American Plumbing; B&L Landscape; Brown Enterprises; Childress Roofing and Sheet Metal; Coleman Construction Group; Cummings Masonry; Duval Fence; Frattle Stairs and Rails; Green Built Construction; H&H Landscaping; Marietta Sand Corporation; Miller Electric; Nitelites Outdoor Lighting; Southeastern Ornamental; Supreme Stucco; Taylor Cotton Ridley; Wes Peters Painting; and Wonderland Products.

Special thanks as well to our partners on this initiative:

Elkins Constructors Inc.; CMS Group LLC; Connelly & Wicker Inc.; Atlantic Engineering Services; Sunscapes Landscape Design Inc.; Francois Goffinet Limited; and Richard Skinner & Associates, Architects.

Please continue to check our website and “like” us on Facebook to receive updates about the final phase of construction.

© Richard Skinner & Associates, Architects, 2012.

As part of the Olmsted Garden Restoration and Landscape Enhancement Project, The Cummer parking lots will be receiving some much needed attention. Beginning December 10, all Cummer lots across Riverside Avenue from the Museum will be closed for a complete renovation. Construction is scheduled to be completed by Spring 2013. During this period, visitors are encouraged to park in the lot at the Lane Building, or in public parking on Post Street between the Museum and the Garden Club of Jacksonville. Street parking is also available on Riverside Park Place and May Street.

Big changes include improved landscape and lighting and the addition of accessible parking. Also new to the space will be bike and scooter parking.

Not only will these new parking lots look and function better, they will also be more environmentally friendly. In lieu of 100% asphalt lots, The Cummer will be using pervious pavers in the parking stalls to help capture stormwater runoff.

Gathering Plaza. © Richard Skinner & Associates, Architects, 2012.

The community is invited to support the restoration and renovation project by participating in the Dedicate a Brick Campaign, which offers hundreds of individuals the opportunity to have an engraved brick in the gathering plaza within the new parking lots. Behind each name is the story of a milestone, a personal relationship, or the celbration of a life. Cost per brick is $500 and individuals are able to purchase an unlimited number of bricks. For more information, please contact Kenyon Merritt at 904.899.6025 or visit www. cummer.org.

We thank you for your patience as we improve your Cummer experience!

You might also notice crushed egg shells at the base of the delphinium. Not only does the calcium in the shells help provide the alkaline soil necessary for strong stems, it also acts as a deterrent for slugs, which love to feast of the delicate crown of the delphinium where the stems originate.

Also happening during December, look for new sod to be placed in the Upper Tier, and watch for changes to the courtyard as we install Florida native plants in conjunction with the exhibition, Jim Draper: Feast of Flowers.

From 1933 through the end of World War II in 1945, the Nazi regime systematically pillaged cultural property and artworks throughout continental Europe.  Some of their loot was sold to fund Nazi-related activities; some became the property of senior party officials.  Other pieces were destroyed.  After the war, tens of thousands of confiscated objects were recovered by the Allies, but that was only a portion of the works stolen. Although exhaustive efforts were made to return these objects to their rightful owners, many works of art never found their way home.

To this day, museums and individual collectors still struggle to verify the proper ownership of works of art that changed hands during these years.

vitrines? What wall color will enhance the viewer’s experience? How is layout to be determined?  Should it be organized by subject matter, by artist, or chronologically? Can the window shades remain open? Works on paper fade and deteriorate in ultra violet light like that which comes from sunlight.  How many didactics will there be? What objects is the education department concentrating on? What size school groups must be accommodated?

For example, in Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from the British Museum, the scale of the Egyptian objects could handle a large and involved setting. Many of the objects were temple sculpture, so inferring a temple was in order. With 24″ diameter cardboard tubes and 42″ wide tapered foam flowerpots painted with a textured brick color paint the visitor got a subtle experience of objects in a temple. Does the art work call for a simpler setting?  The approach is equally complicated. The Miradas exhibition is a good example.

It was an exciting night at Englewood Elementary School as Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville prepare families for the celebration of an annual celebration of  Carnival.  Mardi Gras, as it’s commonly known in America, has roots in in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. United States of America. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens could not miss this event.
We provided a hands on Mardi Gras mask-making activty for the families.

For me, the name Mardi Gras was unknown, so I had to find some more information about this merrymaking!  And finally I knew, that Mardi Gras is basically a Carnival, or in Czech language this is said ‘‘Masopust“ .  In our country it means several days of feasting before Ash Wednesday, but Mardi Gras is originaly French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday.

So, my co-worker Terry and I left after work toward Enlgewood Elementary School at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, February 17th.  I was really looking forward to this, because I like  going outside the museum, as it is special. You meet many different people and I must comunicate with them. There were more than 200 kids and their parents.  I must admit, that helping children solve their problems in creative tasks is an inspiration and fun for me. We enrich each other, basically.

When we drove through the school building, at a distance I saw a woman in a mask and Terry said, ‘‘Tomas her name is Paula.  She is my friend,” so we know that we are in the right place. We did not come with our own mask so Paula gave us one to wear. They were really great peices.

Each kid got a passport, which they used at each station that had a different art project. When finished with their creative work, they got a stamp to pass and continue to another station.  It was a list of tasks for them and the whole celebration was accompanied by a band from Jamaica.

Another special activity for the children was the ‘‘limbo”, a popular form of dance that originated on the island of Trinidad. The dancer moves to a Caribbean rhythm, then leans backward and dances under a horizontal pole without touching it. If you touch it or fall backwards,  you are “out”.

Anyway, I didn’t expect, that the children could visit all nine stations to complete creating all the diffrent projects.  The reason was, these tasks were each from 10 to 20 minutes long. But the opposite was true, we had around 240 masks, and we had around 30 pieces left over.  Many of the parents deserve great appreciation for their patience.

Music slowly finished and it was time for us to go.  It was a very nice experience, but we were both really tired throughout the work week. On Friday evening Terry and I were looking forward to going home.

Issues that will likely come up in these meetings include federal funding for agencies and programs that support museums, federal education policy (including the impact of No Child Left Behind on museums), the economic role that museums play in communities, nonprofit tax-exempt status, charitable giving, and historic preservation.

Despite these seemingly weighty topics the American Association of Museums, the organizer for this event, is encouraging anyone with an interest in the museum field to participate including staff, volunteers, trustees, students, and even museum enthusiasts.

To learn more about this event or to register to participate, please visit the American Association of Museums website.

today through a gift to The Cummer

The Cummer is embarking on a renewed effort to fulfill its mission of engaging and inspiring through the arts, gardens and education.  Your financial support through a tax-deductible donation, whether $50 or $5,000, will help support our mission.  Below are specific ways your contribution will make a difference at The Cummer:

Art: Your gift will help The Cummer bring exciting exhibitions like Impressionism and Post Impressionism from the High Museum of Art to our community.

Gardens: Your contribution will help beautify The Cummer’s most important living collection, our historic gardens, and provide support for future restoration projects.

Education: Your donation will help meet the goal of providing an additional 5,000 children with tours, school outreach, camps, and classes to celebrate the joy of art and gardens.

Click Here to Donate

Thank you for supporting The Cummer!

James Knutzen & Associates, C.P.A.’s, P.A. conduct the audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the USA and by the Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.  Included in their assessment, they will be looking at evidence that supports the amounts and disclosures in our financial statements.  They will also be examining  the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management.  Upon completion, the auditors issue their opinion and present to our Finance, Investment, & Audit Committee and then to the Board of Trustees.

Since its opening in November 1961, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has stood as a beacon of man-made art and natural beauty to the Jacksonville community. Fifty years after its dedication, The Cummer embarks on a renewed mission to “engage and inspire through the arts, gardens and education.”

What is your vision of what The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens will look like in the future? Share your thoughts with us – What do you think the Cummer would look like in ten, twenty or fifty years from now? Send us a tweet or post a comment on Face Book.

Frederick Frieseke was born in Owasso, Michigan. After the death of his mother, the young Frieseke came to Jacksonville, Florida to live with his uncle, Albert Carl Frieseke. The residence was at Floral Bluff in Arlington, an area Frieseke would capture 25 years later in a series of memory paintings of Florida.

Frieseke was a member of the Giverny Group, an assembly of American artists who lived for a period of time in Giverny, France. The group went to Giverny in the 1890’s to seek instruction and inspiration from Claude Monet and in 1906, Frieseke purchased a house next to Monet’s residence in Giverny.

This painting was done when Frieseke was living in Corsica during the winter of 1912/1913. Unlike most Impressionist works, it was painted inside due to the cold weather. Frieseke shows his model, Marcelle, dressed up like a ballerina primping before her performance.

The Cummer Museum purchased this painting in 1985 with the help of school children who donated pennies to help buy the painting.

Stephanie Welchans is also new to the Board of Trustees, serving  in ex-officio status for a one year term due to her leadership as President of The Cummer Docent Corps.

Stephanie Welchans is the new 2011-2012 Docent President.  Stephanie, a Miami University graduate, is currently VP of the marketing research firm, Welchans Research Group.  She has also worked as Regional Sales Manager at the Kohler Company.  In addition to leading The Cummer Docent Corps, Stephanie will volunteer with the Junior Docent program for middle and high school students. She currently resides in Avondale with her husband and daughter.

The trustees welcomed both Ryan and Stephanie with hearty applause.

A: Cummer staff has been busy this summer working with our friends at Elkins Constructors on a water intrusion project at the Museum. As you may know, The Cummer is celebrating our 50th Anniversary in 2011. Unfortunately, it meant that all the windows in the original museum building were celebrating their 50th Anniversary too.  Over the years, technology has certainly improved, so there are windows made now with better impact ratings to counteract hurricane damage, with better seals to prevent leaks, and with high energy efficiency glass. In recent years, the seals around the original windows were starting to show their age, and in some of our behind the scenes spaces we were experiencing some water intrusion due to these failing seals. We decided this year to upgrade the windows, fix the seals, and repair some of the plaster damage all at the same time. Careful observers may recall that the old windows had an operable pane at the bottom, necessitating a metal bar about one-quarter of the way up from the bottom. These had not been operable in a number of years, so the decision was made to replace the windows with a single pane of glass.

In 1994, The Cummer Gallery of Art became The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.
“Since Mrs. Cummer expressed her desire to create not simply an art collection, but ‘a center of beauty and culture,’ the word ‘museum’ seems particularly fitting to the purposes she had in mind.” Henry Adams, Director, 1994.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/2 cup  creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 -3 1/2 cups dry quick cooking oatsDirections:

Add the first four ingredients into a 4-quart sauce pan.

Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 minute stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.

Add peanut butter into the hot mixture and stir until melted.

Add in vanilla.

Mix in the oats and drop by tablespoons onto wax paper.

Let cool until set.

Once cool,  top as you wish.

Mom says:

Please remember that even if you do follow the recipe exactly, it doesn’t always turn out just right. I have had these not set up for me AND be hard and dry. But most of the time, the recipe is just right. I have also found that it makes a difference if you use quick cooking oats or old fashioned. In my experience it takes more old fashioned oats than quick cooking and I like the texture of the quick cooking better. When you make it a few hundred times like I have you learn a couple of things:) Also, Chunky peanut butter tends to make them more dry and crumbly.

My recommendation:

The peanut butter dollop on top of the cookie is totally my idea.  For this I used an organic white chocolate peanut butter.  It is a little expensive, but well worth it.  After about 10 minutes of cooling I made an indention on the top of the cookie with a cherry tomato and then filled it in with the topping.

ENJOY!

http://boxbrotherscorp.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html

In general, museums “loan” artwork from their permanent collection to other similar institutions for a variety of reasons.  The most common type of loan request is for an exhibition.  Although “loaning” artwork to another museum sounds easy, it is a complicated process that should be made with great care.

The Cummer will consider lending artwork to an exhibition on a case by case basis.  The exhibition must have scholarly merit with an underlying importance of public education and fall within the parameters of the Cummer’s mission statement.  Further consideration is placed on the impact the loan request may have on the museum’s educational program as well as on the visitor experience.  This is an important factor to consider as some loan requests are for six months to a year pending  the number of venues an exhibition will travel to; this means the artwork will be absent from the museum galleries for an extended period of time.

It is also important to consider the physical condition and nature of the artwork requested, its ability to travel and the museum’s ability to care for the work while in their possession.  This is of the utmost importance for the museum to consider before lending an object.

Robert Henri (American, 1865 - 1929), Guide to Croaghan (Brien O’Malley), 1913, oil on canvas, 41 ¼ x 33 in., Purchased with funds from The Cummer Council, AP.1976.1.1.

In Fall 2009, the Cummer received a letter from the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The letter requested the loan of our Robert Henri, Guide to Croaghan (Brien O’Malley) as part of an exhibition titled, From New York to Corrymore: Robert Henri and Ireland. This exhibition would be the first major museum-organized project about Henri in more than fifteen years as well as the first to consider the important body of work that he created during the six summers that he spent on Achill Island.

After much consideration, the Cummer decided to approve the Mint Museum’s loan request.  The exhibition not only encompassed all of our required criteria but would also be an excellent opportunity for the museum to participate in.  In addition, the exhibition will travel to two additional venues after its commencement at the Mint Museum, whose exhibition just ended August 7^th.  Our Henri will be joining the exhibition as it travels to The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico and then onto The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York.  This means our painting will not be on view from August 2011 through the summer of 2012.

We are very excited to have our Henri painting participate in this exhibition.  Of additional significance is the fact that this exhibition will bring together our Henri painting alongside another version that is in the Mint Museum’s collection, titled, My Friend Brien, for the first time.  It thus presents a rare opportunity for visitors to compare the way that Henri captured different aspects of the subject matters central character, Brien O’Malley in the two different paintings (shown below).

http://www.mintmuseum.org/_if_exhibit.php?exhibit_id=117

So if you happen to be looking for our Robert Henri, Guide to Croaghan (Brien O’Malley) and you just can’t seem to figure out why it’s not in its normal place in the Lane Gallery, hopefully this give you some reprieve.  Should the opportunity present itself that you are able to experience this brilliant exhibition, please be sure to let us know (we LOVE our guest bloggers).  We will gladly miss our Henri, while it’s on loan, but it gives us great pleasure to know that there are other museum goers that will have the ability to view it for the first time and find out why our painting is such a treasure to have in our collection.

Semmes Gallery Renovation, 2011.

For the past month, we have been renovating The Eunice Pitt Odom Semmes & George Wingfield Semmes Gallery of Baroque Art.  This gallery, otherwise known as the “blue” gallery due to the infamous blue wall color now has a new wall color and a new hanging system.  The paintings in this gallery will no longer suspend from wires hanging from the ceiling.  Not only is this method of hanging artwork risky but it also tends to distract the visitor from truly viewing the painting.  Due to the recent renovation of the wall surface, the artwork will now be attached to the wall in a more safe and discreet manner.  In addition to these items, two columns were built at the entrance of the gallery.  Along with a new layout with some paintings from storage, the new Semmes Gallery will look and feel like a new gallery space.

Semmes Gallery Renovation, 2011.

Semmes Galley Renovation, 2011.

Semmes Galley Renovation, 2011.

Come check out the gallery renovations, when it opens to the public on Tuesday, August 2^nd.  Also, while you’re here, a new permanent collection exhibition will open the same day.  A selection of posters from the Norman Film Manufacturing Company will be on view in the Stein Gallery until October 30^th.  These posters are from silent films produced in the 1920’s by first coast native, Richard Norman.

The last of the blue in the Semmes.

Semmes Gallery

Stein Gallery

In January 2010, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

The Cummer Gardens are unique examples of early 20th century garden design and many important landscape architects played significant roles in their development. Among them were Ossian Cole Simonds, Thomas Meehan and Sons, Ellen Biddle Shipman, the “Dean of American Women Landscape Architects,” and the fabled Olmsted firm of Massachusetts.

“When you list the causes for which Mrs. Cummer provided leadership – parks, playgrounds, gardening, the arts – you realize that these comprise the things which make life in a city worth living. Her efforts for esthetic and cultural growth are memorialized in the city we see around us today, and will be even more evident in the greater and more beautiful city of tomorrow toward which we are evolving.”

“Mrs. Cummer Gave Us A Legacy of Beauty,” Florida Times Union, May 27, 1958.

Over the last year, Vance has created a new concept for the gallery.  The majority of his focus was redesigning the display cases which hold all of our early 18^th Century Meissen Porcelain.  After a courier trip to Dresden Germany, Vance found inspiration in the Porcelain Collection of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

Gallery Installation at the Porcelain Collection in Dresden, Germany

This type of display style is a traditional way to install porcelain that allows the visitor to “see” more of the object.  This new visibility requires a different method to safely secure the porcelain to the wall.  In Vance’s design, most objects require a custom brass mount, while others can be placed on a clear plexi-glass shelf.  Over 200 mounts were hand-made in house and over 250 glass shelves were purchased to produce this effect.

New Display case in Lovett Gallery

Vance also designed new cases for the center of the gallery.  These will highlight two important areas of our porcelain collection.  The process to create this design concept has been remarkable – from sketches to a life-size model made out of cardboard to the final product – these cases will bring a modern and refreshing look to this gallery.

Sketch of Center Case

Model for Center Cases

Final Design of Center Case

New paint, lighting and hardwood floors adorn the gallery currently.  The display cases are complete, mounts and shelves installed; all we need now is the art.  Over the next few weeks, the Curatorial Department will begin reinstalling the artwork back into the gallery, which will culminate on May 13^th when it is unveiled and reopened to the public.  Here is a sneak-peak at the new design of the gallery.

New Lovett Gallery with Display Cases

New Lovett Gallery with Display Cases

On Saturday, April 10 the Cummer educational staff had the pleasure to host an art making activity for the participants of the annual HEAL Walk at the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens.  The HEAL foundation is dedicated to assisting individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders living in the greater Jacksonville area.

Participants at the walk spent the morning walking through the Zoo in support of family and friends with Autistism Spectrum Disorder.  After winding their way through the Zoo pathways participants ended at a family fun area.  Here the families enjoyed music, food, and art making activities provided by the Cummer as well as MOCA.

A great time was had by all.  If you missed this year’s event we hope to see you next year at the HEAL Zoo Walk 2012.

After we removed all the paintings and furniture, then all the Meissen, then all the cases, we started tearing down the fabric. Underneath the fabric was cotton batting stapled to the wall, so then we had to remove the batting and yes, remove all the staples with pliers.

How many staples do you think we removed from the walls in the Lovett? Not only was the batting stapled along each vertical seam, it was also stapled along the top edge of the wall along the ceiling AND the bottom edge of the wall along the marble. I will only say it is a miracle any of us can actually use our hands today, and that poor Mark is still down there pulling….

The person with the guess closest to the actual number of staples will win a special prize, which will be announced next week!  Stay tuned for more updates on the Lovett Gallery rennvoation.

When deinstalling an exhibition,  the first thought to come to mind is how quickly the time goes.  Most exhibitions we host at the Cummer range between an 8-12 week run and if we are fortunate enough sometimes slightly longer.  We are sad to see the Art Ventures exhibition close, but it was a wonderful experience to be partnered with the Community Foundation and to work with such a talented group of local artists.

These photos are a glimpse into the behind the scenes of taking down an exhibition at The Cummer.  There are a series of items that must be accomplished during every deinstallation, before the artwork is returned to the owners – the first being condition reports.  Upon arrival and departure the condition of every exhibiton object must be documented by a hand written report and photographs.  Then every object is packed in plastic, glassine or tissue depending on it medium and crated for transportation.  Next, all labels and hanging hardware are removed and vinyl lettering peeled off the walls.  Lastly, the walls are patched and painted in anticipation of the next exhibition.

Stay tuned for the next exibition in the Mason Gallery,  A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era, which opens January 25.

Master of the Stötteritz Altar (German, active late 15th century), Mother of Sorrows, c. 1480, oil on panel, 8 ¾ x 6 ½ in., Gift of Mrs. Clifford G. Schultz in memory of Mr. Clifford G. Schultz, AG.1984.1.1.

The Madonna of Sorrows was recently examined at Harvard University’s Straus Centre for Conservation in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Scientists  conducted a number of tests, including ultraviolet light examination, x-ray photography, and wood analysis, in order to learn more about the construction of this small panel painting.

This scientific study will culminate in an exhibition at The Cummer called “The Art of Empathy,” which will highlight the Madonna of Sorrows in context with other late medieval religious works of art. Other pieces in the exhibition, including paintings, illuminated manuscripts, printed books, works on paper, and reliquaries, will allow viewers the opportunity to fully examine the physical, emotional, devotional, and liturgical experiences of a 15^th Century audience.  The exhibition is tentatively scheduled at The Cummer in 2013.

If you would like to see the painting in person, come check out the Madonna of Sorrows, back on view in our Medieval Art gallery.