ABOUT THE COMMONS

As we continue to transform passion into sustainable careers, we invite you to become part of The Commons. With your generous support The Commons will continue to build a thriving community for our local creative and business professionals. Be part of the story.

Ahmed is a director and filmmaker who works between New York and Cairo. His work is heavily influenced by his relationship to both places.

click on link above to watch our promotional video
directed by Commons’ member Ahmed Ibrahim shot by Chidi Nobi
with music by Commons’ member Mark Louque

The Commons is a collaborative workspace for artists and small business, serving the cape and islands all year long.

As a school and community center, 46 Bradford Street has been a Provincetown asset for more than a century. The Commons continues that tradition as a year-round coworking space for creative individuals, artists, entrepreneurs, and start-up businesses—as well as being a space for education and community gatherings.

As a school and community center, 46 Bradford Street has been a Provincetown asset for more than a century. The Commons continues that tradition as a year-round coworking space for creative individuals, artists, entrepreneurs, and start-up businesses—as well as being a space for education and community gatherings.

Our open-plan studio spaces, for up to ten artists and designers, and coworking space, for up to thirty-four people, operate with a membership model. In addition, we offer flexible community space that accommodates up to 70 participants, an exhibition space, high-speed internet, printing capabilities, meeting space, and teleconferencing facilities.The Commons is an intergenerational community, open to established Provincetown artists and entrepreneurs while welcoming the next generation. Building on the traditions and strengths of Provincetown’s history, we’re committed to supporting the town’s effort to both preserve and grow
the arts as a vital part of our economy and as a facet of our tourism. We’re excited to help build Provincetown’s capacity as a technological hub for media arts and new types of economic innovation.

The History of 46 Bradford Street

The Old and New Governor Bradford Schools

The original structure at 46 Bradford, an elegant, wood-framed, Queen Anne-style building, was built in 1892 to house the Governor Bradford School. In 1935, the structure burned down in the middle of the night without any loss of life.

The Colonial-style New Governor Bradford School rose from the ashes of the original. Nearly 100 pupils were enrolled here before it closed in the mid ’50s. The building reopened as the Provincetown Community Center in 1956, under the charge of the town Recreation Commission.

Susan Leonard, a town native and historian, said the center’s focus was on after school arts-and-crafts classes, ping-pong, Camp Fire Girls, and Boy Scouts; the halls echoing with the voices of easily a hundred kids. Friday night dances were the place to be for Provincetown High School students, she said, and almost everyone’s first real date was here. The Community Center then moved in 2013 to the Veterans Memorial Elementary School, and the building stood vacant for 5 years until The Commons began renovations.

THE RENOVATION

The Provincetown Commons is a new nonprofit that emerged around the possibility of adaptively reusing the old Community Center (46 Bradford Street) as a work space for the year-round creative economy. A working group successfully responded to the town's Request for Qualifications and submitted a response to the Request for Proposals on January 12, 2017. Our proposal was accepted by the town, and after permitting and due diligence we finalized a 99-year lease for the building in September 2017.

MISSION & GOALS

our Goals

Establish a nexus for creative collaboration, work, and professional development as a way of building Provincetown’s year-round economy.
Provide educational and professional programs that support economic development.
Maintain workspace for established and emerging artists and creative professionals, including access to shared technology, conference rooms, and strong digital infrastructure.
Communicate nationally that Provincetown supports artists and creative professionals on a year-round basis.
Research the existing impact and potential of the arts/creative economy as a means for building Provincetown’s year-round economy.
Provide space for start-ups and community organizations.
Establish an intergenerational working community, including professionals, youth, and retired people.
Develop funds to seed new economic opportunities.
Provide access to civic space for creative programming and program development.

The Provincetown Commons supports creative professionals, artists, small enterprise, scientific and technological projects, and community initiatives through collaborative workspace, shared resources, educational programs, and economic development initiatives.

Through the development and management of accessible space and resources, The Commons serves as a nexus for collaboration, vibrant relationships, and new economic opportunities for creative people in Provincetown.