We Are Not Just One Thing
Julie Wake (from left), Lauren Wolk, and Jackie Reeves
EDITORIAL BY JULIE WAKE
We like to label each other. You are an arts administrator. You are a math person. You are a veteran. You are an artist. These labels feel tidy, but they leave no room for what is most true about us: that we are layers. We are many things at once.
During this season of the Creative Exchange podcast, our Artist of the Year Lauren Wolk said it plainly in an interview: "We are more than one thing." Lauren knows this firsthand. The world knows her as a New York Times bestselling author, and she is that. But now, she is also a filmmaker. And she did not make that leap alone.
Her fellow Artist of the Year, Jackie Reeves, is a visual artist and painter. Together, Lauren and Jackie are creating films, work that draws on the best of who each of them is. The result is something neither could make alone. They are a living example of what happens when two people refuse to be defined by a single label and instead ask: what else might we become?
I heard it again in a conversation with Ryan Raveis, a leader at one of New England's largest real estate companies, who told me that when he needs to come back to himself, he turns to music. A businessman, yes. But also a musician. Not one thing.
William Raveis Co-President Ryan Raveis shared how music and the arts has helped him through the loss of his wife in this season of our Creative Exchange podcast. Listen to the episode by clicking the image above.
I was reminded of it once more when our current cohort of 15 artists gathered for introductions. When one participant said, "I'm Naomi, a combat veteran," something shifted in the room. Not because it was unexpected, but because it was surprising in the best way. Here was a person who defied any single category. Here was someone who reminded us all: we contain more than we show.
That is what the arts do. Throughout history, through a song, a one-person play, a painting made in a kitchen at midnight, the arts have insisted on the whole person. They ask us to look past the label and find the story underneath. They make space for complexity. They remind us that to be human is to be more than one thing.
At the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, we believe that surprise is a gift. And the arts are how we keep giving it.
Our mission — to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region — is itself not just one thing. We stand alongside individual artists like Lauren, Jackie, Ryan, and Naomi. We strengthen the cultural organizations that anchor our communities. And through our Arts Access program, we work to ensure that this richness belongs to everyone on Cape Cod, not just those who already know where to find it.
None of these pieces exist in isolation. They are layers, too. Together, they form something greater than any single program or grant or performance. Together, they form a community that is willing to see each other, fully, honestly, and with open eyes.
That is the work you make possible. And in 2026, we are more committed than ever to doing it, for every artist, every organization, and every person on Cape Cod who is waiting to be surprised.
With gratitude,
Julie Wake, Executive Director
