February 5, 2020 (Hyannis, MA) – Provincetown painter Cynthia Packard has been selected by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod (AFCC) as the 35th Annual Citizens Bank Pops by the Sea commemorative artist, adding to her already impressive resume.
“We are so excited to have Cynthia lend her unique talents and artistic vision to this year’s Citizens Bank Pops by the Sea,” said AFCC Executive Director Julie Wake. “She has made an indelible mark on the cultural scene on Cape Cod, showing what you can achieve as an artist here. We look forward to her adding a new dimension to this year’s Pops through her creative representation of our summer concert.”
“This is a wonderful opportunity,” Packard said in expressing her enthusiasm for creating a piece for the AFCC. “Organizations like the AFCC are on the front line and working hard to give people the opportunity to see, hear, and feel the arts. I think it is so incredible what they do.”
Packard, who grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, comes from a lineage of artists. Her great-grandfather was the noted impressionist Max Bohm, who played a significant role in establishing Provincetown’s art colony. Her mother, Anne Packard, is renowned for her sea and landscape paintings.
While Cynthia followed in their paths, she has blazed her own trail. After graduating from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1981 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture, she moved to Provincetown to pursue a career as an artist.
“I waitressed and started painting, painting, painting,” she recalled, eventually giving up waitressing a little over 25 years ago when she purchased her studio on Bradford Street, not far from the Pilgrim Monument. There she paints a variety of subject matter – still life, landscapes, figures, and children – replete with emotion.
“The advantage here is that there are no distractions,” she said of being an artist in Provincetown. “I feel really free here.” That freedom has allowed her to create a variety of pieces, big and small, that have been exhibited and displayed in galleries, museums, corporate offices, and homes throughout the world.
Cynthia shares her knowledge of her craft with emerging artists, teaching at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, and the Scottsdale Artists’ School in Arizona, as well as leading in-studio workshops.
She is currently working on two one-woman shows. The first opened at the beginning of this month at the Chase Young Gallery in Boston to commemorate its 30th anniversary. The second is a six-month exhibit at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.
The mother of four will soon be traveling to Mexico to paint her third mural in the town of Yelapa. And then she will be tackling her Pops by the Sea piece.
Even after a career that has spanned more than 40 years, the work still excites her. “This is why I wake up in the morning,” she said of painting. “It’s really what makes me feel alive.”
Packard’s painting will be unveiled at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in April and then auctioned at the AFCC’s major fundraiser, the Prelude to Summer, on June 4th at the Hyannisport Club. The Citizens Bank Pops by the Sea concert is on Sunday, August 9th at the Hyannis Village Green.
About the AFCC
The AFCC’s mission is to support, promote, and celebrate the arts and culture of Cape Cod. It fulfills its mission by funding grants, fellowships, and scholarships; by advocating for more awareness on the impact the Cape’s creative economy has on our region and beyond; and by building a strong arts community network through membership.
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