Mashpee Commons is home to artist Forrest Pirovano’s studio, the Cosmic Cod, a fine arts and crafts gallery and teaching studio, and Woodruff’s Art Center, which, in addition to offering custom framing and art supplies, hosts rotating art exhibits by an array of established and emerging artists. Students from age three through adult can take dance training in a variety of styles at Harper Dance Center, while Fietek Music offers in-person and virtual music lessons on guitar, drums, bass, piano, and more. ARTS The Mashpee Wampanoag Museum is located near the historic center of town in the 1793 Bourne-Avant house. First created under the guidance of the Mashpee Historical Commission, the museum displays Wampanoag artifacts that chronicle tidal life over thousands of years, including a large diorama depicting a typical scene from an early Wampanoag settlement. The Cape Cod Children’s Museum on Great Neck Road is an interactive and play-focused educational facility with outdoor walking paths, picnic tables, and a backyard area. The Mashpee Public Library was first established in 1890 and is now located at 64 Steeple Street in an award-winning, 22,000-square-foot building. CULTURE The award-winning Mashpee Public Schools serve students in three schools: Kenneth C. Coombs School for kindergarten through second grade, Quashnet School for grades three through six, and Mashpee Middle-High School for grades seven through twelve. With notable enrollment, Native American students and the Wampanoag Tribal Community greatly enrich the Mashpee Public Schools. The bordering towns of Falmouth and Barnstable each offer private educational opportunities. EDUCATION Fourteen percent of Mashpee’s 27.2 square miles is water, including the Mashpee River and the Santuit River, which creates the border between Mashpee and Cotuit. In addition to dozens of smaller ponds and inlets, Mashpee has three significantly sized ponds. Ashumet Pond is a 220-acre natural kettle pond divided between Mashpee and Falmouth. John’s Pond is a good spot for boating and swimming, and Mashpee-Wakeby Pond encompasses two contiguous freshwater ponds with a combined area of 729 acres. GEOGRAPHY
One of more than 500 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1995 to preserve the natural resources of Waquoit Bay for the protection of waterfowl and wildlife. Managed through a partnership of federal and state agencies and private conservation groups, this refuge preserves thousands of acres of salt and freshwater marshes, rivers, Atlantic white cedar swamps, cranberry bogs, and vernal pools.
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