Phone on the Wind

Provincetown Phone on the Wind — referring to messages being carried on the wind — is a collaboration among 10 local artists that was inspired by the Phone of the Wind created by Itaru Sasaki in Otsuchi.

“As we know, art is a great vehicle for the human condition,” said curator Dawn Walsh, who came up with the idea for the community project after seeing a documentary about the Japan booth. “So for me, being in Provincetown, in an arts colony surrounded by artists, it’s just so important to utilize art-making as an invitation for us as a community to engage in (discussion of) death and dying, grief and loss.”

Maiden Voyage
brass
Nancy Rahnasto Osborne

Nancy's sculpture captures and anticipates motion. She is inspired by the landscape and the human form. Like all natural things, there is something different to be discerned from every side. 

Nancy Rahnasto Osborne was born and raised in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Folklore and Mythology from Harvard University, and received a Masters of Business Administration from UCLA.  After a career at The Walt Disney Company focusing on international consumer product management and marketing, she reconnected with her earlier interests in art and music. In 2008 Nancy began to dedicate herself full-time to her art, inspired by her summers spent on the Cape.  She was introduced to sculpting at Truro Center for the Arts, studying with Joyce Johnson.  She has pursued further instruction for the last 7 years with Romolo Del Deo, at Studio Romolo in Provincetown, MA.

Her paintings and sculpture have been exhibited at The Works Gallery in Wellfleet, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and the Provincetown Art Association (PAAM).  Her lost wax abstract bronze "Maiden Voyage" is currently featured in Provincetown Commons outdoor sculpture initiative at 46 Bradford Street, Provincetown MA.  

Outside of her art, Nancy dedicates herself to supporting her community by serving on various non-profit boards that have included leadership positions with Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and The Angeles Chorale.   She lives nearly half the year in North Truro.  As the season permits, she rows her scull at sunrise most mornings in the sweeping vista below Fort Hill.

"When you touch one thing with deep awareness,
 you touch everything."

- Lao Tzu 

Whorl

Frank Vasello

2021

A SPIRAL LABYRINTH
KATIE SCHWERIN
2021

About the Artist:

I have been an artist throughout my life, with a love for hands-on mediums ranging from fabric sculpture and puppetry, to color-light forms moving to music, to the construction of a large scale boulder labyrinth 125 feet in width. I am an interdisciplinary artist and a recent graduate with an MFAIA degree from Goddard College where I was nurtured as I brought all the pieces of my artist journey of the past fifty years into one whole.

I have a strong affinity with the natural world. I honor and recognize the rhythms of life from the the night sky to the whole earth weather patterns, to a specific place on earth, the soil, water and sun light at play. Even boulders and rocks have their part. They are sentinels for us, grounded and ancient. I experience the natural world as it guides, heals and nurtures me and I want to bring this to others through my art. From a connection to the quiet complexity of nature, I create labyrinths, lead labyrinth creation workshops, and form land art.

Walking the single pathway of a labyrinth is an inward journey to a moment of stillness at the center. And then a journey back. Walk. Breathe. Center.

The Cosmic Spiral Labyrinth

“The spiral is an archetypal symbol that represents cosmic force.” Jung

The spiral form is found throughout nature - in seashells, ferns, flowers, and also in the starry night sky. When two spiral forms intertwine in this spiral labyrinth, there is the possibility of walking into the center and out again, imagining a journey into the cosmic forces of evolutionary form. This path can be walked meditatively to deepen one’s own evolving life path.

Artist: Katie Schwerin

Contact:

e: schwerin@badgerbalm.com | p: 603-358-0751

Installation support: 

Little Field Landscapes and family & friends 

The Installation:

Once on site, I drew the form, measured, adjusted and put in the stakes. Then we lined up the logs in order of height and adjusted their heights with a chain saw where there was a need. Next came the metal edging and drilling. The last thing to do was to tie the rope. Both Chris and Rebecca are boat people and so they took on this challenge, soaking the rope first and then making the knots and then finally, drilling a section of the rope to the post so it wouldn't expand and fall out of position.

Finally, after months of envisioning, it was completed.

About The Spiral Labyrinth:

The spiral labyrinth is two spiral forms intertwined with a vortex. Viewed from above, it is a cosmic wave like the curl of the surf. The spiral form is found throughout nature - in seashells, ferns, flowers, and also in the starry night sky. “The spiral is an archetypal symbol that represents cosmic force.” (Jung). The choice of this labyrinth for The Commons was inspired by this past year of struggle. Surely we all need some deeper connection to our lives, and the double spiral labyrinth seems to me to speak to this need.

Why birch? In the NH woods, the birch stands out in the forest as it catches the light. White birches have appeared in my art since I was a high school student learning batik in art class. I was entranced by the way the birch popped out as a point of light, illuminating the dark, green forest when the sun shines. The white of the birches surrounding my home offer a way to define and honor the energy of a labyrinth and to bring it down to earth and make it visible.

Much of my labyrinth work requires the help of others to gather, move and assemble the form. And these labyrinths welcome the community to come and walk, to connect. So this was a fun, challenging, community endeavor that grew from harvesting birches near my home, to trying out ways to make these logs create the form of a spiral, smooth and inviting, and finally to a weekend installation, efforts by family and friends to give it life here at The Commons.

We are all Birds of a Feather
reused steel drums and metal
Bethia Brehmer

Bethia Brehmer Cape Cod artist inspired by nature.