OUTER CAPE ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE CONSORTIUM
THE ARTS AND SCIENCE RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Exhibition: May 2-14
Artist Reception - Friday, May 5th 5:00pm to 7:00pm
This show brings together two dune shack residency programs from the Outer Banks of The Cape Cod National Seashore. Sanctioned by the Park, these one and two -week residencies encourage a broad sweep of creative projects in the Arts and Science.
This exhibition features residents from 2019, 2021 and 2022 and is the first combined show since the onset of COVID.
Protect, maintain and preserve for use, the dune shacks of the Cape Cod National Seashore
Peaked Hill Trust was founded in 1986 with the principal mission to protect, maintain and preserve for use, primitive cottages owned by the National Park Service in the Provincelands of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Central to this mission is the goal of providing time and space in the dune colony to artists and makers, as well as the community-at-large, predicated on the belief that low-impact living in the unique beauty and solitude of the Outer Banks is of intrinsic value to all people.
In the beginning, many shacks were slated for demolition. Original shack owners Hazel Werner, Boris Margo, and Zara Ofsevit generously offered PHT the use of their cottages for a pilot project dedicated to shack preservation. After their deaths, the Seashore allowed the Trust to continue with a year-to-year special lease. Today, PHT manages five dune shacks: Euphoria, Thalassa, Zara, Margo-Gelb/Boris and Ray Wells with the same terms. At present, efforts are underway to expand the Trust’s lease with the park to five years.
PHT shacks are maintained by dedicated volunteers and are available by lottery to Trust members and through juried residencies on a weekly basis May through October. To participate in the lottery, members must renew annually by December 31. The PHT lottery system is designed in such a way that members who don’t receive a shack, move up on the lottery list each year so that over time, their chances of getting a shack increase.
The Trust’s five dune shacks are managed by 15 Board of Directors, 12 Caretakers, 5 Exterior Maintenance Captains, 5 Interior Shack Captains, and 12 Utility Captains (Gas, Truck, Repairs, Privies, etc). Volunteer work hours average 672 annually. Part time staff manage PHT operations and include an Executive Director, Administrative Director and Bookkeeper.
PHT manages two juried residency programs. The Outer Cape Artists in Residence Consortium (OCARC) is an arts residency founded by the National Seashore. OCARC is made up of four non-profit organizations -- the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and the Peaked Hill Trust. Each year, OCARC awards six two-week art residencies at the Margo-Gelb/Boris shack.
PHT’s Arts and Science Program is managed by the Trust and is designed to encourage a broad sweep of creative projects in the arts and sciences over 12 weeks in each of the five PHT shacks.