SUMMER & FALL WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS The 2005 FAWC Summer Program offered the most extensive catalog of classes to date, and utilized every additional space created by the recent construction project. Over 105 classes were scheduled, with many new names added to the roster of revered and accomplished faculty. Past favorites, including Michael Cunningham, Jean Valentine, Sonia Sanchez, Cornelius Eady and Adam Haslett, returned to join an impressive list of first-time Creative Writing faculty, among them Sharon Olds, Julia Glass, E. Ethelbert Miller, Nancy Reisman, Jim Shepard, and D.A. Powell. Newcomers to the Summer Program in the Visual Arts included George Nick, Vicky Tomayko, Liza Folman, Gail Deery, and Yvonne Butler. Peik Larsen put the spacious new print shop to the test with both his Photo-etching workshop and a Master Class in Printmaking, while Marian Roth's Pinhole Photography workshop enjoyed the new darkroom.

The weeklong and weekend workshops offered through the Summer Program extend the Work Center’s spirit of creative inspiration to artists and writers from across the country and from all walks of life. It continues to be one of the most extensive and prestigious programs of its kind in the nation. Students thrive in the intense and supportive community that makes the Work Center such a unique environment. The work they produce, shared during the Thursday night open studios and student readings, speaks of the benefits of the workshop format, and of the focus achieved through the encouragement and constructive critique of faculty and peers. Many students have reported the successes of their artistic endeavors on the Former Student News page of the FAWC website.

More than 60 readings, slide talks, and special events complemented the creative intensity of the summer workshops at 24 Pearl Street. Over 5,000 people attended events in the Stanley Kunitz Common Room in the course of the program, making the Fine Arts Work Center a popular destination on a summer evening. The highlight was an impromptu reading by Stanley Kunitz himself, at the celebration marking his 100th birthday. Stanley selected a few pieces from his new book, The Wild Braid, and then asked for and read from his Collected Poems volume, thrilling the crowd with old favorites. The Provincetown Banner once again sponsored the Summer Program Reading Series, featuring readings and slide lectures by our renowned faculty. Often writers and visual artists paired to present their work, opening dialogue across genre and media. The Work Center also presented several special events, including readings by poets Mark Doty and Robert Pinsky. Mary Oliver was joined by Ekiwah Adler-Belendez, a young poet from Mexico hailed by the poetry community as "a young Prometheus chained." To the delight of her audience, Cynthia Packard gave an energetic live demonstration of her painting technique, employing a can of shellac and a blow torch. Annie Dillard treated a full house to a "little reading and a hilarious conversation," and Robert Henry conducted an interview with the artist Nora Speyer about her life and work. M.P. Landis’s video presentation depicted the process of creating his abstract pieces, and was accompanied by one-man-band Tom Abbs. Artist Declan Halpin spent an afternoon demonstrating the flexibility of the acrylic medium. Comedian Kate Clinton’s sharp political humor had her audience in stitches when she read from her new book What the L? at a benefit and book signing. Norman Mailer offered a Creative Writing Symposium, lecturing on the craft of writing, reading from his own work, and answering questions from the crowd who had come eager to get advice from the Master. Norman generously donated all proceeds from the event to benefit the Work Center.

Summer 2006 promises to be just as exciting and event-filled. Returning to teach after summers away are Michael Mazur, Jo Ann Jones, Richard Baker, Galway Kinnell, and Carl Phillips. Robin Hemley, Sydney Lea, Mark Halliday and Roberto Juarez will join the prestigious list of faculty. Weekend writing symposiums with Grace Paley and others are planned. The Borromeo String Quartet, presented by the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, will present an exciting evening of music. In addition, the accomplished writers and artists that serve as faculty will present readings and slide talks throughout the summer.

The crush and chaos of the busy summer season in Provincetown calms after Labor Day: the streets and beaches are less crowded, the pace slows, and townspeople lose their frantic edge. Though the high intensity of the Summer Program fades with the start of September, there is still plenty happening at the Fine Arts Work Center. This Fall the MFAWC Low-Residency Visual Arts Program was in full swing; ten MFA students were hard at work taking classes, working in their studios and attending slide lectures. The Returning Residency program was also completely subscribed, with Former Fellows back at the Work Center for a few weeks in September to replenish their creative energies. Ten writers and ten visual artists, all talented individuals at the "emerging" stage in their careers, arrived on October 1st to begin the seven-month odyssey of their Work Center Fellowships.

This period of slow-down-and-focus creates a favorable environment for the Fall Workshop Program. Offered on six weekends from early October to mid-November, the Fall workshops are infused with a concentrated intensity. This year, students took advantage of the opportunity to study with both long-time favorites and faculty new to the Fall program. Dean Albarelli and Heidi Jon Schmidt explored the craft of fiction. Franz Wright, Michael Klein, and Mark Wunderlich offered three different approaches to writing poetry, while students writing in the memoir form flocked to classes taught by Marcie Hershman and Robert Finch. Selina Trieff's workshop was a drawing intensive focusing on the figure. Joel Janowitz taught the art of painting light through watercolor. Peter Madden's students learned how to transfer images from Polaroids and emulsion lifts.

The Fall events schedule included a reading by Pulitzer-prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri and poet Suji Kwock Kim, both Former Fellows, and readings and slide talks by faculty members in conjunction with the workshops.

FAWC Fall Workshops are offered in partnership with Campus Provincetown, a consortium of non-profit educational groups working to augment Provincetown's off-season economy.

The Fine Arts Work Center has been fortunate in receiving funds that allow the Center to offer several scholarships to students attending the Summer Workshop Program. Past funders include the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which provided 20 scholarships to educators from the state of New Jersey, and the Archie D. and Bertha H. Walker Foundation, which provided 18 scholarships to students of racial or ethnic minorities. In memory of poet Agha Shahid Ali, we offer a full-tuition scholarship to a poet whose work would benefit from time at the Work Center. The 2004 recipient, Carla Panciera, worked on poems she included in her first collection, One of the Cimalores, published by Cider Press Review in September 2005. The 2005 winner was Gretchen Mattox. There were also 20 Cape Cod Scholarships awarded to lower-Cape residents who, without assistance, would not otherwise be able to attend a class. These scholarships are bestowed on a rolling basis until the twenty spots are filled. If you would like to help fund FAWC scholarships, please contact Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian at 508-487-9960, ext. 102.