"sand Dunes, Seals, and solitude" opens at Museums on the Green 

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"Sand Dunes, Seals, and Solitude: Impressions of the Lower Cape," a showcase of art and writing by Falmouth High School AP English and AP and Advanced Art students, is on display at Falmouth Museums on the Green Cultural Center through April 10, 2015. The community is invited to an artists’ reception on Thursday, February 12 from 5 – 7 PM. The Cultural Center is located at 55 Palmer Avenue. To schedule an appointment for viewing, call 508-548-4857.

Funded entirely by Falmouth Education Foundation (FEF), the collaborative project enabled 42 FHS art students to travel with their teacher, Jane Baker, to High Head Beach in Provincetown, joined by AP English teacher Lauren Kenny and her students. They were accompanied by Dr. Becky Gast and Dr. Andrea Bogomolni from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Lisa Sette and Owen Nichols from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

FEF offers grants to teachers across the district so they can provide enriching educational experiences not funded within the school budget.

“Falmouth students are often unacquainted with the Outer Cape, which has been a center for artists and writers for decades,” said Mrs. Baker, who was awarded the FEF grant. 

The students spent a few hours sketching, painting and photographing the seals on site, which they used in the subsequent creative process. The scientists then gave a lecture on the beach about seal biology and habitat, and related issues such as sharks, fishermen, and tourism. 

Throughout the fall and winter, the students created additional landscapes, oversized seal charcoals, and paper from beach seaweed. Additionally, they have been working on an oversized seal sculpture made from commercial fish netting with plans to enter it in this year’s Provincetown Green Arts festival. Elizabeth Bradfield of Brandeis University introduced Mrs. Kenny’s students to Haibun, a Japanese literary form, which they wrote to accompany the artwork and encapsulate their experience in Provincetown.

​A film about the project is available here.

Museums on the Green will also host a lecture featuring the participating scientists from the project about the seals of High Head Beach on Friday, March 24 at 7 PM with details to follow.