Architecture
Arbus Adventures Cuba … It’s Complicated
Images by Vanessa Harper (VH), Alberto Morales (AM), and Lara Ortiz (LO) Words by Cinda Sherman Cuba is both ugly and beautiful. It is ravaged with despair and neglect, yet it is vibrant and alive with promise. This all serves to make Cuba complicated. You can read about Cuba in the news, but you can’t quite capture its complexity until you’re there on the ground in real time experiencing Cuba’s everyday contradictions. The country has been in chronic distress since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and today, the island is suffocating in the...
read moreFlorida Theatre Restoration Sets Stage for Next Century
By Lorrie DeFrank Photos by Lily Snowden it’s showtime again at the Florida Theatre and competing for top billing is the building itself. Restored to its original magnificence, it’s set for a 50-year encore—at the very least. In preparation for the historic landmark’s 100th anniversary in 2027, a major—but not final—phase of the renovation was completed while it was closed from July to October this year. Patrons attending The Rocky Horror Picture Show on October 28 were the first theatergoers to see the transformation. But...
read more30th Anniversary Pearl issue Timeline
The ABC’s of 30 Years ofthe Arts, Business, and Culture Introduction by Wayne W. Wood Design by Natalie McCray Since its auspicious beginning three decades ago, Arbus has been acclaimed for its striking covers and creative content. The nearly 300 covers of Arbus have consistently been works of art unto themselves—resplendent graphic compositions by mostly local artists that not only show off the depth of our homegrown talent but also serve as eye-catching invitations to explore the stellar content inside the magazine. No other local...
read moreA New Public Art Installation
Honoring the Arlington Community By Melanie Young Just as the eyes are the window to the soul, the entrance to a college campus is a window into the community that lives, works, learns, and plays there. For Jacksonville University (JU), that window recently became even more emblematic of the university’s relationship with the Arlington community. At the site of the turbo traffic roundabout welcoming drivers and pedestrians to campus—the nation’s first such traffic configuration which improves traffic flow, access and, most importantly,...
read moreMarsh & Saxelbye A beautiful Legacy
By Wayne W. Wood Jacksonville’s extraordinary natural landscape is complimented by its (often overlooked) manmade beauty. It is a surprise to many that Jacksonville has a greater number of outstanding architectural gems than any other city in Florida. Jacksonville has the most sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places and a quarter of those were designed by a single architectural firm—Marsh & Saxelbye. Made up of partners of Mulford Marsh and Harold Saxelbye, the firm dominated Jacksonville’s architecture from 1920 to 1930....
read moreLightner Museum
An Iconic St. Augustine Museum Celebrates Its 75th Anniversary By David Bagnall, Executive Director of The Lightner Museum This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Lightner Museum and the 135th anniversary of the museum’s historic St. Augustine building. Located in the heart of downtown St. Augustine, the Lightner has been an important part of the community since it was first built as the Hotel Alcazar in 1888. Founded by Chicago publisher Otto C. Lightner (1886-1950), the Lightner Museum offers an immersive...
read moreCalling Jacksonville Our Own
From Landmark to Destination By Laura Riggs Creating a persona that people fall in love with at first sight. They help define the region and the culture in ways that attract businesses to invest and travelers to visit. Whether manmade or naturally occurring, landmarks are the foundation for cities to forge an identity. Many of us travel the world to see landmarks. When we visit a city for the first time, landmarks help orient us to the destination and make the city memorable. We tell stories, share photographs, and dream of them long after we...
read moreTED PAPPAS : BREAKING OPEN THE BOX
By Tim Gilmore A building should relate to its site, respect its position and location, and take its cues from its landscape. Of all the things Ted Pappas learned from Frank Lloyd Wright, these principles would remain the most important. Since the 1960s, Ted Pappas has been designing some of Northeast Florida’s most interesting new structures and preserving some of its most historically significant. Through much of 2021, I walked with Ted and his son and business manager Mark Pappas, through a score of the architect’s most important buildings...
read moreHenry John Klutho
Jacksonville’s Greatest Architect By Wayne W. Wood On May 4, 1901, Henry John Klutho sat at the desk in his New York office, contemplating where he would find his next commission. The 28-year-old architect glanced at the copy of the New York Times lying in front of him and read the day’s main headline, “JACKSONVILLE, FLA., SWEPT BY FLAMES … 130 Blocks of Residences and Business Houses Destroyed.” Within two months, he had moved his office from New York to Jacksonville, determined to be a leader in the building boom that would surely follow...
read moreHistoric Holiday Shopping.
A look at downtown Jacksonville’s iconic department stores. By Kate A. Hallock and Emily Cottrell. Jacksonville Historical Society Five years after the Civil War in America ended, December 25th was declared a national holiday and, by the late-19th century, the marketing of goods specifically for that holiday was in force. The holiday was celebrated with Christmas cards, stockings filled with nuts, fruit, and candies and handmade wooden toys or knitted dolls. In the early-20th century holiday gift-giving included factory-made toys and...
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