FAWC Fellows Relief Fund
Donation protected
The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts
The closure of artist residencies across the country due to COVID-19 have contributed to a housing crisis for economically vulnerable creatives.
For more than a hundred years, artists and writers have lived and worked in Provincetown, making it one of the longest-running artist colonies. In 1968, the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) was founded by a group of artists, writers, and patrons including Fritz Bultman, Alan Dugan, Stanley Kunitz, Phil Malicoat, Robert Motherwell, Myron Stout, Jack Tworkov and Hudson D. Walker. They saw that the community of Provincetown was becoming economically inaccessible to low-income artists and wanted to ensure that young, economically vulnerable artists would always have a place there, thus ensuring the continuation of a vibrant artistic community.
Right now there are fellows who are attempting to shelter in place at the FAWC. They have requested to remain there until it is safe to leave. Despite the fact that the FAWC 2020 summer programs and 2020-2021 winter fellowship have been postponed—which means that the buildings will not be in use and therefore empty—the administration has denied the request made by the fellows.
We find the FAWC administration’s denial of this request to be not only hypocritical, in light of the FAWC’s stated mission to support emerging artists and the historical art community of Provincetown, but also unconscionable in light of the current health crisis. Not only has the FAWC administration denied the fellows’ recent request to stay beyond June 15, it has actively pressured fellows to leave, even at a time when evictions in the state of Massachusetts are frozen under an eviction moratorium, which protects the current remaining fellows as “at-will residents.”
To clarify, the Fine Arts Work Center is in full control of residential housing on private property in which they have the independent capacity to legally and safely house fellows, especially during a state of emergency.
We believe that the fellows’ request is more than reasonable. The exceptional circumstances of the global pandemic, coupled with the necessary uprisings in cities across the country, have made traveling difficult, dangerous, and outright impossible for some fellows. As it is, these fellows do not have a safe place to which to travel, nor do they have people with whom they can safely shelter. They have made their request because their summer/fall plans have been cancelled, and they have nowhere to go, and they do not have the funds to shelter in Provincetown’s wealthy community outside of the FAWC campus.
Therefore, we have set up an emergency fund to prevent the unnecessary and avoidable displacement and houselessness of these incredible artists. We are asking for contributions to ensure that the fellows can obtain safe housing. We also encourage you to read and sign this petition , which demands that the FAWC moves towards an anti-racist, anti-corporate framework.
All funds will go directly to fellows currently attempting to shelter in Provincetown. We are working to encourage the FAWC administration to allow the remaining five fellows to continue sheltering on the FAWC campus. The Massachusetts moratorium on evictions prohibits the creation of new rent and fees. However, if the reasons for the administration’s unwillingness to continue housing fellows are financial, we are willing to use these funds to help pay for utilities. The health and safety of these fellows are the top priority.
If, however, the FAWC administration remains unwilling to continue housing fellows through this crisis beyond June 15, we are actively searching for places in Provincetown where these fellows can shelter.
Finally, if enough funds are raised that they exceed the need of the fellows seeking shelter in Provincetown, the excess funds will be distributed on the basis of need to fellows of the most recent cohort, many of whom have, under administrative pressure, already vacated the premises of the FAWC without a clear or safe destination, and who remain unsettled or in precarious situations.
We’d like to extend our gratitude to the greater Fine Arts Work Center community and friends in advance of your most needed support.
The closure of artist residencies across the country due to COVID-19 have contributed to a housing crisis for economically vulnerable creatives.
For more than a hundred years, artists and writers have lived and worked in Provincetown, making it one of the longest-running artist colonies. In 1968, the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) was founded by a group of artists, writers, and patrons including Fritz Bultman, Alan Dugan, Stanley Kunitz, Phil Malicoat, Robert Motherwell, Myron Stout, Jack Tworkov and Hudson D. Walker. They saw that the community of Provincetown was becoming economically inaccessible to low-income artists and wanted to ensure that young, economically vulnerable artists would always have a place there, thus ensuring the continuation of a vibrant artistic community.
Right now there are fellows who are attempting to shelter in place at the FAWC. They have requested to remain there until it is safe to leave. Despite the fact that the FAWC 2020 summer programs and 2020-2021 winter fellowship have been postponed—which means that the buildings will not be in use and therefore empty—the administration has denied the request made by the fellows.
We find the FAWC administration’s denial of this request to be not only hypocritical, in light of the FAWC’s stated mission to support emerging artists and the historical art community of Provincetown, but also unconscionable in light of the current health crisis. Not only has the FAWC administration denied the fellows’ recent request to stay beyond June 15, it has actively pressured fellows to leave, even at a time when evictions in the state of Massachusetts are frozen under an eviction moratorium, which protects the current remaining fellows as “at-will residents.”
To clarify, the Fine Arts Work Center is in full control of residential housing on private property in which they have the independent capacity to legally and safely house fellows, especially during a state of emergency.
We believe that the fellows’ request is more than reasonable. The exceptional circumstances of the global pandemic, coupled with the necessary uprisings in cities across the country, have made traveling difficult, dangerous, and outright impossible for some fellows. As it is, these fellows do not have a safe place to which to travel, nor do they have people with whom they can safely shelter. They have made their request because their summer/fall plans have been cancelled, and they have nowhere to go, and they do not have the funds to shelter in Provincetown’s wealthy community outside of the FAWC campus.
Therefore, we have set up an emergency fund to prevent the unnecessary and avoidable displacement and houselessness of these incredible artists. We are asking for contributions to ensure that the fellows can obtain safe housing. We also encourage you to read and sign this petition , which demands that the FAWC moves towards an anti-racist, anti-corporate framework.
All funds will go directly to fellows currently attempting to shelter in Provincetown. We are working to encourage the FAWC administration to allow the remaining five fellows to continue sheltering on the FAWC campus. The Massachusetts moratorium on evictions prohibits the creation of new rent and fees. However, if the reasons for the administration’s unwillingness to continue housing fellows are financial, we are willing to use these funds to help pay for utilities. The health and safety of these fellows are the top priority.
If, however, the FAWC administration remains unwilling to continue housing fellows through this crisis beyond June 15, we are actively searching for places in Provincetown where these fellows can shelter.
Finally, if enough funds are raised that they exceed the need of the fellows seeking shelter in Provincetown, the excess funds will be distributed on the basis of need to fellows of the most recent cohort, many of whom have, under administrative pressure, already vacated the premises of the FAWC without a clear or safe destination, and who remain unsettled or in precarious situations.
We’d like to extend our gratitude to the greater Fine Arts Work Center community and friends in advance of your most needed support.
Organizer and beneficiary
FAWC FELLOWS Ptown
Organizer
Provincetown, MA
Akiko Jackson
Beneficiary