For local gallery owner and artist, Liz Carney, retreating to the scenic shores of Provincetown during the hazy summer months was home. Growing up in Boston, as the youngest of nine, Carney longed for her family’s summertime sanctuary on the coast of Cape Cod. Summering in Provincetown became an indelible part of Carney’s artistic development.

At fourteen years old, Carney says her mother, “…recognized that I had an affinity for painting and drawing and a love of art. That interest developed to show more seriously that I had a passion for art. I started to go every Saturday with my mother to the historic Fenway Art Studios. I was by far the youngest in the class, but I loved going for the sense of wonder.”

Throughout her teenage years she says, “I took art classes any chance I could. I did Saturday classes at Massachusetts College of Art, I did summer programs, and then college came, and I decided on a liberal arts college, not an art school.” Carney explains, “I was accepted at Smith College, and I got a broad liberal arts education with an art major. During college I came back to Provincetown and interned at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum.” After graduating from college, Carney took on several education jobs teaching art over the course of twenty-five years before shifting gears in 2010 and opening her gallery, Four Eleven Gallery in Provincetown.

Four Eleven Gallery came to life in the very home where Carney spent her childhood summers. The gallery is a true labor of love, offering a unique space to showcase the work of thirteen artists, including Carney herself. For her, it’s more than just a gallery, it’s a connection to the past and the place that continues to inspire her.

“One of the things that called me to open Four Eleven Gallery was the opportunity to open the space in the home where I had grown up,” Carney shares. “It’s a place of memories, magic, and deep connection to my art and the community,” she adds. The gallery represents Carney’s commitment to not only showcasing her work but supporting other artists. “I’m really involved in their careers—encouraging them, helping them get their work out there, and creating a space where we can all support each other,” says Carney.

Carney’s own art reflects the deep influence of Provincetown’s ever-changing landscape. Early in her career, her paintings focused on the industrial waterfront of Provincetown, the fishing vessels and boatyards that conveyed strength and power. As Carney enters new seasons of life, her inspiration ebbs and flows from these external scenes to more organic landscapes, “I love the slivers of space between buildings that open to a more expansive view of the bay.” Her recent work focuses on natural subjects like gardens but retains the underlying structure she observed in her earlier structural pieces. “I’ve become more interested in the complexity of living things. My paintings often straddle the line between representation and abstraction, capturing the emotional depth and complexity of the world around me,” explains Carney.

Carney’s perfect day would consist of a cup of morning coffee in her mother’s garden, where she paints at her easel, feeling the sun and the sense of the bay. “Then maybe I’ll take a bike ride into town before going to work in the gallery for the evening,” she says. “There’s something magical about being in the gallery at night when people wander in, especially when they’re visiting Provincetown for the first time. It’s an incredible feeling,” Carney adds.

For Carney, Provincetown is more than just a picturesque town—it’s a living, breathing canvas. “I feel like Provincetown is the canvas. The place, the streets, the people—everything about it is part of the creative process,” she muses. “It’s a place of relationships. When you’re in Provincetown and in your own creative mode, you see some of your favorite artist friends at the grocery store or at the post office, and it’s in those serendipitous, organic moments that we support each other,” Carney shares.

To learn more about Liz Carney and Four Eleven Gallery, visit her website, fourelevengallery.com.