Architecture
PHX JAX: A Springfield Protopia
Phoenix Arts & Innovation District By Sherry Magill The Road to Utopia runs through Jacksonville. Not the 1945 comedy featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, but rather a 2024 documentary film featuring the repurposing of Springfield Warehouse District into a regenerative community. This Road to Utopia is found on Food Matters TV via Prime Video and highlights the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District (PHX JAX), south Florida developer Tony Cho’s Jacksonville dream and prototypical demonstration project. A native of a...
read moreLooking To the Past To Create Our Future
The Art of the Jessie By Caitlin Flynn Buildings echo the past, even as they await the future. One of Jacksonville’s most iconic buildings, the Haydon Burns Library, had strong historic and architectural roots in the community. But in 2005, after a new Main Library opened, it lay dormant. Until 2013. That’s when the ghosts of the past were swept away and the Jessie Ball duPont Fund Board of Trustees invested in its renovation. Partnering with Robbins Design Studio, the space was reimagined as a hub for nonprofits and a community center....
read moreArlington Mod & More Home Tour
October 11 & 12 Experience some of Jacksonville’s most iconic mid-century modern and historic homes. Tour homes from quirky to fabulous, quaint beauties to riverfront estates. Now enjoying a resurgence in popularity, especially among younger homeowners, mid-century modern architecture became popular after WWII through the 1970s. This minimalistic, functional style features open floor plans, clean lines, muted curves, large windows, and indoor-outdoor living spaces. Arlington, Jacksonville’s fastest-growing...
read moreCity Shapers & World Builders
How Architecture Makes or Breaks Our Built Environment By Sheri Webber The Florida Association of Architects was founded in Jacksonville in 1912 by a group of 42 architects who together laid the groundwork for professional regulation in the state. Three years later, with the association’s backing, Florida established the State Board of Architecture to oversee the profession, and by 1916 the state had administered its first official licensing exam for architects. Today, Florida ranks among the top states for the employment of architects,...
read moreSilver Linings
The Spelman Art Collection at the Harn in Gainesville By Dulce Roman, Chief Curator and Curator of Modern Art When Spelman College, a historically black liberal arts college for women located in Atlanta, Georgia, announced the first-ever national tour of its art collection, the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida was thrilled to have the opportunity to bring it to Gainesville from February 4 to July 6 this year. The Harn is one of five venues across the United States exhibiting “Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art...
read moreResilient Luxury: The New Coastal Reality
By Marsha Faulkner, President of ICAA Florida Chapter and Founder of Studio M Interior Design As Florida’s coastal communities confront increasingly volatile climate patterns, the conversation around waterfront development is shifting dramatically from “keep me close” to “keep me safe.” Insights from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art Florida Chapter’s (ICAA-FL) recent symposium reveal how the pursuit of coastal luxury must evolve to meet our changing environmental reality. When clients discuss building their dream home on...
read morePhotographic Memory Mark Krancer: A Life Worth Living
By Kate A. Hallock Mark Krancer smiles a lot. On a photo assignment, he’ll tell his clients that he’s living the dream, but that wasn’t always the case. Krancer knows how addiction can put you in a bad place. He also knows how a positive passion can save your life. From drugs to digital camera, Krancer turned his life around 10 years ago to eventually create a successful business and achieve world renown. Robin Patton proudly claims she discovered Krancer. In 2015, as Memorial Park Association’s publicity chair, Patton began to...
read moreSt. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out April 23 – 27
The St. Augustine Art Association is hosting the St. Augustine Plein Air Paint Out from April 23 to April 27. Plein air, translated as “outdoor,” painting has been a common practice in St. Augustine for years and this event brings local art history into present day as artists converge on the streets and in notable locations while mingling with patrons. Works in progress and finished paintings can be viewed and purchased in the St. Augustine Art Association Wet Room, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily during the event. The Plein Air...
read moreFor the Love of Manatees
By Eva Dasher On a bright summer day, when the temperature hasn’t yet chased everyone indoors and the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is teeming with excited children recently released from school, I peer into a tank at the Manatee Critical Care Center (MCCC) and spot two manatees gently swirling around each other in the lettuce-covered water. “We have two manatees in here right now. One is Applejack, we just microchipped her today because she is going to be released soon. She came here with two calves. One of them is at the Georgia...
read moreA Christmas Present for Jacksonville The “LIFE” Sculpture in Memorial Park
By Wayne W. Wood ‘Twas the first day of Christmas, under skies that were dark. The people all hurried to Riverside’s new park. They unveiled the winged boy who stood on the ball, And everyone gasped, “He has no clothes at all!” Hundreds of people gathered under threatening clouds at 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Day, 1924, to see the dedication of the new Memorial Park in Riverside and the unveiling of the much-anticipated bronze statue. As the covering was drawn from the monumental sculpture by two young girls, Mary Burroughs and Mary Bedell, a...
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