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 city we become.
That vision will not be defined by development projects or economic rankings alone. It will be defined by whether people feel rooted here, whether families see a future here, and whether Jacksonville’s cultural spirit grows alongside its ambition.
That is what the arts make possible. For 65 years, it is also what the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has provided for Jacksonville.
Too often, arts and culture are treated as optional, secondary to the “real” needs of a growing city. But 65 years of experience tell us a different story. The arts are not ornamental. They are civic infrastructure, shaping whether a city simply functions or truly feels like home.
For those who look to the data, the case is clear: investing in arts and culture delivers meaningful returns. According to the Americans for the Arts’ Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 study, nonprofit arts and culture organizations generated $151.7 billion in economic activity nationally in 2022 including employing 2.6 million people, adding $101 billion in personal income to residents, and contributing $29.1 billion in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments.
The local impact is equally compelling. The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s most recent Return on Investment Survey found that in FY2025, the city’s $6 million investment in arts and culture generated more than $143 million in total economic impact.
