Provincetown Community Compact

Nurturing Community

Image of Adirondack chair by the dunes
David Bethuel writing at a desk


Dune Shack Residencies Open For 2024

Provincetown Community Compact Dune Shack Residencies open for 2024 for the general public, with designated stays for a Native American, visual artists, an emerging artist of color and writers. Deadline January 15, 2024

The Provincetown Compact Compact announces 2024 dune shack residency applications are now open. The Compact is pleased to offer residences for C-Scape and Fowler Dune Shacks in the Cape Cod National Seashore, available April through November for the general public with applications due January 15, 2024. Dune Shacks

The Compact also offers three, 3-week artist and two writer residencies in Fowler and C-Scape Dune Shacks, including a residency for an emerging artist of color, named for the late David Bethuel Jamieson, a Black artist who spent time in Provincetown and died of AIDS in 1992. The top recipient of this residency will receive three funded weeks in the C-Scape Dune Shack and a $500 fellowship. Another 3-week stay also includes a $500 fellowship. Artist residents are selected by a jury.

An emerging artist of color is defined as one who has yet to receive a major exhibition or showcasing opportunities and has not had extensive media coverage for their work. Artists of all ages may apply.

Writers may apply for one of two one-week residencies underwritten by The Compact, chosen by lottery. Two additional writers' weeks are also available in collaboration with the Fine Arts Work Center.

The Compact will continue to underwrite a week this year for a Native American in collaboration with the Native Land Conservancy (NLC) and continue its voluntary Honor Tax request for all applicants (contributions are tax-deductible). This is an opportunity to move beyond land acknowledgement and offer financial support for the use of unceded land. Last year $2,000 was raised for NLC.

“An Honor Tax is a tangible way of honoring the sovereignty of the Wampanoag and other Native American Nations. It should not be thought of as a gift but rather a step towards repair and healing,” states Compact Director Jay Critchley. “We encourage other organizations and individuals to create an Honor Tax,” he added.

The two historic dune shacks that The Compact manages, Fowler and C-Scape Shacks, are among the nineteen shacks located within Peaked Hill Bars National Register Historic District of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The shacks are primitive — no electricity or indoor plumbing — and isolated, allowing for uninterrupted solitude and refuge. The Compact maintains and administers these shacks under an agreement with the Seashore.

The Provincetown Community Compact, Inc. (The Compact), celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023, was established in 1993 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization by artist Jay Critchley. It is organized as a community-building and philanthropic organization to support artists and the vitality of the community.

The mission of The Compact is to advance the health and cultural well-being of the community of Provincetown and the Outer Cape – its people, the natural environment and the economy. Additional initiatives include: The Swim for Life, the Think-ubator program, Prayer Ribbons and special community projects. The concept for The Compact was to recreate an inclusive, visionary, and fully democratic contract with the community, reimagining the original Mayflower Compact, which was signed in Provincetown Harbor in 1620.

Jay Critchley
Founder & Director
Provincetown Community Compact

Important Links:
The Compact Website
The Compact Facebook Page
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