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The latest news about
The Cape Cod Scool of Art
Dear Friends,
It is with my deepest regret that I must announce that I have sold the old barn that housed the Cape Cod School of Art. It was the most difficult and upsetting decision I have ever made. However, selling the barn did not precipitate the end of the Cape Cod School of Art because after 20 years, operating the school on Pearl Street became impossible.
The original school was located at another location on Miller Hill Rd. When Charles Hawthorne, the founder died in 1935, my teacher Henry Hensche re-located the school to an old barn at 48 Pearl Street.
When I became the director in 1985 I invited many fellow artists to teach and expand the curriculum. This invigorated interested in the school and enrollment increased by 300 students every summer.
Despite this success, the school has in fact, been closed for the past 5 years. This was due to many circumstances.
Students were unable to afford the increasing prices of guest houses in Provincetown. Coupled with the inability to commute from other towns due to lack of parking at the school, lack of laundry facilities, the rising cost of vacationing on the Cape, enrollment dropped by 60 percent.
The decisive blow fell in 2000 when weather and old age took its final toll on the building. The foundation began cracking, the septic system failed, and walls and sills started warping. The building was unsound, uninsurable, and uninhabitable, and the town closed us down.
To keep the school alive, my husband and I endeavored to secure grants and financial help and we went through an extensive application process hoping that the school would be included in a large new art center nearby. These attempts failed because the school was no longer a viable institution.
Despite this sad reality, we realized that it was important to preserve the historic footprint of the barn. We secured all the necessary plans and permits for a new foundation and septic system. When they were presented to the Provincetown’s historic commission, they set up many costly barriers that our financial situation was ill equipped to fund.
When the situation looked bleak, we received a surprising, and unsolicited, offer to buy the condemned old building, as is.
Knowing that the barn and its location could no longer sustain an art school, I made an exceptionally emotional decision and sold the barn. My decision to sell is better understood when one realizes that the Cape Cod School of Art is not a location, but rather, it is an idea and an ideal about painting.
When the situation looked bleak, we received a surprising, and unsolicited, offer to buy the condemned old building, as is.
Knowing that the barn and its location could no longer sustain an art school, I made an exceptionally emotional decision and sold the barn. My decision to sell is better understood when one realizes that the Cape Cod School of Art is not a location, but rather, it is an idea and an ideal about painting.
The Cape Cod school of Art has influenced artists for over 100 years. Through their paintings and their teaching, I am confident that the school will remain a vital part of the contemporary Plein Air painting scene. The school was my artistic birthplace and I hope to contribute to the school’s continuing legacy by completing my second book.
Henry Hensche continued to fan the flames after Hawthorne through his devotion to the principles of color. Through Henry Hensche’s students who work under this great painting tradition, the legacy of the Cape Cod School will continue.”
Recently I have moved to Arizona. This came after a great deal of thought and the fact that I can paint outdoors 10 months out of the year. I am also hoping that the warmer dryer climate will be better for my asthma.
I had lived on Cape Cod for 35 years and never pictured myself living anywhere else. But when this opportunity to relocate to Arizona presented itself, I knew it was the correct, yet tough, decision to make.
I plan on continuing to teach the color theory that I love. Please check this website to see my workshop schedule.
I look forward to meeting you, seeing and painting with you again to celebrate the legacy of Impressionist color of the Cape Cod School of Art.
Lois Griffel
Green Valley, Arizona
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Lois Griffel · 3363 S. Calle del Albano · Green Valley, Arizona, 85622 · 520-207-4055 · Loisgriffel@yahoo.com
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