Art & Culture Features
Ritz Chamber Players
Celebrate 25 Years of Expanding the Stage A landmark Silver Jubilee Season honors the extraordinary journey of a Jacksonville-born ensemble while opening the door to its next quarter-century. Twenty-five years ago, the Ritz Chamber Players (RCP) opened a door that classical music had kept too narrow for too long. Through it came extraordinary Black musicians, overlooked masterworks, new music, and audiences invited to hear the classical tradition with fresh ears. What began in Jacksonville as a bold vision has grown into an ensemble of...
read moreFighting Antisemitism
From Dreyfus to Today By Allison Galloway-Gonzalez, Curator The Frisch Family Holocaust Memorial Gallery at LJD Jewish Family & Community Services (JFCS) Jacksonville is proud to present “Fighting Antisemitism: From Dreyfus to Today,” opening on September 3rd. A landmark travelling exhibition from the Wiener Holocaust Library in London, one of the world’s foremost institutions dedicated to the documentation of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, this is the exhibition’s American debut, and Jacksonville is its first home in the...
read moreIgniting Downtown Through Public Art
The Story Behind Frank Stella’s Jacksonville Stacked Stars Written by Amber Sesnick, Director of Communications, Arts UNF & MOCA Jacksonville If you have explored downtown Jacksonville this summer, you may have been stopped in your tracks by a monumental new work of public art in the heart of the city. Standing at nearly three stories tall, “Jacksonville Stacked Stars,” created by Frank Stella and installed just outside of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville, is the culmination of the museum’s 100th anniversary...
read moreJacksonville’s Museum Jacksonville’s Moment
By Amy Pierce, Chief Development Officer, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Jacksonville is growing quickly. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 population estimates, the city has crossed the one-million-resident threshold. It is an exciting milestone, and it offers an important opportunity to think not only about how much we are growing, but about the creativity, connection, and sense of belonging that will shape the kind of city we become. That vision will not be defined by development projects or economic rankings alone. It will be...
read moreThe Conversation: Allison DeFoor
President/CEO North Florida Land Trust If North Florida’s natural lands disappeared tomorrow, what would people notice first and what would they lose that they might not expect? The first thing people would notice is water. North Florida’s forests, wetlands, and marshes filter and protect the water we drink every day. Without them, you would see declines in water quality and quantity almost immediately. What people might not expect to lose is something like shrimp and grits. Our fisheries, estuaries, marshes, and working...
read moreA Reimagined Jacoby Symphony Hall
By Steven Libman The 2026/27 season of the Jacksonville Symphony will introduce new sounds, new faces, and a refreshed experience for our audiences. As I write this, Jacoby Symphony Hall is undergoing a significant transformation, with larger, more comfortable seating, new carpet, enhanced acoustic elements, and new speakers—all set to debut in time for the upcoming season. This project has been in development for more than two years in collaboration with Stages Consultants, a New Jersey-based firm specializing in the planning, design, and...
read moreArt in Bloom
Holly Keris, J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver Chief Curator Drawing upon the Cummer Museum’s broad permanent collection, “Art in Bloom” creates a through line from the 18th century through today by showcasing historic floral still life paintings alongside works by contemporary artists who explore nature’s bounty through a variety of media. It may seem hard to imagine, but paintings of artfully arranged cut flowers did not emerge as a trend until the 16th century. Prior to that time, these scenes were relegated to the background...
read moreFor the Love of Guana The Quiet Power of a Protected Coast
By Vanessa K. Harper Photos by Craig O’Neal Land as Old as Time At sunrise, Guana feels suspended in time. Light lifts slowly across the estuary, catching the edges of sawgrass and open water. A great blue heron moves through the shallows before lifting suddenly into the morning sky. Moments like this can feel timeless. But they are not. Places like Guana do not exist by accident. They exist because, over generations, people decided they should. Today, that decision can no longer remain passive. The Guana River estuary, one of Northeast...
read moreFreedom Flies The Ark Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation
By Judith Leroux Photography by Stan Hill The cage door opens and one foot steps slowly forward, as if questioning if this can really be happening. Who can blame him, after a month on the inside? Another foot soon follows, and his huge brown eyes slowly scan the landscape, blinking as the afternoon sun hits his face. But the majestic barred owl’s time behind bars is really over, and as delighted human onlookers watch, he spreads his powerful, now-healed wings and soars away. A beautiful and uplifting sight indeed and not an uncommon...
read moreNortheast Florida A Haven for Beach-Nesting Birds
By Erika Zambello Communications director for Audubon Florida As communications director for Audubon FloridaSummer is a great time to be on the Florida coast. Sea, sun, and … birds! Summer is nesting season for beach-nesting sea and shorebirds. They lay their eggs right on the sand, and we need to work together to protect these special families. I remember the first time I ever spotted a Wilson’s plover. Walking near the dunes bordering the Atlantic Ocean, I caught movement sprinting across the sand. The plover, stretching less than eight...
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