Virtual discussion is second in four-part series featuring Cape creatives
March 16, 2022 (Cape Cod, MA) – The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod (AFCC) is inviting the public to join them for a virtual tour of artist Joseph Diggs’s Osterville studios on Thursday, March 24th, at 5 pm.
The tour, which is part of the AFCC’s Modern Love series, will take place on Zoom, offering guests a chance to ask Diggs questions about his artwork and creative process. To register, visit the AFCC’s website, www.artsfoundation.org.
“Joe Diggs’s work is inspiring, thought provoking, and touches upon subjects that are critical to who we are as individuals and as a society,” said AFCC Executive Director Julie Wake, who will help guide this month’s conversation inside Diggs’s studio. “This is a great opportunity for people to immerse themselves in the work of one of the Cape’s more prolific and talented artists whose work covers a vast range, from the abstract to the realistic. I’m excited to learn more about Joe’s creative process and what painting means to him.”
A Barnstable High School graduate who earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Southeastern Massachusetts University in North Dartmouth, and his MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, Diggs has long had a connection to the creative. “Art chose me,” Diggs said. “It was something I always loved doing, but it picked me.”
A self-described visual storyteller, Diggs paints every day as a way to hone his talents. “I paint what is going on in my life as an African-American man on Cape Cod,” he said. “I paint the history I’ve been dealt with and also the complexity surrounding it with the dichotomy of the blessings I’ve been given. No good paintings are without some struggle, and in my paintings there is a little bit of that tension to make them really engaging.”
Diggs, whose work can be viewed at Berta Walker Galleries in Wellfleet and Provincetown, has had his pieces exhibited throughout the region, including the Cotuit Center for the Arts, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM), Zion Union Heritage Museum, the Guyer Barn, and the Cape Cod Museum of Art.
He is also an art instructor at the Cotuit Center for the Arts and the Cape Cod Art Center. Since 2015, he has taught art to incarcerated youth through the Department of Youth Services (DYS). “The rewarding part of that is when I get one of them to see the possibilities about what they can do,” he said. “These young men are our future, and if we don’t give them some tools, I think we are kidding ourselves. It is such a wonderful opportunity to meet these young men and put something positive into their lives.”
The Modern Love series is an intimate, informative, and eye-opening discussion with Cape artists who are helping to strengthen the Cape’s creative economy.
Last month, the series kicked off with a tour of Jo Hay’s studio in Provincetown. Hay was recently selected as the AFCC’s Artist of the Year. Upcoming guests include filmmaker and Emmy-nominated producer Tasha Van Zandt in April, and painter Robert Henry of Wellfleet, in May. The series is made possible thanks to William Raveis Real Estate.
To learn more about Joseph Diggs and his work, visit www.joediggsart.com.
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.