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 outside of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville, is the culmination of the museum’s 100th anniversary celebrations and the result of overwhelming support from our local community.
From Commission to Landmark
MOCA, part of Arts UNF at the University of North Florida, has always been a museum for the people of Jacksonville. In 1924, the museum was established by four local women artists as the first visual arts organization in the area. These women envisioned a city where access to the arts, education, and beauty are available to all. In 2024, MOCA marked its 100th anniversary with groundbreaking exhibitions and installations honoring its past while looking to the future. For Project Atrium, MOCA’s ongoing series of site-specific art installations, museum leadership worked with Frank Stella—one of the most influential figures in postwar American art—to create a monumental sculpture to mark the occasion. This sculpture, “Jacksonville Stacked Stars,” turned out to be the final work in Stella’s iconic Stars series, as well as the final major work of sculpture created by the artist before his death that same year.
Frank Stella is known for reshaping the possibilities of abstraction and sculpture over a career spanning more than six decades and resulting in an extraordinary body of work. Since his first solo gallery exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery in 1960, when he presented his famous minimalist Black Paintings, Stella continuously tested the limits of various media. His inventive spirit and ever-evolving approach to materials and style helped him remain relevant and impactful over more than 60 years of creation.
The 2024 installation of “Jacksonville Stacked Stars” drew record attendance and enthusiastic community support, with more than 72,000 visitors engaging with the sculpture through gallery visits, public programs, and special events. This enthusiasm inspired a community-wide effort to acquire the iconic sculpture.
