Business
Art & Gardens As a Lifeline
The Cummer Museum’s Artful Moments Program By Kim Kuta Dring, Director of Learning and Engagement, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens Art is more than a luxury; it is a lifeline—a vital tool for improving well-being, especially for older adults facing cognitive challenges. Studies show that engaging with arts and aesthetic experiences can benefit our brain health, creating new neural pathways and improving cognitive function. For older adults and individuals living with dementia, these benefits can be profound. The Cummer Museum of Art &...
read moreThe Art & Antiques Show Reimagined: Versatile Wallcoverings Reimagined:
By Janet Reagor Wallpaper is more than beautiful patterns and designs. This versatile wallcovering can add texture and color to a room, making it feel elegant and unique. Like many art forms, its evolution tells the history of changes in taste and style that reflect current events and production innovations. It is a practical décor element that encourages and celebrates artistic expression. As early as the Qin Dynasty (221- 207 B.C.) the Chinese hung decorated rice paper on walls and so are credited with inventing wallpaper. Later, linen...
read moreNew exhibitions at the Cummer Museum
Explore our relationship with the land By Laura Phelps The landscape and environment that surround us are more than just a backdrop to everyday life; they are a living, breathing part of our stories. “Spirit in the Land” and “Knowing the West”—two exhibitions coming to the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens this winter and spring—focus on reimagining our relationship with the land by amplifying voices often left out of the narrative. “Our connection to the land shapes our identity, our sense of belonging, and our traditions, and...
read moreRDD’s Raw Deal for the Arts
A Far Cry from FDR’s New Deal By Sheri Leonard Webber Florida arts groups face significant financial challenges after an unexpected move from the governor’s office—a $32 million veto in arts funding. After the initial shock and outrage in early June, arts organizations across the state are now scrambling to cover budget shortfalls. For some, the end of the fiscal year is right around the corner. Governor Ronald Dion DeSantis’s (RDD) June veto sparked alarm in more than 600 organizations marking the first time a Florida governor has eliminated...
read moreA River Runs Through It(Part 1)
For anyone traveling over the bridges of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, it can sometimes feel like we are separate from the river that weaves its way through the city. A 2021 Public Space survey found that only 19 percent of Jaxsons go to the riverfront often to enjoy greenspace and the outdoors. Limited areas for residents to access the riverfront or interact with nature have restricted opportunities for the city to have the bustling waterfront vibe that so many other metro areas offer. Since 2014, Jacksonville has enjoyed some of the...
read moreRoy A. Benjamin Master of Style
By Wayne W. Wood Although he only had a seventh-grade education, and although over a third of his buildings were built outside of Jacksonville, Roy A. Benjamin was one of this city’s most admired and versatile architects in the first half of the twentieth century. Despite his lack of formal academic training, he mastered more styles of architecture than any of his contemporaries. Perhaps his most astonishing achievement was that he designed over 200 movie theaters, a number surpassed by only a handful of other American architects. Benjamin’s...
read moreKathy Stark Conscientious Creator & Parks Advocate
Imagine the mid-1930s. Transport yourself to the aftermath of the stock market crash that sent America spiraling into the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt took office as the nation grappled with unprecedented levels of unemployment, widespread poverty, and a financial system in shambles. As president, he lost no time in addressing the despair and hopelessness felt by more than 125 million Americans. He boldly declared “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” in his 1933 inaugural address—words that set the tone for a...
read moreFor the Love of Books
The history of local independent bookstores in the United States has been an essential part of our literary and political education. Thomas Paine used bookstores to circulate “Common Sense,” which made the case for independence from Great Britain and seeded the idea of revolution. Later, literature about the suffragists and civil rights was disseminated via bookstores, which historically provided a safe haven for community gatherings and discussions. Then, between 2010 and 2018 an amazing thing happened: Independent bookstores made a...
read moreThe Character-Driven World of Illustrator & Designer Stephen BaileyThe Character-Driven World of Illustrator & Designer
How to Remain an Artist Once We Grow Up By Sheri Webber Seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” requires a trip to the Louvre. Works by Pablo Picasso can be viewed in Spain or at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and visiting Michelangelo’s “Moses” involves a plane ticket to Rome, Italy. Bringing home a masterpiece—Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” for example—might save on plane tickets and museum admissions but could cost up to a cool $450 million. Not too many art collectors can swing that kind of cash, but what if it was...
read moreNatalie McCray-Krauz on Creating the Arbus 30th Anniversary Cover
By Madeleine Peck Wagner a whisper gathers more attention than a shout Sometimes, and always when least expected, my phone buzzes and in comes an image of wit and inventiveness that makes my day. That this image will often inflame my own imagination is, I think a testament to artist, art director, and designer Natalie McCray-Krauz’s extraordinary ability to transform the most mundane of objects into objects of desire and veneration. The whole she creates is always more than the sum of its parts. Recent...
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