The Up & Cummers, the young professionals group at The Cummer, introduced a new, quarterly event series last week entitled Art After Hours. Over 50 guests enjoyed a wine tasting sponsored by PRP Wine International, light hors d’oeuvres courtesy of the Chef’s Garden, and an interactive tour of The Cummer Legacy given by Curator, Holly Keris.
“Art After Hours was created as a fun and social way to encourage young adults to experience the exhibitions held at The Cummer throughout the year. Additionally, the interactive component of each tour creates a casual environment for open discussion.” -Elizabeth Ingram, President of Up & Cummers.
Future Art After Hours events will highlight the following exhibitions: On the Silk Road and the High Seas; Chinese Ceramics, Culture, and Commerce (June 8), The Neighborhood as Art: Celebrating the Riverside Avondale Area (August 10) and Eugene Savage: The Seminole Paintings (October 12). Each event will be from 6:30-8 p.m. and feature an interactive, after-hours tour given by a member of the Museum staff, and include wine and light hors d’oeuvres.
So, what exactly is an interactive tour?
With the help of museum staff, each Art After Hours will have a different and fun interactive component.
At the inaugural event on February 16, the interactive activity was a “token response” tour. As guests entered the Jacobson Gallery for the Art After Hours tour of The Cummer Legacy, they were given a set of cards with images on them such as a dollar sign, house, paintbrush, heart, etc. Holly Keris explained that the cards were to be placed in front of the art symbolic of the image on the card, e.g., the dollar sign was to represent the piece thought to be the most valuable, the paintbrush was to represent the piece thought to take the most craftsmanship, etc. After all the cards had been distributed, Miss Keris based the tour around the pieces that had the most cards in front of them. As she gave the history for each work of art, she interacted with the audience asking individuals to share what card they had put down and why, thus giving guests the option to participate as much or as little as they chose.
The Up & Cummers host monthly programs and events. For more information about upcoming events, please visit www.facebook.com/upandcummers or contact Emily Magevney at (904) 899-6027 or emagevney@cummer.org.
