Publishers Note
This marks the 29th year of our partnership with AIA Jacksonville to bring you the annual Art & Architecture issue. Architecture guides us through our daily lives in many ways we don’t even realize. Not just visually, but in how the built environment moves and directs us physically.
City Shapers & World Builders
The Florida Association of Architects was founded in Jacksonville in 1912 by a group of 42 architects who together laid the groundwork for professional regulation in the state. Three years later, with the association’s backing, Florida established the State Board of Architecture to oversee the profession, and by 1916 the state had administered its first official licensing exam for architects.
AIA Jacksonville’s mission is to “advocate for a healthy, desirable, and sustainable built environment in Jacksonville and throughout all of Northeast Florida.” Fostering a deeper understanding of what architects do and their value to the community at every level of design is an important part of fulfilling that mission. In short, by demystifying and elevating the industry and its practitioners.
Architecture makes or breaks our built environment. How does a city demonstrate its prioritization of architecture, design, and planning? Learn more starting on page 20.
Emerald Trail LaVilla Connection
A walk along the Emerald Trail’s LaVilla Mural is a lesson in history. From the early native on horseback to the women representing the Gullah Geechee culture to the railroad porters in their red caps, representing the Union Station porters who played for the Negro League baseball team called the Red Caps, the historical figures are depicted in brilliant geometric shapes and colors along the 1,100-foot-long Park Street Bridge mural. The beautiful trail also offers an interactive book of storytelling. Not only will you benefit from exercise, but you’ll make reading fun and enjoy our community’s natural assets. Baptist Health’s investment in the first phase of the Emerald Trail, called the LaVilla Link, brings families and individuals together to foster connection, movement, and early literacy (see page 36).
Put a little spring in your step and enjoy putting a little culture and fun in your life.
Cinda Sherman, Publisher
