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 place colorful, large-scale, contemporary sculptures that are highly visible from private property or installed directly on public property.
There is a plethora of public art installations along downtown Jacksonville’s parks and trails with a few standouts along the way.
One example of public art identity is the “Tillie K. Fowler Memorial” located along the Northbank Riverwalk next to the YMCA. Fowler served as Jacksonville’s first female City Council President from 1982-1985 and later served four terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was known as the Steel Magnolia and a woman who reached out in all directions, gracing everything she touched and always making a difference. According to the artist Brower Hatcher, “The work embodies the qualities and image of Fowler’s spirit as an oak tree—strong, protective of the community, concerned for all, and always reaching out. It consists of a trunk truss made of steel and three LED-illuminated orbs. The orbs represent the levels of Fowler’s spirit: the inner orb represents family; the second orb represents community; and the outermost orb represents her country.”
