Joel Janowitz: Recent Gifts to the Permanent Collection

Joel Janowitz is a Boston-based printmaker and painter.

To date he has had over thirty solo exhibitions. His work can be found in numerous public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Harvard Museums, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and the Yale University Art Gallery.

In 2016 Janowitz received his fourth Artist’s Fellowship in painting from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In 2013 The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation honored him with a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has twice received artist grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Janowitz has taught at Wellesley College (2003-2010), Massachusetts College of Art/Fine Arts Work Center’s Low-Residency MFA program (2006-2010), and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1994-2000).

He received his B.A. in Psychology from Brandeis University in 1967 where he studied painting with Philip Guston and drawing with Michael Mazur. He received an M.F.A. in Painting from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1969.

THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

The permanent collection is an important measure of any museum’s value.

At PAAM, the holdings of local and regional art is extensive and dynamic, comprising nearly 4,000 works by over 700 Twentieth Century and contemporary artists who have worked in Provincetown and on Cape Cod. Their styles were revolutionary and remain noteworthy in the history of American Art. The PAAM Collection weaves together at least three major art movements—each a significant strand of American art history—and creates perspectives that uniquely position the Provincetown Art Colony as a pertinent fixture to the larger art world.

Each year, PAAM presents at least two exhibitions showcasing some of the recent gifts donated to our permanent collection. As an actively collecting museum, PAAM receives on average nearly 100 new works each year, and these exhibitions allow us to proudly display a selection of those works, some of which represent our first works by an artist in our permanent collection. We extend our deepest gratitude to our new and continuing donors.

Another measure of a museum is how well it uses its collection. The PAAM Collection serves as a foundation for many of our educational programs and exhibitions. Programs for both youth and adults in our Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Museum School use collection works to stimulate creativity. The Museum School courses take advantage of gallery exhibitions to clarify principles and techniques. Additionally, major museums and galleries borrow exemplary works for exhibitions around the country.

Embedded into PAAM’s mission, the collection is truly at the heart of our organization. Our Centennial Collection catalog shows how many hundreds of people have been moved to express their generosity through contributions that make up virtually the whole collection. Amassed over an entire century, PAAM’s collection has been donated by people who really cared that the region’s art remain here.