Art & Culture
Sculptures Near the Sand
Driving through the five-way intersection of Seminole, Plaza, and Sherry Roads in Atlantic Beach, one sees artwork at every turn. A large, concrete arc sculpture sits near the picturesque city government buildings and next to Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Station 55. Created as a site-specific piece by Brad Tallery, “Elements” is described by Atlantic Beach City Manager Kevin Hogencamp as “interactive and interpretive—lay the arc down, it represents sand; stand it up, it represents wind; flip it over, it’s a wave.”
read moreParks That Endure … Parks With a Purpose
Jacksonville has a lot of parks. Four hundred and thirty-seven to be exact, but the term park is a loose definition, as those public areas range from beloved neighborhood pocket parks to ballparks and skate parks, fishing piers and boat ramps, to magnificent, large-scale spaces that include a range of amenities or provide a selfie-worthy photo op, such as in front of the “Life” sculpture in historic Memorial Park.
read moreFinding Wellness at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Nestled up against the St. Johns River in Riverside, the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens provides a respite for those who want to stroll through the galleries or meander through the exquisite gardens to be inspired by the beauty of the natural world. Did you know that visiting the Cummer—one of the community’s top attractions—can also positively impact your health and well-being? After the past two years of pandemic struggles, there is no better time to take advantage of the documented benefits of immersing yourself in art and nature.
read moreJacksonville Quilt Show—Artful Fabric Creations
Today’s quilts are works of art, as appropriate on the wall as on a bed or as a pop of intrigue in the living room. Contemporary fabric artists have embraced the traditions of the past, created new patterns, found new techniques to express themselves in diverse ways, and incorporated a full spectrum of options to yield stunning outcomes.
read moreFemArt Gallery
FemArt Gallery Executive Director and founder Kim Miller was inspired to create a space for women artists while she was finishing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Her art education had made her acutely aware of the strong bias toward male artists throughout history. She sent out a call to local women artists she knew and two of them joined her in creating a nonprofit that would support women artists through exhibition opportunities, educational programs, and community outreach designed to elevate their work.
read moreForging a Bold City One Sculpture at a Time
Probably most famous for the photograph that appeared in national news during Hurricane Matthew, “Spiritualized Life” was created by Charles Adrian Pillars to honor those lost during World War I. The piece was privately commissioned by the Citizens Committee in 1920 and unveiled in Memorial Park on Christmas Day, 1924. It is one of the first pieces of public art in the city and still stands as one of the most iconic sculptures in Jacksonville.
read moreStatue of Limitations
The ongoing process of racial reckoning that’s been taking place around the country over the past few years has occurred on many different fronts, be it the classroom, the pulpit, or the streets of hundreds of cities from coast to coast. This process has peaked (so far) with the social protests we saw sweeping the nation after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Locally, there were protests here in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, the Beaches, and beyond.
read moreIt was Crooked. It was Blurry. It was Mad.
Local author Tim Gilmore, Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) English professor, historian, and creator of jaxpsychogeo.com, knows a lot about bizarre, local lore and our city’s most idiosyncratic characters. Virginia King is certainly one of those—she spent decades feverishly documenting 1960-80s Jacksonville by word and photo, ultimately writing some 8,000 pages by hand in an effort to “capture the city,” as Gilmore puts it. Gilmore wrote a book about King in 2015, titled The Mad Atlas of Virginia King, that has now been adapted into a play by the same name.
read moreThe Strategy For What You See
What role do exhibitions serve at an art museum? Museums, after all, are a particular type of institution defined in large part by the presence of a permanent collection. There are institutions without (or with limited) collections that focus exclusively on exhibitions. Known as kunsthalles (literally, “art halls” in German), these spaces are more popular in Europe, although there are some notable examples in this country.
read moreModern Hunter-Gatherer
Gabrielle Gould is a self-described “modern hunter-gatherer” who uses small wonders of the natural world to create jewelry art. Based in historic St. Augustine, Gould’s art form has caught the eye of the producer of PBS’s art and craft documentary series Craft in America. The show airs just once or twice a year, and typically features craft arts in conceptually themed episodes. The episode featuring Gould will be the first medium-specific one, shining the spotlight on jewelry. The episode will air on PBS stations on December 10. (For our area, check WJCT’s listings for airtime.)
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