Artist of the Year

The announcement comes as Diggs’s artwork is being shown at Holderness School’s Edwards Art Gallery in Holderness, NH as part of its Musical Muse exhibit, which runs through February 28th. Last month, he was one of 15 artists selected for the Arts Foundation’s Capacity-Building Program, which will support him in developing a business plan aimed at strengthening his creative practice.

In July, he will have separate shows at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) as well as the Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown, which has represented him since 2014. He is currently working on a mural on the MacMillan Pier in Provincetown that will be unveiled in June. In November, he will be doing a show at Open University in Wellfleet.

“I am as busy as I have ever been, which is fabulous,” he said. “Art has given me a space where I start to find my center. It is both my passion and my work at the same time.”

“Joe Diggs is the ideal choice for this award and aligns perfectly with our three previous Artists of the Year. While their styles, genres, and approaches may be different, they all are seeking to make a positive difference through their art,” said Arts Foundation Executive Director Julie Wake. “With Joe, he has spent decades perfecting his craft, all while taking time to give back to our community. Joe’s work shows the power that art can have in provoking thought, stimulating conversation, and enacting change when it comes to issues tied to identity, race, history, place, and family. We look forward to celebrating Joe and his art over the course of this year.”

Diggs joins painter Jo Hay (2022) of Provincetown, painter Mark Adams (2023) of Truro, and photographer Julia Cumes (2024) of Brewster, in being selected for this honor. The award recognizes a Cape-based artist whose work shapes thought, inspires change, and creates a deeper sense of connection in the community.

“Joe Diggs being named the 2025 Artist of the Year is a brilliant and well-deserved choice. His work is raw, emotional, and deeply personal while also resonating universally,” said Cumes. “This recognition also highlights the richness of Cape Cod’s arts community and its commitment to celebrating diverse voices. I’m excited to see the impact this honor will have on his work and the audiences he’ll reach.”

The Arts Foundation will hold a celebration for Diggs on Thursday, April 17th, 5-7 PM, at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. He will also be recognized at its annual Arts Gala on Wednesday, June 4th at the Wychmere Beach Club in Harwich Port. And he will take part in a conversation on the creative process with the past three Artists of the Year at some point this spring.

Born in Croix Chapeau, France to a military family, Diggs is the third of four children who grew up on Cape Cod, raised by their parents Deborah and George. He is a graduate of Barnstable High School, where he first discovered his passion for the arts, inspired by his late older brother Craig and teacher Ed Bolton.

“It kind of blossomed from there,” Diggs said. “It got me interested in the arts, and because I wanted to be good at it, that was the inspiration.”

He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in fine art painting at Southeastern Massachusetts University, graduating in 1983. He spent 15 years balancing his artwork while working as a flight attendant with US Airways, an experience that allowed him to travel the world.

Over the past four decades, Diggs said, his art has evolved. “When I was younger, I was really brash and forward. If it was a protest painting, you really knew it was a protest painting. Whatever I was trying to emphasize, I was always smashing everybody over the head with it with a hammer,” he said. “Now, I’ve learned to be a little softer and control my emotions so I can build things up so you get to that space without scaring people.”

He works on his craft daily, painting everything from abstracts to landscapes, using art to occasionally dive into difficult subjects that have included a series dedicated to the late James Byrd Jr., who was murdered by three men after being dragged to death in Jasper, TX in 1998. His series “Ballers” looked into the decline of African American players in Major League Baseball.

For a decade, he worked with musician Sam Holmstock in teaching art to teens involved in the juvenile justice system on Cape Cod. He teaches classes at both the Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) as well as the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill and has taught at the Cotuit Center for the Arts and Cultural Center of Cape Cod.

Always striving to grow and learn, he returned to college a decade ago, earning his master’s of fine arts from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s residency program at FAWC in 2015.

His work has been shown throughout Cape Cod and beyond, including the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis; the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in Pittsfield; Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in Brattleboro, VT; MassArt; and the 808 Gallery in Boston, among others.

As to the power of art, Diggs said, “When I sit in my studio and look out at the pond, I think of world crises and personal things happening in my life. It gives me the opportunity to share with the general public, on a personal level, what is important to me. Through this award, the Arts Foundation is elevating that so artists like me can be seen.”