The Cape Cod Visual Artists Cooperative

A group of local artists residing on Cape Cod. We work in all visual media and exhibit in group shows within our geographic area. We fulfill the need to support and encourage each other, find venues for exhibitions, and facilitate each other’s creative needs. Our meetings are usually in person, but the pandemic has forced us to find a new presence in cyberspace.

We applaud our partnership with, and facilitation by, the Truro CoA. Additionally, see our work currently on display, second floor in the Osterville Village Library.
Ask questions, comment or seek membership call 646-491-2004 or email info@CCVAC.art
* To see more work by an individual artist, click on the image above their name. *

Flo Adams

After retiring from a career in computers, Florence Adams finally had time to paint again, something she did off and on since childhood.  Classes at Castle HIll and PAM and Creative Art Center soon after retirement helped Florence work out how and what and why she wanted to paint.  She describes her style as Pop-Folk, because she started painting the town of Orleans (40) in brilliant colors that “popped”.  Her subsequent paintings include NYC and snowflakes and manhole covers and many other things and places that “needed color”.

Jude Bartlett

 When I take a photo I am drawn into that moment, focused on a feeling or perspective that I want to hold, save and share. I've been in love with photography since I was 11, the year I got my very first camera. My passion led me to pursue an art degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As well as my first photography job at The Field Museum Of Natural History, working as a darkroom tech and studio photographer's assistant. For nearly a decade I have been teaching technology for Apple in San Francisco Bay Area, specializing in photography and shooting with iPhone. Currently I’m living on Cape Cod with my Nikon in hand I’m shooting the moon, chasing its phases and working on a book and enjoying the landscape at every turn in every season. Purchase of selected works visit Shop

Bethia Brehemer

Bethia Brehmer was born in 1942 and was primarily inspired creatively by the 1960s. The astronomical impact of the 1960s was truly astonishing across the globe. Illustrative of a time stirring both hope and anger, the 1960s triggered an outburst of cutting-edge ideologies and movements, truly sensational and spectacular. Historically established in the context of the Cold War, which would have a highly influential impact globally, largely defined by the Iron Curtain dividing Europe both physically and spiritually, and significantly marked by the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The 1960s re-defined all pre-existing expectations on gender, race and justice, questioned education as well as morality and selfhood – for instance through the civil rights movement and second wave of feminism, as well as student political uprisings. The significant escalation of mass consumerism also defined the era, generating new trends in marketing and advertising. Minimalism developed the central idea that art should exist in its own reality, and not try to represent the real world. Born of a desire to obliterate all pre-established notions about art, Minimalism became a radically progressive movement, highly influential worldwide, with artists such as Frank Stella, Donald Judd and Dan Flavin as key actors. Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and Helen Frankenthaler were artists who sought to delve into some of the most fundamental philosophies of Abstract Expressionism, while getting rid of the emotional and highly personal aspect it would usually entail with it. This led to the creation of Colour Field painting, deeply identifying with Minimalism. The iconic contemporary art movements that echoed through the wave of radicalism of the 1960s also had their own distinctions and scopes, distinctive to different areas or countries. Spatialism, for instance, was founded in Italy by Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni, and its ideologies adopted by the Zero group in Germany. Throughout Europe, the ideologies of Existentialism strongly influenced artists like Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti, who strived to depict the raw human emotions often associated with reflections on death and the lingering angst of the meaninglessness of life.

Joanne Maaloe Burdick

Ms Burdick first studied art at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, and earned her BA from Bard College as an art major and furthered her education at the Art Students League of New York. After moving to Wellfleet, Joanne began printmaking with teachers Marcia Howe, Pia Mackenzie and Vicki Tomayko, and exhibiting with the Cape Cod Printmakers. To prepare for a painting trip near the French Pyrenees, she took watercolor classes with Mary Ann Stow and Joan Hopkins. Now she meets weekly every summer to paint en plein air with a group of Outer Cape artists, while creating the watercolor still lifes that give her the greatest pleasure year-round.  
Her solo show venues have included The Cape Cod 5, the Wellfleet Senior Center, and the Wellfleet Public Library. She currently exhibits with the Cape Cod Visual Artists 
Co-Operative, at The Creative Arts Center in Chatham, and at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. 
Joanne’s watercolors can be seen seasonally at the Burdick Art Gallery, located at 25 Bank Street  in Wellfleet Center. 



Steve Butler

I began painting some 30 years ago, but with the demands of child rearing and a new jobb set it aside and did not pick it up again until my retirement 6 or 7 years ago.
I am largely self-taught but have taken classes and workshops across a range of topics at the Chatham Art Center, where I am a member. Abstract work, emphasizing color, texture and line, were my initial interests because I could not draw. I took Norma Mutch’s class in abstraction at Chatham which greatly expanded my horizons. For example, she introduced me to Richard Deibenkorn, whose work I have often tried since to emulate. Many of my abstracts are mixed media, as I incorporate papers of various textures onto the canvas as well as photos and other graphics. Through course work and practice I have since learned drawing and perspective and my more recent work is more representational (in a broad sense), though I frequently still do abstracts. Even my more representational paintings usually start with an abstract structure. My paintings often make people laugh, or at least smile, and most of the time I think they are laughing with me. In the past few years I have begun doing abstracts and drawings with pencil, pastels and ink on paper, and will probably expand that activity. Now I do large works for the outdoors out of lightweight concrete which I pour into molds I form. They are somewhere between garden ornaments and sculptures. I also make smaller constructions and wall hangings, mostly out of found objects and my extensive collection of junk hardware accumulated over many years of dedicated DIY.

I have had a 3 person show at the Truro Council on Aging facility, and two paintings in the All Cape Show at the Chatham Arts Center. In the past 6 months I have had paintings in the Chatham Center’s “All Square” and “All Cape” shows. I usually have a painting in the Chatham
Members Show.

Rita Dodderidge

A graduate at Montclair State University majoring in art education. I developed a unique art history program for 4th graders in Harwich, MA. My approach was to teach my students to visualize through art history that a person’s own artistic expression is not only valid but also emotionally satisfying. After introducing them to artists from the mid 19th century to the present day my students developed a willingness to explore,to be free and unafraid in their expressions.This freedom enabled them to express their own individuality. Watching them was a joyous experience for me. I had helped them unlock their self consciousness and in turn unlocked my own. The sign on my art room door read “ART ROOM - WHERE EVERYONE’S ANSWER IS RIGHT”. The program became so popular that it became part of the Harwich School curriculum, the only program of it’s kind on Cape Cod.

I have received many awards from various art shows on Cape Cod.

Christine Fitzsimmons, Artist

Christine M. Fitzsimmons studied art and interior design at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (BFA) in 1987. She also studied painting and textile design at the Center for Creative Studies, College of Art and Design, in Detroit, Michigan. Christine is a professional member of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), and a nationally acclaimed commercial interior designer, included in Barons publication Who’s Who in Interior Design 1988 – 19989 Edition and Who’s Who in Interior Design 1990 – 1991 International Edition.
A native of Michigan, Christine was inspired by the beauty of the Great Lakes before moving to Cape Cod in 1986. She incorporates her visual experience into her work, often photographing local seascapes, landscapes, icons and colors as inspiration for her design schemes and oil paintings. Christine’s paintings portray a sensitivity to light, color and composition that is apparent in her graceful and classical presentation of abstract imagery using the process of her patented invention, three-dimensional fabric painting surfaces.

Taylor Fox

Born and raised in Orleans, Taylor has dedicated himself to art from a young age. He studied painting at Pitzer College in Claremont California, then returned home to pursue his career. 
Taylor’s work reflects a masterful grasp of technique with a vivid imaginative play of subject which encourages the viewer’s thought and interpretation. He often incorporates personal references that transcend to universal experience.

Election Day

Pat Fryklund

I paint to tell stories of time, place and experience. My paintings are expressionist land and seascapes, often with figures; still lifes and portraits. The common thread that connects them as a body of work is my desire to put a narrative quality into all of my paintings. Many of my seascapes depict the place where the sea meets the sand. They are the expression of my never-ending infatuation with how waves hit the beach, and the hypnotic qualities of long slow curves of color that sizzle and melt. I reside year-round in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, which is on the outer arm of Cape Cod. Most of my recent Cape cod paintings have been done "en plein air". I have visited both Grenada and Ireland often, and am always seeking to learn more about the history, culture and artistic legacies of both of these fascinating islands. All of my paintings in these locales are the result of sketches and photos taken on location.

Maura Ghedini

Having been born and raised in Italy my concern with beauty was a natural response to living in cities embedded in public art.
How I got to be an artist, teach Art, Yoga, Dance and Italian is too long a story to tell here…but it all started with my eyes.
The themes that have interested me are the creation of a wordless communication of ideas, emotions as one finds in Rothko, where the very fundamentals of visuality speak out. But, having lived in Wellfleet for the past 20 years, I find the very earth and water around me comes into my paintings and dances with my other visual concerns. Recently, I have been abducted by trees, wonderful trees!
Professional Affiliations:Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, VAC, and others.
Where Work is Displayed:Wellfleet Library, Fine Arts Work Center, Snow Library, Paam, Ethan Cohen Summer Show, and others

Ruth Hausinger
Photography is wordless poetry and song.

Since first discovering my Uncle Paul’s box camera when I was a small child, photography captured my imagination and has accompanied me for my entire life. As a self-taught photographer, the opportunity to pursue this passion more fully, came upon retirement to Cape Cod in 2011. Photography led to a natural expansion into abstract painting, collage, encaustic and other art forms as introduced by classes. Abstract images, for me, offer more freedom, creativity, playfulness, interest, drama. It is my goal, to share, through my work, an experience that transports the viewer for a few moments, provokes thought or emotion, adds something that did not exist before you viewed this work. You participate in this creative process.
Memberships include Cape Cod Visual Artists Cooperative, Creative Arts Center, Cultural Center of Cape Cod. My work is on display at Local Color Art Gallery in Chatham, Ma., and at various exhibits throughout Cape Cod. 

Robin Litwin

After 25 years of teaching in the Art Department of Cambridge Rindge and Latin H.S I focused my energy on my own art work. We moved to our summer house in 2012 and my focus shifted; the light of Cape Cod, the tides and the pulse of the natural world overwhelmed me in a way I cannot describe. I immersed myself in it. The seasons, the nuances, the magic and the solitude all got inside my soul. My camera was and is my constant witness.
Five years ago I began to focus on drawing, painting and encaustic painting. This has expanded my expressive vocabulary and given me a new set of tools and challenges. Now I am pursuing my art with a renewed focus and passion. I am a teacher at heart; I offer individual and group classes at my studio and teach workshops at the Creative Arts Center in Chatham.

Heather MacKenzie - Watercolor Artist and Photographer

Heather MacKenzie is a locally connected artist who has an emotional link with her subjects. Her art style uses imagery to evoke feeling. She grew up in Chatham, on Cape Cod, and went to Mass. College of Art on scholarship. At ‘MassArt,’ she was drawn to photography and filmmaking. After graduating, she moved to L.A. and worked in film, which landed her a position in engineering with the ABC network. She became a field tech/editor/camerawoman for news and embarked on an exciting career, traveling many places in the world while documenting historical events. Heather also earned an MFA in motion picture/television and theater arts from UCLA.
Ms. MacKenzie considers her art her PASSION, her expression of the mysterious beauty unique to the Cape. Heather now lives and paints in Chatham year ‘round.

Her work is at Local Color Art Gallery in West Chatham and she also has a studio at the Harwich Cultural Center. See more work and films about her art on the web. Picture Poet on the web

Mermaid Magic

Lew Schwartz, born in 1947, coopted the role of family photographer at age 7. This role afforded him a healthy and safe distance from the melee. A compassionate professional photographer attached to the family provided hands-on instruction and, by the time he was in high school, Schwartz was familiar with the darkroom and large format equipment . He photographed for his school’s yearbook with a 4×5 Crown Graphic. An early Nikon-F and a small, personal darkroom rounded out his technical capabilities.  As yet unaware of the mediums expressive abilities, he attended NYU in the mid 60’s to 70’s where activism, political unrest, social analysis and photography became tools on an international stage. MoMA’s New Documents demonstrated the camera’s evolutionary use as a sensory prosthesis, a sixth sense, a way of being in and understanding life.

Included in many group and solo exhibits in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Schwartz now lives on outer Cape Cod where the indigenous and transient population continue to fascinate and the natural environment provides much material for thought.