Alice Brock, the centerpiece for Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 masterpiece, “Alice’s Restaurant” traded her most Western Massachusetts headquarters and fled as far east as she could making Provincetown her home over thirty years ago. In her passing in late 2024, she left behind a lifetime of art that spans cookbooks and rock art campaigns.
A town renowned for its famous chefs and restaurants has a time-worn history of cookbooks associated with Anthony Bourdain, Ciro Czyoski, Peter Hunt, Howard Mitchum, and Alice Brock.
Today people travel to experience the culinary delights of Provincetown destinations such as Sal’s Place,
Camp Provincetown is plotting to honor Alice’s legacy this spring 2025.
“I began drawing on beach stones many years ago. Right away I knew I was going to put some of them back on the beach. I imagined somebody walking along the seashore just daydreaming and looking at stones…and there! A stone is looking back. That vision really tickled me and it still does.
When I moved to Provincetown, I was in heaven. So many stones…and so much time. Pretty soon I was putting my stones all over the place.
I put them on the shelves in supermarkets and in sugar bowls. I’d leave them along the bike trails, drop them into coat pockets and put them on fence posts.
My friends have helped me spread these stones around the world. Some have been placed in famous museums like the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art, the Hermitage and the Tate. One was carried to the top of Mount McKinley, others are at the bottom of the grand Canyon. One was tossed over the Great Wall of China. Any number may be found on beaches in Alaska, New Zealand and Venezuela.
Each stone is an original. Picked up, hand drawn and initialed by me. Each is coated with a waterproof finish. I’d like to think that coming upon one of these stone will cause an involuntary flight of fancy.”
- Alice Brock – www.alicebrockstudios.com
