Road Race Stirs Up Memories of the Past for Susie Nielsen
Susie Nielsen (right), owner of Farm Projects, a contemporary gallery and art space in Wellfleet, with Arts Foundation Executive Director Julie Wake. Susie will be running this Sunday’s Falmouth Road Race as part of the Arts Foundation’s team.
With its long, storied history, the Falmouth Road Race has created special memories for countless participants over the years.
For Wellfleet’s Susie Nielsen, hers date back to her younger days when she would run the race alongside her late father, Robert, who died in 2007. “It was when I was a kid, like 16 to 21, I’d run it with my dad. I didn’t do any team sports growing up, but I did run with him,” she recalled. “When I would run with him, those were my fondest memories of my dad.”
This Sunday, Susie’s father won’t be far from her mind as she laces up her sneakers and runs the 54th running of the iconic race, which kicks off in Woods Hole and ends seven miles later in Falmouth Heights.
The past few months have represented a return to the sport for Susie who stopped running for roughly a decade. “Last year I couldn’t even run a mile,” she admitted. “I thought my running life was behind me, but I decided to do this, and it feels amazing. I feel so good running now. I am loving it this time. “
Making it even more meaningful is Susie is running on behalf of the Arts Foundation. The owner of Farm Projects, a Wellfleet-based contemporary art space and gallery that opened in 2008 and has been in its current location since 2019, Susie has long known the importance of the arts. “I think, more than ever, we really need art,” she said. “For people to be expressive and creative, I think it is essential for the mind and the body, especially because we live in such a polarized world.”
An artist who earned her MFA in graphic design from Rhode Island School of Design, Susie devotes much of her time these days to supporting other creatives, exhibiting their art and hosting talks, film screenings, and performances. She just closed on Throw Nothing Into The Sea, a solo exhibition of Gary Kuehn’s work; he pioneered the Process Art and Post-Minimalism movements of the 1960s.
This past weekend, Gin Stone, who received a grant from the Arts Foundation last month, presented Lit from Within, a time-based media experience that is part of an ongoing series that transforms data into immersive listening and viewing experiences, at Farm Projects.
Susie, who grew up in New York City and spent the early part of her adult life living in large cities (Boston; Portland, Oregon; and Providence), moved to the Cape for love. Her husband, Dan Murray, is the general manager of the Beachcomber in Wellfleet.
When she arrived here, Susie admittedly had no idea how much the arts contributed to life on the Cape. “I feel like I’m in the luckiest place in the world. The art scene here is absolutely incredible. The history that is here is just mind blowing to me. All the people I admire in books spent time here and lived here,” she said. “I worry now that we’re not honoring the newest generation which is where the Arts Foundation plays such an important role in that process because they are supporting and nurturing that.”
The efforts of the Arts Foundation are vital, she said, because “times have changed, and you can’t afford to be an artist on the Cape today the way you could 40 or 50 years ago.”
As the days inch closer to the Falmouth Road Race, Susie will be continuing her fundraising efforts knowing that it will go to address the current needs of creatives in our community. “Honestly, if I was not running for the Arts Foundation, I may not be taking this as seriously as I am. I feel a responsibility to them to show up the best that I can,” she said. “It makes it all the more meaningful for me.”
Susie Nielsen was a recent guest on the Arts Foundation’s Creative Exchange podcast where she spoke about Farm Projects, living (and working) in the space between, and how community shapes a creative life on the Outer Cape. Click this link to listen to Susie’s episode.