The Haydon Burns Now The Jessie: Rebirth of a Welcoming Community Space
By Wayne W. Wood A century from now, when architectural historians come to visit Jacksonville, one of the four most important buildings they will want to see is the former Haydon Burns Library, aka The Jessie. (The other three would almost surely be the St. James Building, Gulf Life tower, and Chart House.) The fact that the old library building still exists is a miracle in itself. Like many of the buildings in downtown...
The Great Fire of 1901 Jacksonville’s Day of Destiny
By Wayne W. Wood Most people in Jacksonville have heard about the Great Fire of 1901, but few know the story of how it all started. It began on Friday, May 3, 1901. Not much was happening in Florida’s largest city, population 28,000. The weather report had not changed for weeks—hot and dry. In the LaVilla suburb west of town, workers at the Cleaveland Fiber Factory were taking a break for the noonday meal. Located diagonally...
Outside Looking In The Paintings of Amer Kobaslija
“I think it is about looking closely around you and responding with a sense of urgency. Not imposingviews but implicitly reflecting.” ~Amer Kobaslija When you see the world through the eyes of the artist and feel their connection to the place or the people depicted, that is when they capture your attention. Hyper detailed and often layered with meaning, Amer Kobaslija’s work is inherently...
Inspired Closets Jacksonville
Custom Isn’t a Luxury. It’s Our Standard at Inspired Closets Jacksonville. We love a beautiful closet as much as the next person, but the most important takeaway we have learned on our 9-year journey as the owners of Inspired Closets Jacksonville is this: a beautiful closet means nothing if it isn’t designed for your unique needs and space. This doesn’t mean beauty gets sacrificed. It takes trust to welcome our...
The Conversation
Colin Tarbert Downtown Investment Authority CEO What attracted you to Jacksonville and to the opportunity to lead the Downtown Investment Authority? Jacksonville offers a rare opportunity to shape a downtown at scale. We have a remarkable riverfront, available land, and real momentum behind transformative projects. The DIA brings together planning, real estate, and investment tools to move that vision forward. For...
Publishers Note
The 30th annual Art & Architecture Issue is monumental, not only for Arbus Magazine, but for me personally as well. Architecture is exciting not only for the ways that it shapes cities and communities but also for the debate that it can spark. Often referred to as the “mother art” or one of the “seven arts,” architecture is also plays a major role in the development and character of a city and how...
WHERE THE RIVER LEADS
Downtown Jacksonville’s Parks & Trails as Living Works of Civic Art Jacksonville’s city center is in the midst of a generational design movement —one that treats parks and trails not as passive green space, but as active civic infrastructure and works of public art. Across the Northbank and Southbank of the St. Johns River, landscape architects, engineers, artists, nonprofits, philanthropists, and public officials are composing a...
WHERE THE RIVER LEADS TO STORIES TOLD THROUGH PUBLIC ART
We Often hear, “What is Jacksonville’s Identity?” That is a question that is difficult to answer. However, a city’s identity can be shaped and expressed through public art. Businessman Preston Haskell has commissioned many sculptures throughout Northeast Florida and believes that public art “will make our city even more beautiful, more attractive.” For more than a decade, Haskell has led the Downtown Sculpture Initiative to...
Whitney Oldenburg: left behind
Edited by Amber Sesnick, Director of Communications, Arts UNF Photos by Elisabeth Bernstein A dynamic emerging sculptor who grew up here in Jacksonville but is now working out of New York, Whitney Oldenburg has cultivated a deeply reflective practice examining the relationships we build with everyday items. Her exhibition “Whitney Oldenburg: left behind” is on view through April 19 at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)...
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