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PODCAST

The Art Colony

From its roots in the 1800s to its thriving present, Provincetown has always been a magnet for artists. The Art Colony podcast, hosted by Gaston Lacombe, uncovers the people, places, and stories that make this seaside village one of the world’s most enduring creative communities.

arts visual arts

All Episodes

49:09

Everything is a Self-Portrait with Paul Rizzo

The Art Colony ·

2026/09/28

This week, we interviewed artist Paul Rizzo, a year-round resident and “process painter” known for a distinctive personal style and unmistakable work. Rizzo recounts growing up in Marshfield, studying painting at MassArt, formative childhood art classes, a semester in Pont-Aven, France during his father’s sudden death, and moving to Provincetown (first summer 2011, year-round 2012). He describes early jobs (houseboy at the Gallery Inn, selling paintings on the street), a two-year move to New Orleans

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55:35

The Looks, the Voice, the Soul with Qya Cristál

The Art Colony ·

2026/09/21

The amazingly talented Qya Cristál joins us this week on The Art Colony podcast! Qya describes early musical roots singing Whitney Houston at age three, performing in an adult church choir, growing up in Missouri with a musician father, and being inspired by her polished, powerful grandmother. She discusses a strict Southern Baptist upbringing, coming out, evolving identity exploration, and rebuilding family ties. Qya explains starting drag while working at Hershey Park, creating the name Qya, and

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48:49

Love Letter to a Dream with Midge Battelle

The Art Colony ·

2026/09/14

Love Letter to a Dream with Midge Battelle

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38:57

The Life of a Poet with Jeffery Berg

The Art Colony ·

2026/09/07

The Life of a Poet with Jeffery Berg

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46:08

Nurtured by the Colony, Shaping the Arts Future with...

The Art Colony ·

2026/08/31

This week, we interviewed Provincetown native gallerist/curator Russ Lamontagne about growing up in the West End, early exposure to artists and local haunts, and how Provincetown has changed culturally and economically while remaining defined by art. He recounts co-founding a New York gallery in 2000, later opening LaMontagne Gallery in Boston in 2007, and discusses shifts in the gallery world and advice for artists. He describes curating shows with Twenty Summers’ Stanley space and his board role

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37:42

Driven by Passion with Gabby Hanna

The Art Colony ·

2026/08/17

Driven by Passion with Gabby Hanna

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54:17

One Year Anniversary - The Past, Present, and Future...

The Art Colony ·

2026/08/10

Happy one year to The Art Colony! This week, we had a live recording hosted by Provincetown Commons and the Provincetown Art Gallery Association, noting 60+ guests, about 15,000 downloads across all U.S. states and many countries, grants from the Provincetown Economic Development Council and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and listener donations. Joined by Jill Rothenberg-Simons (OnCenter Art Gallery), Gavin Kennedy (Emergent Art Advisory), and Christine McCarthy (PAAM), the panel discusses

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55:31

FΔg BΔsh and Fashion Shows with Jimmy Lee Curtis

The Art Colony ·

2026/07/27

Multidisciplinary artist Jimmy Lee Curtis (aka Mama Lee) joins us this week, kicking off by highlighting Momma Lee’s Fashion Show. Curtis explains his name’s origins at the Birch House, his path from Michigan to Atlanta to 1980s London fashion/textile study, and how the alternative London scene (including Vivienne Westwood and Leigh Bowery) influenced his aesthetic. He recalls British Vogue selecting one of his scarves for a Morocco shoot featuring Christy Turlington. After moving from West

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59:12

The Conqueror of Cashmere with Daniel Hammond

The Art Colony ·

2026/07/20

This week, we interviewed fashion and textile artist Daniel Hammond, a cashmere sweater designer with 25 years’ experience who studied at Parsons and worked for major 7th Avenue names including Emanuel Ungaro, Nautica, Oscar de la Renta, and Perry Ellis. He describes early sewing influences from his mother and grandmother, his technical approach to construction and knitwear, and mentorship that led him to specialize in men’s cashmere. He recounts first visiting Provincetown in 2011, buying a home in

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51:21

Helen Frankenthaler in Provincetown with Elizabeth Smith

The Art Colony ·

2026/07/13

Elizabeth Smith, founding executive director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, joins us this week to talk about painter Helen Frankenthaler and her connection to Provincetown. She explains the foundation’s origins, assets, and mission to promote understanding of visual arts. She recounts Frankenthaler’s New York upbringing, early art education (including Rufino Tamayo and Bennington College with Paul Feeley), brief 1950 Provincetown study with Hans Hofmann, and her sustained summers in

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96:18

50th Episode Celebration: The Eras of Gaston Lacombe...

The Art Colony ·

2026/07/06

In episode 50 of The Art Colony podcast, former journalist Joe Woolley interviews our host, Gaston Lacombe. Gaston, a Canadian-born artist and American citizen, recounts earning history degrees in Ottawa, living 16 years in Latvia in roles from teacher and newscaster to embassy cultural work, becoming the first head of Latvia’s national LGBT organization, and leaving amid threats. In Washington, DC he earned a photography degree, worked as a photojournalist, and created the globally published

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51:36

The Music You Hear Between Dog and Wolf with Zoe Lewis

The Art Colony ·

2026/06/29

Zoe Lewis, born in Rottingdean on England’s south coast, joins us this week as she describes becoming a largely self-taught multi-instrumentalist, learning through bands, travel, and absorbing world rhythms across 70+ countries. She recounts leaving planned tourism studies after joining punk-era bands, traveling with minimal resources, and eventually settling in Provincetown around 1990 after being offered extensive restaurant and late-night shows. She credits Provincetown’s community for sustaining

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57:38

Detours and Contours with Eric Lesh

The Art Colony ·

2026/06/15

This week, we bring on Eric Lesh, a figurative artist now in his fifth season, describes his path from musical theater to LGBTQ rights law (including work at Lambda Legal and directing the LGBT Bar Association of New York) and how figure drawing at the NYC LGBT Center and Zoom sessions during the pandemic grew into commissions and queer art fairs like Barnwood and Art Gaysel. He explains his whimsical, expressive line-based nude work and influences (Al Hirschfeld, Keith Haring, Jean Cocteau), his

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45:48

Avital Sagalyn: A Return to Provincetown

The Art Colony ·

2026/06/08

This week, we welcomed returning guest Christine McCarthy of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) plus Elaine Grossman and Daniel Sagalyn to discuss the exhibition “Avital Sagalyn: Mid-Century Provincetown,” on view through August 2, 2026. McCarthy describes the exhibitions committee’s excitement at discovering Sagalyn’s “breathtaking” works and their maturity for an artist in her 20s. Daniel and Elaine explain Sagalyn’s life: born in 1925 in Palestine under the British mandate, raised

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61:26

Everyone’s Favorite Showgirl! with Ryan Landry

The Art Colony ·

2026/06/01

We have finally brought in the amazingly talented performer and artist Ryan Landry to talk about his life and work. Landry recounts growing up in Wallingford, Connecticut, moving to New York City, and arriving in Provincetown in 1979, describing the town’s earlier “Wild West” atmosphere and his early jobs. He explains how his prop-heavy performances in “Puttin’ On The Hits” led him to create the long-running Monday-night competition Showgirls in the late 1980s, emphasizing its curated,

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41:07

Follow The Music with Mike Flanagan

The Art Colony ·

2026/05/04

This week, we welcome Provincetown musician and artist Mike Flanagan, a full-time resident, who plays saxophone and piano, as well as multiple other instruments, studied music education at Berklee, earned a master’s in Music Education at NYU, and now is the entertainment director at Provincetown's Tin Pan Alley and Post Office Café. He also teaches band, keyboard lab, and co-teaches Italian at the Provincetown School. Flanagan recounts his path from Brockton to Boston and New York, his early

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49:52

The Long Walk Home with Pete Hocking

The Art Colony ·

2026/04/27

This week, we welcome Provincetown artist and teacher Pete Hocking. Pete discusses seven as a formative age before peer pressure. Pete recounts childhood Cape Cod trips, early dreams of living and painting here, and influences from comics, superheroes, and Snoopy. He describes a career balancing art with teaching activism and leadership at Brown and RISD and art at Goddard, adoption’s impact on his self-portrait and queer-themed work, and how an MFA in creative writing ultimately brought him back to

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41:11

In the Season of Twenty Summers with Alice Gong

The Art Colony ·

2026/04/20

This week, we welcome 20 Summers program director Alice Gong to discuss the Provincetown arts organization and its spring festival. She shares her path to the Outer Cape and explains that 20 Summers was founded about 15 years ago to honor and activate the historic Hawthorne Barn, built in 1906 by Charles Hawthorne as an art school and later used by generations of artists. Privately owned today, the barn is programmed by 20 Summers for five weeks a year with mostly free or suggested-donation

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54:20

Art in L'overalls

The Art Colony ·

2026/04/13

Art in L'overalls

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51:43

Inspired by History with Megan Hinton

The Art Colony ·

2026/03/30

This week, we interviewed a Provincetown multidisciplinary artist, educator, and curator Megan Hinton about how studios and process shape art. Hinton, raised in Ohio, describes coming to art through deep looking and connecting drawing to sports via eye–hand coordination, with art helping to live more freely and queerly. We describe current abstracted-realism bird collages built from drawings, photos, and cut canvas, using a blue-black palette and birds as a symbol of freedom amid a polarized

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33 results

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