Hype for the Future 66C: Middle Cape

Introduction

The Middle Cape region of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, located approaching the main body of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts beyond the Outer and Lower Capes, is home to the Towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth, and Dennis, from west to east. Each of the three towns in the region is situated where the Cape Cod Bay is to the north and the Nantucket Sound is to the south, with every town containing a reasonable population base and seasonal influx every summer. Also, each of the communities along the Middle Cape are accessible by Route 6 in the north and Route 28 in the south.

Town of Dennis

The easternmost of the three towns comprising the Middle Cape region, the Town of Dennis is located directly to the west of the Towns of Harwich and Brewster, with the Corporation Beach on the northern shore and the nearby 1736 Josiah Dennis Manse Museum, Scargo Tower, and Cape Cod Museum of Art sites.

Within the Town of Dennis and elsewhere containing Route 28, the route is effectively an alternate to the freeway of Route 6 positioned further to the north. Facing the Nantucket Sound are the West Dennis Beach, the West Dennis Lighthouse with the Lighthouse Inn, and the South Village Beach. The Jericho Historical Center is also located nearby within the Town. Within the central portion of the town geographically is also the area referred to as Liberty Hall.

Town of Yarmouth

The Town of Yarmouth is located to the west of the Town of Dennis but to the east of Barnstable. In the transition zone between the communities, Yarmouth is home to the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, the Whydah House Museum, and the Yarmouth House along Route 28 in the south; and the Winslow Crocker House, the Captain Bangs Hallet House, the seasonal Edward Gorey House, and the art gallery of the Yarmouth New Church Preservation Foundation around the junction of Strawberry Lane and Main Street.

Town of Barnstable

The Town of Barnstable is located directly to the west of the Town of Yarmouth and serves as the county seat of Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Within the limits of the town, the Hyannis village area is perhaps among the most famous areas along the entirety of the Nantucket Sound. From the port at Hyannis are ferry services to Nantucket and to the Martha’s Vineyard community of Vineyard Haven in Oak Bluffs.

Along Route 28 just northwest of the village of Cotuit are the Cahoon Museum of American Art and the Chapman Art Gallery located on opposite sides of the main highway. Along Route 6A, from west to east on the opposite corner of the Town of Barnstable, are the Tales of Cape Cod museum, the Coast Guard Heritage Museum, and the Cape Cod Art Center. At the southeastern end of the Town near the community of Hyannis are the Toad Hall Classic Car Museum, the Cape Cod Maritime Museum, the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, and the three-star Hyannis Inn.

Hype for the Future 66A: North American Reciprocal Museums (NARM)

Introduction

Nearly two thousand (2,000) distinct art museum exhibits associated with the United States 🇺🇸 (including Puerto Rico 🇵🇷), Canada 🇨🇦, and the British Overseas Territories of Bermuda 🇧🇲 and the Cayman Islands 🇰🇾 are identified as included museum sites within the North American Reciprocal Museums. Though NARM also includes several additional categories of museum sites, the art museums are of particular interest for novaTopFlex, including the following official art museum sites of the Northeast Megalopolis and surrounding regions:

The Museums of Interest

• Farnsworth Art Museum (Rockland, ME)
• Portland Museum of Art (Portland, ME)
• Providence Athenaeum (Providence, RI)
• Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art (Hartford, CT)
• Worcester Art Museum (Worcester, MA)
• Fitchburg Art Museum (Fitchburg, MA)
• Springfield Museums (Springfield, MA)
• Clark Art Institute (Williamstown, MA)

Hype for the Future 52J: The Prom Experience of novaTopFlex, Research Continued

Reality Check

Unfortunately, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art may not represent the first nor the most important track for identifying the art community accurately and appropriately. Of all the museum institutions across the nation, Mass MoCA is perhaps the most significant of the institutions specifically because the campus is the largest contemporary art museum campus by area in the entire United States. Perhaps because of the grandiose nature of the contemporary art museum, any submissions for art to the facility will likely be high-stakes and may be delayed until a time when novaTopFlex has access to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art as an artist in residency.

Additional Possibilities

Apart from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, a few other possibilities are being researched and considered, including, but not limited to, the following contexts:

• The Clark Art Institute in nearby Williamstown can be relatively generous with donations of art of different forms, including, but not limited to, the visual arts often prioritized by the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
• Art Omi is an art center located in the nearby hamlet of Omi, located within the Columbia County Town of Ghent. East of the Hudson River, the Art Omi institution is actually somewhat closer to Albany and marginally closer to New York City, though also somewhat more distant from Boston, the third target location.
• The Wassaic Project is located further south in Wassaic, New York, and may be more accessible to residents from the surrounding area east into Connecticut. However, the Wassaic Project should not necessarily be relied upon as not much information is readily available on the facility, other than that lots of wooden steps are involved with traffic at the venue.