Welcoming a New Class of FAWC Fellows

For newcomers, Provincetown is best learned on foot. Last week, the Fine Arts Work Center’s newly arrived 2025–2026 fellows joined performer and local historian Billy Hough for his “Wild West of the East” tour for part of their orientation.

The FAWC fellowship provides 10 visual artists and 10 writers with studio space, housing, and opportunities for community engagement while they are living and working in Provincetown from October through April. The Work Center has supported more than 1,100 early-career artists and writers with these awards since they were first given 50 years ago.

Before the tour even started, Hough was cracking jokes and emphatically mapping Cape Cod along a flexed arm. “Welcome to Provincetown,” he said. “This tour is art history, but more fun. Some R-rated bits — OK?” Heads nodded. “I’m trying to keep you all inspired,” he said. “I know you’ll go home and make a masterpiece after this.”

The group met beside the Boatslip and walked along Commercial Street. As Hough’s tone toggled between irreverent and exacting, the fellows drifted in a loose cluster, cameras up and heads tipped toward plaques, tiles, and iron flower lamps. “You don’t need $7,500 worth of ironwork,” said Hough, “but it pays a welder, local artists, and makes the street look like somebody cares.”