Igniting 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...
Jacksonville’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...
For 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...
Freedom 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...
Northeast 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...
Ellen Diamond: A Legacy of Love
By Susan D. Brandenburg Ellen Diamond’s book, “Chasing Color,” is a celebration of her long and fruitful journey on this earth. The artist’s fabulous life and legacy in the artworld are beautifully illustrated on each page. Her early paintings, European landscapes, gardens, beaches, waterways, flowers, trees, towns, and bridges leap from the pages, thrilling the senses and satisfying the soul. “Like my life, this book has been...


