A breathtaking transformation reforms 24 Pearl Street after the Fellows and the Returning Residents have departed. The property is prepared for summer by Buildings and Grounds Manager Dan Towler; he and his hard-working staff clean, paint, test computer equipment, move tools and tables, presses and printers and build a print shop and a writing lab in former artists’ studios. What was, for the winter and spring months, a quiet haven becomes a bustling hive. In a matter of weeks, the Fine Arts Work Center is turned into a small college, ready to serve the ever-burgeoning summer student population with classrooms, visual arts studios, print room, darkroom, computer lab and digital lab.

The weeklong and weekend workshops offered through the Summer Program extend the Work Center’s spirit of inspiration and stimulation to artists and writers from across the country and from all walks of life. The talented and distinguished faculty maintains a degree of excellence that continues to mark the Work Center’s Summer Program as one of the most prestigious and respected in the nation.

Each summer the Program attracts a greater number of students, and new classes are designed to accommodate their changing needs. Nearly 800 students attended workshops this past season. First-time faculty including Antonya Nelson, Major Jackson, Gerry Bergstein, and Sonia Sanchez joined perennial favorites such as Grace Paley, Andrew Mockler and Michael Cunningham to offer a full range of interesting and challenging courses. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons were devoted to presentations and lectures that addressed concerns of writers and visual artists. The new series included presentations by Chris Busa, editor of Provincetown Arts and Provincetown Arts Press; John Skoyles, former director of the low-residency Warren Wilson MFA Program; artist Declan Halpin; photographer and giclee expert Bob Korn; and Ike Williams and Brettne Bloom of Kneerim & Williams at Fish & Richardson, the literary and dramatic rights agency.

The Work Center also hosts faculty readings and slide talks, student readings and open studios, exhibitions in the Hudson D. Walker Gallery, and special events throughout the summer. In recent years, more than 10,000 people attended our events annually. In summer 2003, there was something happening nearly every evening. The roster of readings and slide talks by faculty was impressive; often writers and visual artists paired to present their work, opening dialogue across genre and media. A variety of guests entertained, inspired, and captivated Work Center audiences, including novelist Alice Hoffman, writer Michael Cunningham, biographer Philip Hoare, columnist Andrew Sullivan, poets Mark Doty and Robert Pinsky, and former arts administrator Philip Yenawine. Comedian Kate Clinton brought the house down with a hilarious reading of her sharp and witty political columns. Norman Mailer deviated from the norm and read his poetry, which will be included in a forthcoming book that will also feature his sketches. Stanley Kunitz delivered a poignant talk on "Poems of the Holocaust," featuring pieces by Paul Célan. Grace Paley, Galway Kinnell, Mary Oliver, Marie Howe, and Gish Jen gathered for an evening of readings to celebrate the Grace Paley Endowed Fellowship. Playwright Wendy Kesselman coordinated a staged reading of her play "The Notebook," starring the same actors who brought the play such success in New York. Sonia Sanchez treated her standing-room-only audience to a lively, percussive rendering of her poems.

Summer 2004 promises to be just as exciting and event-filled. Cornelius Eady, Galway Kinnell, Tom Knecktel, André Gregory, and Alex and Becky Webb will join the prestigious list of faculty.

For more information about the Summer Workshop Program and special events, please check our website at FAWC.org.

Summer Workshop Scholarships

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 twenty scholarships to educators from the state of New Jersey, and the Bertha H. and Hudson D. Walker Foundation, which provided eighteen 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. If you would like to help fund FAWC scholarships, please contact Education Coordinator Dorothy Antczak at 508-487-9960, ext. 103.