The Gallery at WHAT

The Gallery at WHAT celebrates the breadth and diversity of creative expression on the Outer Cape through exhibitions of local artists, curated and coordinated by the artists themselves. The gallery is open prior to scheduled events, during regular box office hours, and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, or to learn more about the gallery, please contact us at 508-349-9428.

JUDITH SHAHN & BEN SHAHN

The Power of Image and Word

presented by The Cove Gallery

June 6 – July 26, 2025

Ben Shahn (1898-1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content. Ben Shahn is in many museums around the world. Ben Shahn produced 23 gouache paintings of the trials of Sacco and Vanzetti communicated the political concerns of his time, rejecting academic prescriptions for subject matter. The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti was exhibited in 1932 and received acclaim from both the public and critics. This series gave Shahn the confidence to cultivate his personal style, regardless of society’s art standards.

Judith Shahn (1929-2009) was born in Paris to the artist Ben Shahn and his wife, Tillie Goldstein. She lived in New York City and spent summers in Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. As a small child Shahn painted alongside her father and as a young artist she took life classes with the painter Moses Soyer. She attended Olivet College, Michigan, and graduated from Mexico City College in 1949. She was a painter, draughtsman, printmaker, and graphic artist. Her drawings appeared in The New Yorker magazine from 1958 to1992, as well as in Harpers, The Nation, Gourmet, and others. Starting with a show at the Gallerie Beatrice Viggiani, Rome, Italy, in 1964, there have been more than seventy one-woman shows of work by Shahn. The Provincetown Art Association and Museum held an extensive retrospective in 1996; their catalogue remains a significant monograph on the artist.

NECEE REGIS

Hematopoiesis

May 30 – June 1, 2025

In collaboration with our screening of RISE ABOVE on May 31, we are honored to share the work of Wellfleet artist Necee Regis and her collection of drawings entitled “Hematopoiesis”. These crayon drawings of stem cells, created in response to her treatment for MDS in 2023, aim to “evoke a life-affirming spirit of self-renewal”.

PAST SHOWS

THE MASK PROJECT 2025

through April 2025

Throughout Fall 2024, WHAT teaching artists worked with students at Wellfleet, Truro, and Eastham Elementary School to create original masks drawn from the students’ imaginations. Students worked in a variety of media to show the unique characteristics of their characters as they explored visual narrative and the historical use of masking in storytelling, ritual, and entertainment.