THE MINERAL MUSE
No wind. No Waves. No clouds.
Only the whisper of the tide as it withdrew, stroking the shore,
a lazy drift of gulls overhead,
and tiny points of light
bubbling in the channel.

(From The Wellfleet Whale by Stanley Kunitz)
 
Cape Cod's beaches have long inspired artists, probably for as long as there have been people around to enjoy them. What is it about the nearly 560 miles of coastline that invites creativity? Color, texture, heat, life, nature. Between happy dogs, beach joggers, and laughing children, there lies inspiration – and sand is often at the root of it!
 
Pick up a handful and you have about 2 million grains running through your fingers. Think back a million years or so, and that handful will have been a part of a rock face perhaps many miles from the coast. Weathered and eroded by wind and water, the rock cracks and breaks, and as it rolls down river and stream it gets smaller and smaller as it goes, until arriving at the coast. The tiny rock particles are now sand. The journey carried on as the sand is pulled into the ocean and—along with everything else—is compressed, gradually turning back into rock. These are not transient in our minds, but permanent and fixed places of beauty and inspiration.
 
Now think of artists gaining inspiration from these grains of beach and sea, dissembling it into the imaginative impulse, and reassembling it into a work of art. Artists like Edward Hopper, Mary Oliver, Cynthia Packard, and Stanley Kunitz have all been inspired by Cape Cod's beaches.
 
So the next time you are walking across a sandy beach, looking over one to the ocean, or just relaxing on one in the sun, ponder those centuries of books, photographs, songs, or paintings that are inspired by those tiny particles of rocks. Think about the miraculous link between the extraordinary process of nature that brought it to us, and art that we create in return.
CULINARY ARTS
Tuesday, November 17 from 6-8pm
Chez Panisse Dinner for Domaine Tempier
With Chef Joe Cizynski

Renowned for the brilliant innovations of its ever-changing menu, Chez Panisse had also come to represent a culinary philosophy inspired by nature. The chef will duplicate the menu from January 22, 1987, for the Peyraud family that owns Domaine Tempier.

Menu:
  • Amuse-bouche (mussels on the half shell and warmed creamed salt cod on garlic toast)
  • Fish and bread soup
  • Grilled veal chop with wild mushroom au gratin
  • Puff pastry pear tart with chestnut honey ice cream

Bring your own beverage … and your appetite!

$65 Members, $70 Non-Members

Friday, November 13
Gourmet Take Out
With Chef Joseph Cizynski
Curbside pick up between 4:30-5:30pm

Venison night
Menu:
  • Venison sausage salad with cherries and fennel Venison ragout with Barolo wine and wild mushrooms
  • Baked apples with oranges, currants, and Riesling, served with creme fraiche

$35 Members, $40 Non-Members

Friday, November 20
Gourmet Take Out
With Chef Joseph Cizynski
Curbside pick up between 4:30-5:30pm

Vegetarian night before Thanksgiving week!
Menu:
  • Provençale pistou soup with sheep’s milk cheese croutons
  • Baked ziti with wild mushroom “Bolognese” sauce
  • Roasted beet dark chocolate brownies with pistachio Anglaise sauce

$35 Members, $40 Non-Members

VISUAL ARTS





Beginning December 1
Pastel Painting: Pet Portraits
With Betsy Payne Cook
Three Tuesdays from 2-4:30pm

Explore creative ways to use photographs of favorite animals and beloved pets to create a unique keepsake or gift. This class will take you through the drawing and painting stages to create at least one pastel painting. Betsy will share ideas about how to use cropping options to enhance your photo and ways to select representational and “fun” color combinations. She will also show how to create proportional sketches based on your photograph that will then translate to a painting of the same proportional size.

$100 Members, $110 Non-Members






Beginning December 4
It’s The Little Things... Painting Smalls
With Odin Smith
Three Fridays from 2-4pm

Good things really do come in small packages!
Make beautiful small works In acrylic with instruction, guidance, and great ideas for gifts to give away or to enjoy yourself!

Be sure to buy small canvases in advance for use in this class. Recommended: the 4”x 4” canvases with mini easels at Michaels or order online. The easels make a great and inexpensive display for the paintings. You may want to work on several at a time, so buy accordingly.

$85 Members, $100 Non-Members






Thursday, December 10 from 6:30-8:30pm
Figure Painting & Drawing
With Sarah Holl

In this class, students can practice their drawing or painting skills while working from a live model. Students will be encouraged to find their own voices and explore various mediums. Students will receive individual instruction as well as group critiques. Open to all levels of experience.

Socially Distanced - Mask Required

$25 per person






Friday, December 11 from 5-7pm
Happy Hour Painting
With Odin Smith

Friday Night Wine Down turned into HAPPY HOUR!! Grab a glass of your favorite beverage or a cup of coffee, and get ready to paint along with Odin. Simply follow along as she guides you step by step through a painting, all while you relax and engage in the creation of a work of art made by you. At the end of the class, you will have created your very own masterpiece! 

$30 Members, $35 Non-Members

DO IT YOURSELF (DIY)





Thursday, November 19 from 6-8:30pm
Creating a One-of-a-Kind Veggie Bouquet
With Molly Demeulenaere

Join us to create with like-minded friends, learn new techniques, and make some memories.

Each participant will be provided with a colorful variety of organic fruits, veggies, herbs, and nuts. There will also be an assortment of fun add-ons like buttons, corks, paper, wire, and twine for you to choose from before you learn everything you need to know about putting together a stunning piece of art.

This small, socially-distanced experience includes your choice of mulled cider or prosecco, and we ask that masks be worn during the class.

Please note: everything is purchased specifically for your visit, and all materials are included in the price.

$75 Members, $90 Non-Members

The Cultural Center is honored to partner with William R . Davis to raffle this incredible piece.

Stormy Evening at Highland Light
by William R. Davis
14" X 16" framed
valued at $5,800

Tickets are $20 each, or three for $50.

All proceeds will support the Center's education programs both onsite and online.

The drawing will be held May 29, 2021. Ticket holders do not have to be present to win.

Call 508-394-7100 or drop by the Center today to get your tickets. Thank you and good luck!
CURRENT EXHIBTIONS
The Bass River Knitters have worked all year to bring you “STITCHES” Pop-Up Shop. This labor of love brings you gorgeous wearable art just in time for the holidays, and all the proceeds are donated to the Cultural Center of Cape Cod.
MOVEMENT





Every Friday from 8:30-9:30am
Yoga for Wise Warriors!
With Lees Yunits

Beginners will be taught basics; more experienced will deepen their knowledge, and all will learn varied ways to enhance their knowing. Lees’s background includes many assorted styles of yoga, including hatha, viniyoga, yin and kundalini. Just as important are the invaluable techniques of breath work. Always there will be some form of meditation, as well, whether simple stillness, or transcendental, counting, mantra singing, or guided. The whole of a yoga session depends on joining body work, breath work, and meditation. Not to mention some humor here and there! Whether fast, or slow, all of Lees’s yoga classes intend to move you forward on your Journey to Joy.

$15 Drop-In, $75.00 - 6 weeks

MUSIC AT THE CENTER





Saturday, November 28 at 7pm
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night!
With Tony Raine and Tim Miller

Vinyl records are making a big comeback. For the first time since the 1980s, they are outselling CDs in the United States. People are pulling out their old LPs from the basement and cranking out the tunes on turntables again. To celebrate, Tim Miller and Tony Raine, hosts of “Tim ’n’ Tony’s Rock ’n’ Pop Show” on WOMR-FM, are presenting “Bring Your Own Vinyl Night.”
Raine, longtime manager at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis, has presented concerts and music series featuring Ray Davies of the Kinks, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, and many other luminaries and has served as tour manager for Carlene Carter. Raine has managed several acts, including Siobhan Magnus. Miller worked for the Cape Cod Times for 36 years as entertainment editor, film critic, and occasional music critic. He now writes a movie column for Cape Cod Wave Magazine. They will be joined by special guest Randy Wickersham of Spinnaker Records of Hyannis.

Socially Distanced - Mask Required

$15 per person






Sunday, November 29, at 3pm
From Beethoven to Gershwin: A Concert by Virtuosi Violinist Ilana Zaks and Cellist Eric Zaks
 
Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to experience wonderful music and support two gifted musicians.

Violinist Ilana Zaks has performed with numerous orchestras including the Boston Civic, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and Cape Cod Symphony. A member of the Perlman Music Program, Ilana has studied with Donald Weilerstein for the past 12 years. Ilana’s passion resides in creating theatrical multidisciplinary collaboration, breaking the stereotypes of modern musical experiences through inclusion of contemporary works by women, popular recital works, and works she commissions. An advocate for contemporary music, Ilana won an NEC EM grant for her commissioning project of four violin and percussion duo works featuring multidisciplinary collaborations. The result of this project was her debut album and first ever visual album "The Persistence of Memory," which was released on Amazon Prime US and UK in July 2020. Since 2013, she has been a member of the Perlman Music Program in which she has been studying with legendary Itzhak Perlman.
 
Ilana will perform solo selections on the violin and will also be joined by her brother Eric, on the cello.
 
Socially Distanced - Mask Required

$20 per person

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
CALL FOR ENTRIES