images and doodles and footnotes. The collection of artists’ voices is impressive, even dazzling.”

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Faces of Celebration: Mike Sullivan Open House & Artist Talk
Jun
11
2:00 PM14:00

Faces of Celebration: Mike Sullivan Open House & Artist Talk

Free

Open House 2-7pm | Artist Talk at 6pm

Faces of Celebration: Embracing individuality within Community

Through the mediums of sculptural mask work and photography, Provincetown artist Mike Sullivan displays an immersive exploration of individual expression and collective identity. With handcrafted masks created with materials ranging from wasp nests to stained glass, the Faces of Celebration art installation and artist talk will offer a glimpse into how masks of various types can symbolize contemporary and traditional methods of communication, for individual and collective purposes. In addition to the sculptural display, photographs and interactive pieces will be exhibited to highlight the transformative and reflective qualities that mask work instills, offering a multi dimensional experience. Through participation as a viewer, or engaging in the interactive elements, visitors can contribute their individuality to the tapestry of our vibrant community. 

Mike Sullivan is an artist and musician. His work includes sculptural headwear made with materials ranging from natural objects to jewelry and broken mirrors.  Mike immersed himself in the queer communities in Provincetown and New York City, where he found a passion for portrait and documentary photography. With roots in the theater, Mike has produced several concerts and collaborations with other singers and musicians as fundraisers for different cause.

"Ornate and decadent, yet composed of elements from the natural world like peacock feathers, flowers, and branches as much as jewels, shards of broken mirror, and found objects, Mike Sullivan's masks, crowns, and headpieces evoke dichotomies, clashes of materials, ideas, and ideals. And yet the dramas within them ultimately feel balanced." –Rebecca Alvin, Provincetown Magazine

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20S x CCMHT | Revisiting ‘Directions in 20th Century Architecture’
Jun
9
6:00 PM18:00

20S x CCMHT | Revisiting ‘Directions in 20th Century Architecture’

$20 Suggested Donation

Presented by Twenty Summers, Cape Cod Modern House Trust and Forum 24

On August 18th, 1949, Forum 49 hosted a panel discussion called ‘Directions in 20th Century Architecture’ featuring architect Marcel Breuer, the artist and filmmaker György Kepes, and architect and journalist, Peter Blake, who was then curator for Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art.

All three speakers were engaged in the then-raging debate about whether modern houses should use the materials and methods of vernacular, regional architecture, or employ universal, standardized, machine-made components.

Breuer had just finished building his own experimental house in Wellfleet and one for the Kepes family not far away. Both houses were modest-sized, environmentally sensitive, outposts for art-making and creative congregation. 

By coincidence this 75th anniversary of Forum 49 is also the year the Cape Cod Modern House Trust is seeking to purchase, restore and re-open Breuer’s house as a platform for scholarship and new creative work.

By looking back at the Forum 49 discussions, this talk will explore the relevance of Breuer’s work today, as well as the process of preserving his summer house and the archiving of its contents.

Peter McMahon (left) is the Founding Director, Cape Cod Modern House Trust. Author (with Christine Cipriani) of Cape Cod Modern.

Timothy Rohan (right) is Department Chair and Associate Professor of American and European  Architecture. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Author of The Architecture of Paul Rudolph (Yale 2014) and numerous articles in academic journals, including ones about Marcel Breuer.

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Isle McElroy, Pat Kearns & Patrick Nolan in Conversation
Jun
6
6:00 PM18:00

Isle McElroy, Pat Kearns & Patrick Nolan in Conversation

$20 Suggested Donation

McElroy’s debut novel, “The Atmospherians,” told the clever but slightly insiderly and overfreighted tale of a wellness cult designed to cleanse men of their toxicity. “People Collide” is a more agile, universal book, with its title alluding to the randomness of human connection. It’s a variety of rom-com, really, that somewhat lost art. “Circumstances pinball people together,” the narrator declares. “This is called fate because chance is too scary a word.”

Perhaps no situation is more pinballish than that of in-laws, and McElroy’s unexpected digression into the psyche of Elizabeth’s mother, a frustrated writer herself who unknowingly condemns Eli for abandoning her daughter, is one of the novel’s great gifts.

McElroy, who lives in Brooklyn, seems to aspire as much to flight as to eavesdropping. “People Collide” has some bumpy, odd spots — what body doesn’t? — but its naturalness and ease with the most fundamental questions of existence make it a big project knocking around in a small package, portending even bigger projects ahead.

-”Want to spice up a marriage? Switch bodies.” by Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times, 2023

Isle McElroy is a writer based in Brooklyn. Their debut novel, The Atmospherians, was named a New York Times Editors' Choice. Their second novel, People Collide, was New York Times Critics' Pick. Other writing appears in The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, The Cut, Vulture, GQ, Vogue, The Atlantic, Tin House, and elsewhere.  

​Isle was named one of The Strand's 30 Writers to Watch. They have received fellowships from The Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, The Tin House Summer Workshop, The Sewanee Writers Conference, The Inprint Foundation, The Elizabeth George Foundation, and The National Parks Service. 

Patrick Nolan is Vice President, Publisher of Penguin Books and imprint of Penguin Random House. He joined the company in 2000 as sales director and is now the book-publishing right hand to Viking, overseeing their paperback reprints and a select list of Penguin trade paperback originals as well as the backlist. The list of authors he works with includes Amor Towles, Tana French, Rebecca Makkai, Ruth Ozeki, Bessel van der Kolk, and Robert Greene and the estates of Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and John Steinbeck. 

As an editor he is interested in a wide variety of literary and commercial nonfiction and fiction. He has published numerous titles by the #1 New York Times best selling author Matt Haig, including The Midnight Library and Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle, National Book Award long listed poet Rio Cortez, and nonfiction from Keyu Jin, Benjamin Taylor,  Farah Karim-Cooper, and Richard Deming. Before Penguin he worked at Houghton Mifflin Company, The Walt Disney Company, and Waterstone’s Booksellers. He is board chair for the Animal Care Center of New York City and serves on the Programming Committee for the Provincetown Book Festival.

Pat Kearns is a writer living in Provincetown, MA. He is the keeper of the people’s parlor and writes for the Arts & Minds section for The Provincetown Independent. 

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"Project 562" Matika Wilbur Artist Talk
Jun
1
3:00 PM15:00

"Project 562" Matika Wilbur Artist Talk

$20 Suggested Donation

Over 10 years ago Matika Wilbur began to develop a monumental aspiration that has led to her work today: to help develop a body of imagery and cultural representations of Native Peoples to counteract the relentlessly insipid, one-dimensional stereotypes circulating in mainstream media, historical textbooks and the culture industry. To create positive indigenous role models to do justice to the richness and diversity and lived experiences of Indian Country. 

In 2012 Matika Wilbur sold everything in her Seattle apartment and created Project 562 which reflects her commitment to visit, engage and photograph all 562 plus Native American sovereign territories in the United States. 

Matika Wilbur photographed Dr. Henrietta Mann, who is enrolled with the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes. Mann is an emeritus professor at Montana State University. (Matika Wilbur)

This project has driven her to travel hundreds of thousands of miles, many in her RV the “Big Girl” but also by horseback through the Grand Canyon, by train, plane, and boat and on foot across all 50 states. 

She reflects a remarkable way of being an artist in the contemporary world. The photographs that Matika takes reflect her consummate craftsmanship. Beautiful black and white images that selectively incorporate color and showcase their subjects in vital mutualism with the lands on which they live and which they steward. 

But her virtuoso technique is only one aspect of the social and cultural meaning of the works. They are one product of her dynamic engagement with Native communities in which she takes the time to understand the stories and histories of particular tribes. Each particular tribe and each individual and experience which shapes entirely the way the portrait comes to be. From this lecture, the audience has the opportunity to “journey”.

Matika Wilbur was raised in the Swinomish tribal community, and she is enrolled in the Tulalip Tribe, where she currently lives with her husband and baby. She integrates fine art and social justice as a long-form photo documentarian, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, and public speaker. She is the founder and photographer of Project 562, a documentary project dedicated to changing the way we see Native America.

After earning her BFA from Brooks Institute of Photography, Wilbur began her career in fashion and commercial photography in Los Angeles. But she quickly decided to instead use photography as a tool for social justice. Project 562 is Wilbur’s fourth major creative project elevating Native American identity and culture. Her first project captured portraits of Coast Salish elders for We Are One People (2004, Seattle Art Museum), then We Emerge (2008, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture), which featured Native people in contemporary urban and traditional settings, followed by Save the Indian and Kill the Man (2012, Tacoma Art Museum), which addressed the forced cultural assimilation of Native Peoples.

Through her lens, we are able to see the diversity, vibrancy and realness of Indian Country, and in seeing, challenge and surpass stereotypical representations and refresh the national conversation about contemporary Native America.

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Keynote: Bonnie Wright
May
26
4:00 PM16:00

Keynote: Bonnie Wright

$20 Suggest Donation

Humans are 22 times more likely to remember a story than a fact. Stories shape cultures and grow worlds—expanding our imagination and conception of what is possible. In this sense, stories might be the greatest hope we have in rewriting our relationship with the planet. In this keynote address, filmmaker and Go Gently author Bonnie Wright will join Willow Defebaugh, Atmos Editor-in-Chief and author of The Overview, for a conversation on the narrative of sustainability and what it means to live in harmony with the Earth.

Bonnie Wright (she/her) is most known for her work as an actress playing Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films, but has since stepped behind the camera. Directing shorts, commercials and music videos, with projects having premiered at Cannes and Tribeca Film Festival. Bonnie is a passionate advocate for climate justice as an ambassador for Greenpeace. In 2022 she published her debut book, ‘Go Gently Actionable Steps to Nurture Yourself and the Planet’ with Harper Collins and Hachette. The book explores practical and tangible ways we can take action for our environment and community. She is currently in post-production with Dash Pictures for her Go Gently TV show, a documentary following her and Pattie Gonia on a road trip along America’s West Coast exploring the magic of our planet and the restorative work that people are doing to protect it.

Willow Defebaugh (she/her) is the Cofounder and Editor-in-Chief of Atmos. She writes a weekly newsletter called The Overview which offers a holistic look at life on Earth through the lens of deep ecology. Her work has been featured in V Magazine, CR Fashion Book, L’Officiel USA, Vogue US, Vogue China, i-D, The Guardian, Them, New York Magazine, BBC, and more.

Banner Photograph by Vivek Vadoliya for The Overview by Atmos

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Future of Fashion
May
26
2:00 PM14:00

Future of Fashion

$20 Suggested Donation

At its heart, fashion is a tool of creativity and transformation—we slip into shapes and silhouettes, ever discovering new shades of self. So why is an industry that is so driven by “the new” seemingly incapable of reinventing itself when it comes to the health of people and the planet? This event will bring together two forces within the industryphotographer Camila Falquez and model, author, and organizer Cameron Russellto share their reflections on creating authentic and meaningful change over the course of their careers.

Cameron Russell (she/her) is a model, writer, and organizer. Her work leverages creative collaboration and collective storytelling to aid evolution.

Camila Falquez (she/her) is a New York-based photographer of Colombian heritage. She was born in Mexico City and grew up in Spain. Falquez’s photographs harness the traditions of fashion and portrait photography and honor the contemporary spectrum of social and gender diversity. Channeling the conventions of surrealism and a strong color palette, Falquez elevates and empowers her subjects. Her images have been published in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, El País, WSJ, and Vogue, among others. She has collaborated with brands such as Clinique, Hermes and Nike. In 2022, Falquez had her first solo exhibition in New York at Hannah Traore Gallery called Gods That Walk Among Us. In 2023, Falquez was named the Fashion Photographer of the Year at the Latin American Fashion Awards. Her work was also acquired for the permanent collection of the Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida.

Banner photograph by Arianna Lago for Atmos Volume 07: Prism

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Oceans Between Us
May
26
10:00 AM10:00

Oceans Between Us

$20 Suggested Donation

All life once rose from the ocean, and all life still depends on it today. From melting glaciers and rising sea levels to plastic pollution and overfishing, our common origin is in danger. This group of marine biologists, ocean advocates, and researchers of the local coastal ecosystem will venture into a discussion about how the ocean connects us—and what we can do to protect it.

Maximiliano Bello (he/him) is an international ocean policy expert who has worked in the environmental arena for almost three decades to advance marine conservation priorities. He has worked with diferent international non-governmental organizations. Bello has worked with a wide array of international fora including the United Nations and UN conventions and bodies serving as the UNFCCC. Additionally, Bello has worked directly with governments in Latin America and around the world to establish marine protected areas. Of note, Bello was instrumental in securing protections for over 2.3 million square km of countries’ territorial waters. Bello is a distinguished fellow with the Latin American Program of the Wilson Center, Founder of the Ocean Leader’s Program at Edinburgh University in Scotland, and others. Bello has lead and participated in numerous scientific expeditions including to Antarctica, Cocos Island (Costa Rica), Cordillera de Coiba (Panama), East Timor, Galapagos (Ecuador), Mozambique, Patagonia (Chile) and Revillagigedo (Mexico).

Andy Mann (he/him) is a renowned National Geographic photographer, filmmaker, Emmy-nominated director and 12-time Telly Award-winner who is driven by a deep passion to document and protect the world’s marine environments. As a founding member of SeaLegacy, his work plays a pivotal role in telling the story of our rapidly changing planet and inspiring critical change. To date he has helped to protect over 1 million square kilometers of ocean. Having worked on all 7 continents, Andy’s imagery is remarkably memorable, reminding us how the emotion of an image can touch our spirit.

Daniel M. Palacios, Ph.D. (he/him) is a prominent marine biologist and oceanographer recognized for his research into the impact of environmental conditions on whale distribution and behavior. As the incoming Director of the Right Whale Ecology Program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA, Dr. Palacios is poised to lead cutting-edge research and conservation initiatives for the critically endangered right whale. His work combines scientific rigor with innovative approaches to tackle pressing marine conservation issues. Additionally, Dr. Palacios is a long-term practitioner of the contemporary Japanese martial art, Aikido, known as 'the Art of Peace,' whose principles he incorporates into his daily life to foster more authentic connections.

Bodhi Patil (he/him) is a UN-recognized, award-winning GenZ ocean-climate “Solutionist” and student-leader dedicated to planetary stewardship. He has been featured by the United Nations, Wildlife Conservation Society, Oceanic Global, Aspen Institute, and FutureSwell. He is the Founder & CEO of Inner Light, empowering a generation to build climate resilience from the inside out. As an ocean champion, he works to increase ocean justice, policy, investment, and action with a global community of young ocean leaders he co-created - Ocean Uprise.


Alannah Vellacott (she/her) is a marine ecologist, science communicator and ocean advocate with 14 years of experience working in marine research, conservation and education in The Bahamas and The Caribbean.

Banner Photograph by Vivek Vadoliya for The Overview by Atmos

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Keynote: Bayo Akomolafe
May
25
4:00 PM16:00

Keynote: Bayo Akomolafe

$20 Suggest Donation

The ecological crisis is only a symptom of a deeper spiritual disconnect, one that must be mended to heal the whole. What can we learn from nature about the processes of decay and renewal? What must be decomposed in order for our species to mend its relationship with the Earth? In this keynote conversation bridging the spiritual and ecological, we will hear from Atmos editor-in-chief Willow Defebaugh and philosopher, writer, and founder of The Emergence Network Bayo Akomolafe, as they invite us into a deeper understanding about the transmutations and murmurations our world is faced with today.

Bayo Akomolafe (he/him), rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak. He is the Founder of The Emergence Network, a planet-wide initiative that seeks to convene communities in new ways in response to the critical, civilizational challenges we face as a species. He is host of the postactivist course/festival/event, ‘We Will Dance with Mountains’. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (US) and Ancient Futures (Australia).

Photo by Justin J Wee

Willow Defebaugh (she/her) is the Cofounder and Editor-in-Chief of Atmos. She writes a weekly newsletter called The Overview which offers a holistic look at life on Earth through the lens of deep ecology. Her work has been featured in V Magazine, CR Fashion Book, L’Officiel USA, Vogue US, Vogue China, i-D, The Guardian, Them, New York Magazine, BBC, and more.

Banner photograph by Jacques Brun for The Overview by Atmos

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Embodied Activism
May
25
2:00 PM14:00

Embodied Activism

$20 Suggest Donation

There is no separating equality from ecology, which knows that no member of any natural system has more value than another. In a world of polycrises, what does it mean for activism to be a daily necessity? How can we more deeply integrate it into our lives, allowing our values to shape a more fulfilling and joyful existence? This discussion will bring together advocates who are reframing how we talk about social and environmental justice—and what it means to be an embodied activist.

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune is Groundwork USA’s Chief Officer of Climate Resilience and Land Use. She is a people-centered climate adaptation planner, community organizer, educator, parent, and cautious optimist. Raised in an environmental justice neighborhood, Cate is committed to furthering a future where all people live in clean, thriving communities. Cate received her B.A. in Biology from Reed College; a Master of Science Education from CUNY Lehman; and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She lives with her family, community, and container garden in Massachusetts.

Mikaela Loach (she/they) is the best-selling author of It's Not That Radical: Climate Action To Transform Our World, a climate justice activist, co-host of The YIKES Podcast, writer and former medical student based in Brighton. In 2020, Forbes, Global Citizen and BBC Woman's Hour named Mikaela as one of the most influential women in the UK climate movement. In 2021, she was one of three claimants on the "Paid To Pollute" case who took the UK government to court over the huge public payments they give to fossil fuel companies every year. Her work focuses on the intersections of the climate crisis with oppressive systems and making the climate movement a more accessible space.

Sierra Quitiquit (she/her) is a professional skier, climate activist, model, and filmmaker. As an outdoor enthusiast, Sierra naturally evolved into a vocal climate activist and co-founded Plastic Free Fridays, a non-profit with the mission to help significantly reduce single-use plastics consumption among individuals. Sierra is also an ambassador for Protect Our Winters (POW), an organization helping turn passionate outdoor people into effective climate advocates who can affect systemic solutions to climate change.

Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru is a climate storyteller passionate about making the climate movement relevant and accessible to everyone. Harnessing her background as a Rhodes Scholar and youth climate activist, Wawa works to bring climate justice to the mainstream. Her goal is to be an effective communicator that helps inspire a generation of “unlikely” environmentalists.

Banner photograph by Annie Lai for The Overview by Atmos

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Going Back to the Land
May
25
10:00 AM10:00

Going Back to the Land

$20 Suggest Donation

To rewrite our future, we must right the wrongs of the past and present—including the harm that colonization has authored upon the Earth’s original caretakers and listen to their words of wisdom. In this talk, Indigenous advocates, leaders, and visionaries will invite the audience into a discussion about Native sovereignty, stewardship, reparations, and the landback movement.

Jade Begay (she/her), Tesuque Pueblo and Dine, works at the intersections of Indigenous rights and climate and environmental justice, shaping national and international policy. Jade works alongside frontline communities to develop place based solutions.

Ruth H. Burns (she/her), or Cankudutawin (Red Road Woman), is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota who was born on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and currently resides in her ancestral homelands. She is a Tribal judge and a columnist for Atmos magazine.

Quannah ChasingHorse (she/her) is a Han Gwich’in and Sicangu/Oglala Lakota land protector, climate justice activist, and fashion model from Eagle Village, Alaska and the tribes of South Dakota.

Melissa K. Nelson (she/her) is a Anishinaabe/Metis ecologist, scholar-activist, and media-maker working to advance Indigenous rights and biocultural diversity through research, education, advocacy, and philanthropy.

Jennifer Randolph (she/her) is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and the founding Executive Director of The Northeast Native Network of Kinship and Healing. Jennifer’s work focuses on providing advocacy and restoration services for Native people who have been impacted by sexual and intimate partner violence. She believes that relationship to culture, community, and land is vital to healing and thriving.

Banner photograph by Philip-Daniel Ducasse for Atmos Volume 06: Beyond

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Queering Nature
May
24
6:00 PM18:00

Queering Nature

$20 Suggest Donation

The queer experience is rooted in expression and acceptance—a celebration of all the unique and individual natures that make up the whole of nature, a rich tapestry woven by biodiversity. In this panel discussion, expert voices from the field of queer ecology will explore wonders from around the planet that challenge our human notions of gender and sexuality, who gets to determine the narrative frameworks of biology, and the expansive nature of identity.

self-portrait, trans ANDN

Pınar Sinopoulos-Lloyd (they/it) is an Indigenous multi-species futurist, wildlife tracker, anti-disciplinary researcher/artist, and co-founder of Queer Nature.


Sabrina Imbler (they/them) is a writer for Defector, a sports and culture site, where they write about creatures and the natural world. Their first full-length book, How Far the Light Reaches, won a 2022 LA Times Book Prize. Their chapbook Dyke (geology) was selected for the National Book Foundation's Science + Literature program. Sabrina lives in Brooklyn with their partner, a school of fish, and their two cats, Sesame and Melon.

Photo: Marion Aguas

Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian (she/her) is the Curator of Mycology at the New York State Museum, and a professor of biology with Bard Prison Initiative. Patty's research focuses on fungal taxonomy, diversity, and evolution, as well as queer theory and philosophy of science. Her forthcoming book, Forest Euphoria: A Queer Bestiary, will be published by Spiegel & Grau in 2025.

Willow Defebaugh (she/her) is the Cofounder and Editor-in-Chief of Atmos. She writes a weekly newsletter called The Overview which offers a holistic look at life on Earth through the lens of deep ecology. Her work has been featured in V Magazine, CR Fashion Book, L’Officiel USA, Vogue US, Vogue China, i-D, The Guardian, Them, New York Magazine, BBC, and more.

Banner photograph by Louisiana Mei Gelpi

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Impermanence: Sian Robertson Open House & Artist Talk
May
21
to May 22

Impermanence: Sian Robertson Open House & Artist Talk

****Sian Robertson Artist Talk on Wedneday 5/22 at 5pm is SOLD OUT - we encourage you to stop by for any of the Open House hours: 5/21 (2pm-7pm) and 5/22 (10am-3pm), no RSVP necessary!***

Free

Tuesday, May 21
Open House 2pm-7pm

Wednesday, May 22
Open House 10am - 3pm
Artist Talk at 5pm -7pm -- SOLD OUT

Over the past six or seven years I have focused on cutting away certain areas of maps, creating lace-like pages of roads, rivers, and other geographical features. These are then protected between sheets of acrylic, in boxes, or safely mounted on panels.

For my site-specific installation at Twenty Summers, I will embrace the fragility of the pages, leaving them unprotected and open to whatever might happen when people also enter the space. I envision hundreds of cut maps hanging from the beams, perhaps randomly, perhaps in a specific layout. 

I’m interested in how people will interact with them - will they wait for permission to touch them, to walk through them? Will they worry about damaging the individual pieces, or see themselves as part of the installation, as catalysts for changing it? Will they be delighted, or irritated, by the pieces being in their way? If, at the end of the project, I tell them they can take a small piece of it home, will they embrace that idea, or see it as destroying the whole?

I have a sense of the installation being somewhat representative of the world, in particular the fragility of the planet and how we are failing to take care of it. But I also like the idea that it spreads through the community and parts of it live on wherever people put the pieces that they take. I see the whole as ephemeral and removing some of the individual elements does not diminish it. And maybe, during future iterations of the installation, more will be added, and it will continually evolve; perhaps becoming a permanent part of my art practice.

Sian Robertson grew up in South West Wales, in the UK. She received a BEd (Hons) from Rolle College in Exmouth, Devon and went on to work in the union and non-profit sectors in both Bristol and London until moving to America in 1992. After seven years in San Francisco she settled on Cape Cod running retail stores and working in an art gallery in Provincetown. Robertson has never received any formal art training but has been cutting and pasting, amongst many other creative pursuits, since she was about eight.

In 2023 Robertson was the recipient of the Juror’s Award at the International Society of Experimental Artists’s annual show, Innovations, held at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod. Robertson’s Postage Portraits were featured in Uppercase Magazine in 2015, and her Map Sculptures in the same publication in 2020. Robertson teaches classes at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, and at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. 

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Ecosystems & Imagination at the Barn
May
19
1:00 PM13:00

Ecosystems & Imagination at the Barn

$20 Suggested Donation

Join us at the Hawthorne Barn for a social practice workshop about the future of our natural world. This event is part 3 of 3 of Ecosystems & Imagination, an artist’s interactive approach to future/present visions of the sea coast in the face of sea level rise, and the vulnerability of public space. 

What are the ecosystems near the water, both human and nature based? What is public space at the coast for? How will we live here in the future? What will allow this way of life to continue equitably? Markets and festivals, promenades, concerts, waterfront recreation (beachcombing, fishing, launching boats, relaxing, walking dogs, weather watching, science) The cycle of days: sunrises, sunsets, views, markers, identity.

Presented by Mark Adams and Traven Pelletier, in partnership with the Center for Coastal Studies.

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Capturing Ptown: Quil Lemons Artist Talk
May
18
6:00 PM18:00

Capturing Ptown: Quil Lemons Artist Talk

$20 Suggested Donation

See new photographs and drawings from Quil Lemons captured during his Twenty Summers residency. Lemons will be documenting landscapes, faces and figures of Ptown, including posed portraits on Polaroid and 35mm film.

Quil Lemons is a New York-based photographer, originally hailing from Philadelphia. His visual language is distinct and interrogates ideas around masculinity, family, queerness, race, and beauty. Quil’s work dances the line between the fantastic and realistic, resulting in disruptive images that feel like pure imagination, while simultaneously grounding us in references to our current cultural climate. His images can be found in publications such as Allure, Garage, i-D, Shadowplay, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Variety, and W, among others. His clients include Burberry, Calvin Klein, Givenchy, Guess, Gucci, Moncler, Nike, Nordstrom, SSense, and Valentino, among others.

Quil has exhibited at International Center of Photography, New York, 2021, in Lincoln Center at the American Ballet Theatre’s Fall Season, New York, 2021, Aperture’s New Black Vanguard, New York, 2019, Kuumba Festival, Toronto, 2019, and Contact Festival, Toronto, 2018. He has given artist talks at Fotografiska in New York, and ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA. He launched a capsule collection with Sky High Farm Workwear titled “Farm Boys Do It Better” in February 2023 and is currently a Contributing Art Director at the brand. 

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Lost & Found: Michael Joseph Artist Talk
May
18
3:00 PM15:00

Lost & Found: Michael Joseph Artist Talk

$20 Suggested Donation

A chance meeting with a stranger on the side of the road led artist, Michael Joseph down a decade-long journey photographing and documenting an American subculture, called Travelers. Travelers are the most contemporary of non-conformists, having evolved from the 1930s Dustbowl Hobo, '50s Kerouac Beatnik, and the '90s East Village Squatter.  Michael will present his work and new book, "Lost and Found: A Portrait of American Wanderlust" through visuals and audio. His current portrait project set in Provincetown, called "Wild West of the East" will be discussed. Topics common to both projects include identity formation, found family, wanderlust, the human journey and the search for equality and human authenticity.

Michael Joseph is a street portrait and documentary photographer. Raised just outside of New York City, his inspirations are drawn from interactions with strangers on city streets and aims to afford his audience the same experience through his photographs. His portraits are made on the street, often unplanned and up close to allow the viewer to explore the immediate and unseen. Themes throughout his portraiture and projects include identity formation, found family, wanderlust, the human journey, the search for equality and human authenticity. His first monograph, "Lost and Found: A Portrait of American Wanderlust", was published Fall, 2023 (Europe) and will be coming out Spring, 2024 (USA) by Kehrer Verlag.

Michael has been exhibited nationally with solo shows at Daniel Cooney Fine Art and the Soho Photo Gallery and the FP3 Gallery. He has lectured at the International Center of Photography, the Savannah College of Art and Design, in portraiture classes at the New England School of Photography and taught at the Light Factory. He is a 2023 and 2016 Photolucida Top 50 Photographer, 2020 Photolucida Finalist, and LensCulture Portrait Award Finalist. Michael was named “One of the Top 25 LGBTQ+ Film Photographers You Need to Know” by Analogue Forever magazine in 2021.  He is a recipient of the fellowship in photography from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a grant from the Peter S. Reed Foundation.

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