UNFINISHED WOMEN | Cultural Center

Unfinished Woman

“Who am I beyond the roles that I play?”

October 9 – November 3, 2025

Joan Anderson

Joan Anderson is a journalist and New York Times bestselling author of A Year by the Sea. This memoir was adapted for the big screen and was filmed on Cape Cod. Her other award-winning memoirs are: An Unfinished Marriage, A Walk on the Beach, A Weekend to Change Your Life, and Second Journey.

Christine Ernst

Writer, Performer, Educator

Christine Ernst is an educator, writer, performer, and frequent speaker, focusing on the connection of wellness, personal narrative, and community. Writing and performing as the Fat Ass Cancer Bitch since 2011, she produces a weekly video podcast, In the Cozy Writing Cottage, and writes an annual 90-minute one-woman show of new work, performed all over Cape Cod.

Laura Goodenow

Lyricist, writer, dramaturg, film producer and distributor

Laura Goodenow lives by the mantra “Real Women Make Waves.” Whether in vast oceans or quiet ponds, she believes no woman should let fear keep her from diving into her creative calling. For much of her life, Laura avoided making waves—until she realized that still water becomes stagnant. With the guidance of strong mentors and her own inner shift, she began splashing heart-first into the work she was born to do.

Molly Demeulenaere

Molly Demeulenaere is an innovative curator recognized for her daring, thought‑provoking exhibitions that push the boundaries of contemporary art. With a keen eye for work that challenges narratives and ignites conversation, she has introduced the region to engaging installations, multimedia storytelling, and voices that provoke emotional and philosophical reflection. Her curatorial projects consistently elevate artists, revealing the surprising, the unfinished, and the essential.

The Cultural Center of Cape Cod warmly invites you to experience Unfinished Woman, a powerful contemporary art exhibition inspired by Joan Anderson’s A Year by the Sea series.

This show honors a profound and often overlooked chapter in a woman’s life—the quiet moment after the roles of partner, best friend, volunteer, or caretaker begin to fade. It is in that moment—standing in front of the mirror—that a new question emerges: Who am I beyond the roles that I play?

With few cultural roadmaps, limited resources, and too little visibility, women at this stage are expected to vanish quietly. Instead, they are awakening.

Unfinished Woman is a celebration of that awakening. The exhibition showcases artwork that embraces this season of emergence—raw, real, and unapologetically incomplete. These are not stories of conclusion, but of reclamation, courage, and transformation.

Galleries FREE to all | Open Tuesday – Friday, from 10am-3pm, and Saturday, from 10am-3pm

Happenings

Join us for the full Unfinished Woman weekend—or choose events à la carte.

Weekend Bundle: All-inclusive access to exhibition, dinner, screening/panel, one-woman show, and writing workshop
$250 per person

À La Carte Pricing:

Dinner with Chef Nicholas Caplice — $75 members | $100 non-members (40 seats max)
Siobhan Magnus in Concert — $20 members | $25 non-members (130 seats max)
Film Screening & Panel — Free for members | $25 non-members (100 seats max)
FACB: Old AF (Christine Ernst) — Members $20 | Non-members $25 (130 seats max)
Writing Workshop with Joan Anderson & Christine Ernst — $150 per person (20 seats max)

Space is limited. Early registration is strongly recommended.

Thursday, October 9 | 5–7pm

Opening Reception & Artist Party

Join us for the official unveiling of Unfinished Woman—a powerful contemporary art exhibition that dares to illuminate the unseen chapters of women’s lives. Curated by Molly Demeulenaere, this show features a dynamic collection of work by women artists who explore the complexities of midlife reinvention, sacred solitude, emotional transformation, and the raw beauty of becoming.

At the opening, you’ll mingle with Joan and the artists themselves—visionary women who have turned their own “in-between” moments into meaningful, resonant art.

Friday, October 31, 2025 | 6 - 7:30pm

A Table of Becoming by Chef Nicholas Caplice

Guests are invited to gather around the table for an intimate culinary experience created by Chef Nicholas Caplice.

Chef Caplice brings his signature warmth, balance, and sense of place to every plate. Like the stories shared this weekend, this meal invites you to slow down, savor the moment, and nourish what’s next.

Saturday, November 1, 2025 | 1-4pm

Film Screening + Panel: A Year by the Sea

Join us for an afternoon of storytelling, soul-searching, and sea air as we screen the film adaptation of Joan Anderson’s bestselling memoir, A Year by the Sea. This moving and visually stunning film follows one woman’s journey of self-discovery after stepping away from the roles that once defined her—wife, mother, caretaker—and retreating to the coast to rediscover who she really is.

Immediately following the screening, stay for a powerful, honest, and inspiring panel conversation with women who embody the spirit of reinvention.

Joan Anderson – Author, speaker, and midlife muse whose memoir inspired a movement
Laura Goodenow – Award-winning filmmaker who brought A Year by the Sea to the screen with beauty and grit
Moderated by Molly Demeulenaere – Curator of the Unfinished Woman exhibition and champion for contemporary female voices

Saturday, November 1, 2025 | 7:30pm
Christine Ernst: The Fat Ass Cancer Bitch Returns

FACB 2025: Old AF

This one-night-only performance by writer and truth-teller Christine Ernst brings the exhibition’s core themes—reinvention, resilience, and radical honesty—off the gallery walls and onto the stage.

In the 14th installment of her acclaimed one-woman show, Christine presents FACB 2025: Old AF—a fearless, funny, and unfiltered exploration of aging, identity, and everything women aren’t “supposed” to say out loud.

Blending stand-up and storytelling, Christine invites us to laugh at life’s absurdities, reckon with its messes, and reclaim the stories we've been told to hide. The performance runs 90 minutes and is BYOB—with cookies and handmade magnets for every attendee. (Because that’s just who she is.)

Monday, November 3, 2025 | 2-4pm (with wine after-sess)

Writing Workshop: The Tides of Womanhood

With Joan Anderson and Christine Ernst

A student-centered experience rooted in the tides of womanhood—guided by voice, vulnerability, and personal renewal.

At the heart of this workshop is a guiding truth: a woman’s life is not linear—it moves in tides. There are moments of ebb, when we feel pulled inward, uncertain, or grieving. And there are seasons of flood, when energy, creativity, and desire rush back in with force. In between lies the sacred rhythm of becoming.

This session also draws from Joan Erikson’s model of adult development—which views growth not as something that ends at adulthood, but as a lifelong unfolding. Joan Anderson took this philosophy to heart in her own journey, and together with Erikson's ideology, she crafted a life and body of work that celebrates the unfinished self as vital, wise, and ever-evolving.