
Free Daily Podcast Summary
by Gaston Lacombe
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.
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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, audience-participatory, mentoring spirit and celebrity guest stars; he previews a Sesame Street-themed set and venues including the Crown & Anchor and Provincetown Inn. Landry discusses studying art, painting intensely during COVID, exhibiting annually at the William Scott Gallery, his studio habits, plans for a puppet project, his theater company the Gold Dust Orphans and Boston Christmas productions, and his rock band Space Pussy.
This week, we interview Cole Cook, a sculptor who was born in New York, raised in Los Angeles by actor parents, and spent summers on Cape Cod. Cook describes being shepherded into baseball, playing professionally across all minor-league levels, then becoming unhappy and eventually leaving the sport after an eye-opening trip around artists in New York. After studying improv at UCB, writing, and working as a pitching coach, he moved to Cape Cod during the pandemic with his cats and began making wood sculptures, drawn to trees, woodworking, and the “truthfulness” of carving. He discusses learning tools through observation and experimentation, wood selection and sourcing.
This week, we welcome author, editor, and publisher Russ Lopez to The Art Colony to discuss his new book, Provincetown Stories. Lopez recounts first visiting Provincetown in January 1981, returning for decades with his husband, and eventually buying a home before COVID, while noting changes such as higher costs, heavier tourism, and evolving attitudes around race and performance. He describes his earlier LGBTQ history book Hub of the Gay Universe (2019) and explains that fiction offers freedom to convey “truths” without strict documentation. Provincetown Stories is a linked collection of short tales with recurring characters, renamed locations, frank depictions of sex and partying, and magical realism, including an immortal Cuban figure, Luna, and a made-up Feast of St. Bonaventure. Lopez reads excerpts about arriving over the Truro hill and Provincetown’s artistic creativity rooted in unconventional freedom, then shares where to find the book and upcoming local events.
This week, we interview Liz Carney, artist and owner-director of Gallery 411 on Commercial Street. She describes her roles as painter, educator, entrepreneur, and property manager, and traces her family’s Provincetown roots through her mother, a MassArt-trained art educator who bought 411 Commercial Street around 1980 and filled it with renters including artists, writers, and local characters. She discusses the building’s history as the Francis Guest House and its architectural changes in the 1960s. Liz explains founding the small storefront gallery in 2011, her shift from “studio” to gallery, her focus on local artists, and advice for artists seeking representation. She also discusses her plein-air painting practice, influences, and the next generation of creative Carneys, ending with a brief speed round.
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 inspirations, and how drag performer Liza Lott helped connect him to Provincetown gigs. He discusses managing rowdy piano-bar crowds, taking requests, and memorable audience moments, plus collaborating with singers and producing tribute and cabaret shows. He highlights Billboard-charting releases, a John Lennon Songwriting Competition win, and a 1M+ view YouTube video, and previews his Bear Week Town Hall concert “Bear Hug” on July 16.
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 painting. In Provincetown, street scenes and later dune and seashore walks shaped more abstract paintings focused on fragility, climate, and remaking the world; he outlines his workshop philosophy and upcoming classes, and reflects on social media as a long-term creative archive.
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 conversations, concerts, workshops, installations, and a residency. The episode previews May–June 2026 highlights including Ecosystems and Imagination with Mark Adams, concerts, a Hawthorne-style painting class with John Clayton, residents’ events and installations, and new partnerships, while also describing year-round programming at the Stanley space, including the Media Diet installation through Memorial Day.
Art in L'overalls with Myra Kooy. Our guest today is a visual artist who also co-owns her own art gallery in Provincetown, the Radiance Art Gallery. In this episode, we talk about how being a woman, and African-American, has played a role in Myra's life and art. We journey through her growth as an artist, from selling handmade suspenders on the streets of New York City to owning an art gallery in Provincetown. This episode is full of happiness and laughter, as we discuss choosing joy in our lives.
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.
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