Richard Arbib (1917–1995)
Cyclar Mark IV “Mopod” Vehicle Proposal
1979
Ink, gouache and graphite pencil with collage elements on illustration board
Height x width: 55.9 x 74.9 cm (22 x 29 1/2 in.)
Framed: 60.6 x 78.1 x 2.9 cm (23 7/8 x 30 3/4 x 1 1/8 in.)
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection
L-SE 1046.1.10

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens would like to present Future Retro: The Great Age of the American Automobile,an exhibition comprised of drawings from the collection of Jean S. and Frederick A. Sharf and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that showcase the beauty and ingenuity of American automotive design during the decades following World War II, a landmark period in car styling.These illustrations provide a rare glimpse into the creative process of some of America’s premiere car designers.

L-SE 1046.1.32
Peter Wozena
Oldsmobile Proposal
June 12, 1958
Colored pencil and graphite on tracing paper and white gouache
Height x width: 35.6 x 42.5 cm (14 x 16 3/4 in.)
Framed: 60 x 81 x 2.5 cm (23 5/8 x 31 7/8 x 1 in.)
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection

The MFA’s collection includes an extensive selection of illustrations, ranging from preliminary sketches to fully rendered works intended for presentation to car company executives. 

L-SE 1046.1.30
Elia Russinoff (born in 1930)
Design Proposal: Two Door Sports Car
1953
Colored pencil on black paper
Height x width: 59.7 x 73.7 cm (23 1/2 x 29 in.)
Framed: 63.5 x 78.1 x 2.5 cm (25 x 30 3/4 x 1 in.)
Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Collection

Some of the drawings featured in the exhibition articulate concepts that would later be incorporated into specific models, while others represent futuristic ideas that were curtailed before even making it past the drawing board.

Six eye-catching cars, 1957 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz, 1956 Continental Mark II, 1956 GM Firebird II, 1963 Chrysler Turbine, 1963 Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster, and the 1961 Chevrolet Impala SS are reflective of the modern period, and will certainly steal the show. 

Chrysler Corporation and Carrozzeria Ghia, Chrysler Turbine, 1963, front-engine, rear-drive hard top coupe, 201.6 x 72.9 x 53.5 in., Courtesy of the Chrysler Group, LLC.

Adding depth and perspective, which will enhance the experience of viewing the MFA collection, as they represent the culmination of the era’s engineering and design.

Chevrolet, Impala Super Sport, 1961, convertible, 209.3 x 78.4 x 55.5 in., Courtesy of Dr. and Mrs. Wellington C. Morton.

This exhibition will be on view from May 14 through September 8, 2013.

For more information, please visit our website.

In 2013, Florida is commemorating the 500-year anniversary of the arrival of Europeans and Africans in the Americas. Juan Ponce de León’s expedition to Florida in 1513 marked a major turning point in world history.  When Europeans and Africans met Native Americans on the shores of the land we now call Florida, life on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was forever changed.  In 1564, Jacques Le Moyne became the first European artist to visit Florida.  He made drawings and watercolors of the Timucua, a people indigenous to the northern part of the state.  Despite their inaccuracies, these prints were for decades the only images of Florida flora, fauna, and peoples known to the Old World.

Theodor de Bry (Flemish 1528 – 1598), after Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues (c. 1533 – c. 1588), Hunting Alligators, 1591, Engraving, Museum purchase in honor of Congressman Charles E. Bennett, AP.2002.1.3.

In 1591, Dutch engraver and goldsmith Theodor de Bry published Grand Voyages, which contained engravings of Le Moyne`s watercolors (now lost).  Although Theodor de Bry never traveled to the Americas, the images he created helped to shape the European perception of Native American cultures and the land they inhabited.

De Bry’s renditions of Le Moyne’s sketches are both historically significant and highly controversial. Scholars point out that certain aspects of the engravings do not match later depictions of the Timucua Indians encountered by the French in northeastern Florida, and contend that de Bry certainly altered the images prior to publication.

Artistic license is evident in several of the images such as the one shown here with its fantasticly oversized Alligator, on display in the La Florida exhibition at the Cummer, through October 6th.

The Junior Docent program began many years ago as a way to engage middle and high school age students in the museum. They don’t have to be artists, just curious about art and the way museums work. Many students have already been involved in life at The Cummer through summer camp, weekend classes, or volunteering. This program invites those exemplary students to meet monthly to work on a year-end project that offers some sort of art interpretation to museum visitors.

While this program is special in its own right, you may be wondering how they could be breaking new ground? Many museums around the world are looking to technology to engage their visitors in exhibitions. Our Junior Docents have taken on the task of writing and recording audio content to enhance two temporary exhibitions this spring. All you (the visitor) will do is use a smart phone to scan a QR code on the label next to the artwork and you’ll be transported to a recording of one of our Junior Docents.

When you visit The Tsars’ Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts you will have the opportunity to learn more about Russian history under the Romanovs’ rule through looking at decorative objects. The intricacies of these decorative objects will be explained to you via digital recording by one of our friendly Junior Docents.  You can also hear the students speak in person about this exhibit at our Community Night for The Tsars’ Cabinet on Tuesday, February 26^th  from 4 to 8 p.m.

Learn about individual works of art and the artists in another exhibition entitled La Florida. You will hear students speak about works of art from The Cummer’s permanent collection and pieces borrowed from other institutions around Florida. The fascinating stories of how these works of art came to be will be told by one of our knowledgeable Junior docents via audio recording. You can hear students speak in person about this exhibit as well, at our Community Opening for La Florida, Tuesday, April 2^nd, 4 to 8 p.m.

Are you interested in becoming a Junior Docent for Fall 2013 and are entering 6^th through 12^th grades? You may contact Lori Eisenberg Castro at leisenbergcastro@cummer.org for more information.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 1:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 21, 2013 1:30 p.m.

Spend an afternoon at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens enjoying our newest exhibition, The Tsars’ Cabinet.  This show presents more than two hundred years of Russian decorative arts, from the time of Peter the Great to the early twentieth century.  Many of the pieces in the exhibition were designed for the public or private use of the tsars and members of the ruling Romanov family.

Join Chief Curator Holly Keris for an afternoon lecture exploring these objects. Tea and light refreshments will be served following the program. Sessions are held on Wednesday, February 20 at 1:30 p.m. and on Thursday, February 21 at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $6.00 for members and non-members. Seating is limited so please make your required reservation by calling Kim Pomar at (904) 899-6038.

The Tsars’ Cabinet is developed from the Kathleen Durdin Collection and is organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, in collaboration with International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida Native Plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

Below the branches of the Bald Cypress are six Longleaf Pines (Pinus palustris) in what is termed the “grass stage” of development.  Longleaf Pine individuals have been known to remain in this juvenile stage up to seven years plus waiting until conditions are perfect for them to ‘reach for the sun’ and become trees.  They have physiologically adapted to withstand ground fires that will burn their needles but not the terminal bud.  Fires are often the impetus needed to provide the growth spurt that sends them upward.  In the ‘grass stage’ they look like anything but a majestic Longleaf Pine but they do have that look of ‘promise.’

February 1, 2013

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Location: The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

Back by popular demand… another tasting event at The Cummer! This time, with a focus on all things Russian to compliment The Tsars’ Cabinet: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts under the Romanovs on exhibition at The Cummer beginning January 26. We will feature two tempting Vodka cocktail samplings along with a Vodka Shot comparison station, each paired with an enticing Russian appetizer. Bring your friends and channel you inner Tsar as you enjoy live music by Russian Pianist Yana Weaver, great art, and scrumptious Russian delicacies! Available to guests 21 and older.

Menu

Moscow Mules paired with Beef Meatball Stroganoff

Vodka Shot paired with Caviar and Crème Fraiche on a Blini

White Russians paired with Russian Tea Cookies

Plus the ever popular Mashed Potato Bar served with a choice of accompaniments including:

Cheddar Cheese, Sour Cream, Chives and a Broccoli Cream Sauce

Since space is limited and the last tasting sold out, please click here or call (904) 899-6038 or (904) 899-6004 to make your required reservations.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida Native Plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

Outside the Stein Gallery, staged around the Pines and beneath the Cypress is a large grouping of Soft Rush (Juncus effusus).  This fresh water-loving perennial has narrow, upright cylindrical leaves up to two feet tall that mysteriously bear flowers  mid-way up their leaves in early summer.  Often found growing in road-side ditches and along the margins of lakes, Soft Rush will provide a strong vertical accent in any wetland landscape.  Soft Rush is a close fresh water relative to the Black Needlerush (Juncus roemerianus) common in Florida’s vast salt marshes.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida Native Plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

The evergreen, late winter-flowering vine, Yellow Jessamine  (Gelsemium sempervirens) is placed at the base of each Cypress tree with the intention of providing floral interest in late February as it twines up the trunks of their host trees.  This is a very common plant in many upland forest ecosystems that makes itself known when it flowers profusely as it climbs vigorously through the forest understory.  This valuable landscape vine provides welcomed late winter color as a harbinger of spring and is a very useful evergreen twining vine in the home landscape.

A traveling exhibit called “Lobby for the Arts,” opened at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens on January 8, 2013.  The exhibit features artwork and video performances by Cathedral Arts Project (CAP) students from participating schools across Duval County.  After its Cummer debut, Lobby for the Arts will travel into the lobbies of area businesses, museums, theatres, and hospitals over the course of Cathedral Arts Project’s 20th anniversary year, from January – December 2013.

“This exhibit focuses on the artistic talents and accomplishments of our ‘CAP kids’ and their teachers,” said the Rev. Kimberly Hyatt, executive director of Cathedral Arts Project.

Since its inception, Cathedral Arts Project has served over 15,000 students. CAP offers multi-disciplinary arts education to nearly 1,800 elementary and middle school students throughout Duval County annually, providing on-site, after-school instruction in visual arts, dance, music, and drama.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida Native Plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

At the four inner corners of the central boxwood hedge are placed four Bald Cypress trees familiar to us as denizens of our nearby fresh water swamps.  They are deciduous, losing all their cinnamon-tinted leaves annually in early December and giving them the bare look you’ll see during the Draper exhibit.   In their youth, they possess strongly horizontal branches from the ground up, eager to gather as much sunlight as possible.  As such, they have a striking sculptural form in winter possessing a fish-bone silhouette look until their fern-like leaves appear in the early spring.   As they grow taller, the lower branches, having done their work, disappear leaving the sun-gathering work to the upper tiers of branches.  With age they develop flat-top canopies sixty feet high or more and utilize what are called ‘knees’ to help get the oxygen they need.  Much of the largess of the Cummer family was derived from the lumbering of cypress trees.   No artist can capture the essence of the Bald Cypress quite like Jim Draper.  Just go see for yourself!

The Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a tree native to fresh water swamps and the edges of rivers.  They are deciduous, losing all their cinnamon-tinted leaves annually in early December.   In their youth, they develop strongly horizontal branches from the ground up, eager to gather as much sunlight as possible.  As such, they have a striking sculptural form in winter, possessing a fish-bone silhouette look until the delicate, fern-like leaves appear in the early spring.   As they grow taller, the lower branches, having completed their work, gradually disappear leaving the sun-gathering work to the upper tiers of branches.  With age they develop flat-top canopies sixty feet high or more and on the ground around them utilize what are called ‘knees’ to help ingest the oxygen they need.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida Native Plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

The Spruce Pine is a North Florida resident that is found in moist forests growing as a single specimen, unlike the other Pines in our area that grow in dense stands .  A denizen of flood plains and mixed hardwood forests, it is most often noticed west of Jacksonville from the I-10 bridges  as one crosses broad wetland areas.  Look for needles that are much shorter and densely arranged than our more common Loblolly and Slash Pines.  It is also more shade-tolerant than their sun-loving cousins.  And its bark resembles more that of a hardwood tree than a pine.  Despite its preference for moist sites, it adapts easily to upland areas and makes a very attractive addition to an urban landscape.  There’s a magnificent specimen on Oak Street, just north of James.  These four containerized trees are only four years old and with age will drop their lower branches as they reach for the sky.  Truly a majestic southern Pine.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida Native Plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

The Dwarf Blueberries do indeed produce edible blueberries, appreciated equally by us Homo sapiens and the many avian species, especially the Mockingbird, that share the natural bounty of our ecosystem.  These are not the cultivated or hybridized blueberries that target the grocery store markets.  They are indeed dwarfs that have grown naturally among the Pine Flatwoods and Scrub of our region for millennia.  Their intrinsic beauty can be found in their fine-textured, evergreen foliage that emerges pink, transitions to a glaucous blue-green thence to light green.  The flowers are an inconspicuous pink or white, typical of their other blueberry cousins; little lantern-shaped globes that open up hanging downward at the first sign of spring weather.  Their branching structure is unpredictable at best.  They seem to grow sort of sideways, their branches often askew, not willing to make that perfect round mound of a plant we all seem to crave in our controlled landscapes.  But the plant’s reward to us is their multi-colored foliage yielding a magnificent range of pink-blue-green colors that is present throughout the year.   These are plants to be ‘naturalized’ in a garden; not to be lined up in a stiff row.  Their personalities are unique; weird little critters who prefer to be left to their own devices but are doubly generous with their rewards.

Dovetailing with Jim Draper’s Feast of Flowers exhibit, The Museum is featuring a few groupings of North Florida native plants in various locations around the museum.  Each week we will look at one of these plants in more detail.

Reinhold Courtyard

Most conspicuous are the plantings arranged in the Central Courtyard.  Located in the flagstone-paved corners are four identical groupings of Dwarf Blueberries (Vaccinium darrowii) around a single specimen of Spruce Pine (Pinus glabra).  They are draped in Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usnioides) to conceal the containers, unify each grouping and give them a sense of ‘local place’.

Platform Outside of the Stein Gallery

This 5’ x 8’ platform, originally intended as a site for sculpture, houses four of Florida’s most wide-ranging Native Plants:  Bald Cypress, Longleaf Pine, Soft Rush and Yellow Jessamine.

Jim Draper, Large Passion, 2012, Oil on canvas, 48″ x 60″, Courtesy of the Artist

Jim Draper lives, works, and creates art in the city of Jacksonville, he is an instructor at the University of North Florida and has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, such as the recent Highway Gallery, and is a part of collections throughout Florida and the Southeast.

In this exhibition, Draper explores the idea of natural resources as consumer commodities by examining how Florida’s bountiful flora and fauna were exploited by settlers in search of  the “Pascua de Florida” (Feast of Flowers).

Jim Draper, Nana, 2012, Oil on canvas, 48″ x 60″, Courtesy of the Artist

Draper’s body of work captures the response to being present in nature and comments on society’s stewardship of natural resources.  Ecologists, biologists, philosophers, historians, taxonomists, and writers have compiled their knowledge to create the historical backdrop for this exhibition in an attempt to examine Florida’s history, ecology, and raw beauty.

Jim Draper, Magnolia, 2012, Oil on canvas, 48″ x 60″, Courtesy of the Artist

This exhibition will be held in the Stein Gallery December 18, 2012 – April 7, 2013.   For more information, please visit our website.

Jim Draper, Willy Brown’s Marsh, 2012, oil on canvas, on loan from artist

In correspondence with Jacksonville artist Jim Draper’s newest series “Pascua Florida: Feast of Flowers” which celebrates the 500th anniversary of the first European engagement with Florida, the Education Department at the Cummer is introducing a new school tour for Spring 2013. Complementing an interactive gallery visit, each guided tour will include activities in the Museum’s beautiful historic Gardens. Through Jim’s art, students will explore different Florida ecosystems and will have an opportunity to create a studio art project of their own. The Cummer has partnered with St. Johns RiverKeeper to develop an integrated curriculum that supports state standards in the visual arts, math, and science.  Tours will be available from January 8 through April 5.

Through photographs, letters, and ephemera, this exhibition celebrates two strong women who helped shape Jacksonville in the twentieth century, and whose legacies remain vibrant today.  Materials for the exhibition were sourced from the Clara White Mission; the Jacksonville Historical Society; the University of North Florida Thomas Carpenter Library, Special Collections; and the Archives of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.

Eartha White and Ninah Cummer: Connecting with Community will be on display in the Milner Gallery from November 27, 2012 through April 14, 2013.

Jennifer Perez, Argosy Motel, Ormond Beach, Florida, 2008, Light emulsion print, 17″ x 21″, Courtesy of the Artist

Jennifer’s passion for photography began while traveling throughout northern California and Central America.  In an effort to better refine her skills she pursued formal photography training from the Southeast Center of Photographic Studies and the University of Central Florida.  This led to opportunities for a diversity of assignments many of which have been published in newspapers, magazines and travel books.  She currently resides in St. Augustine and continues to pursue a career in photography.

]]> http://blog.cummer.org/2012/11/folio-weekly-exhibition-artist-highlight-jennifer-perez/feed/ 0 http://blog.cummer.org/2012/11/folio-weekly-exhibition-artist-highlight-sharla-valeski/ http://blog.cummer.org/2012/11/folio-weekly-exhibition-artist-highlight-sharla-valeski/#comments Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:00:45 +0000 Kristen Zimmerman http://blog.cummer.org/?p=8613 Each week, The Cummer will be highlighting each of the 50 artists represented in the upcoming Folio Weekly Invitational Artist Exhibition, on view at the Museum from August 24 – December 2.

Sharla Valeski, Abe Lincoln Femme Buck, 2012, Mixed media drawing, 34.5″ x 13.5″, Courtesy of the Artist

In 1987, Sharla Valeski moved to Jacksonville from Dallas, Texas. She enrolled at FCCJ (now Florida State College at Jacksonville) and later at Jacksonville University (JU) where she graduated magma cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art. From JU, Valeski adopted a philosophy that has fueled her art-making all these years. At the beginning of her career, the artist chose alternative spaces to show her art, although in 2001 she was included in the Women to Watch Exhibition at Alexander Brest Museum in Jacksonville. That changed in 2009 when Valeski participated in Art After Dark at the Florida Theater and the Bright Young Things exhibition at the Jane Gray Gallery. Shortly after, she opened a gallery/studio, The Next Gallery, being one of the first Off the Grid Galleries through Downtown Vision and The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. The Next Gallery became a great source of pleasure for Ms. Valeski as she experimented with window displays and the installation of art and objects she found locally and in her travels.

After two years of running The Next Gallery, Valeski happened upon the new CoRK Arts District in historic Riverside. She opened a studio in the first phase of the development. The shared gallery space in the building remains a source of inspiration for the artist and an opportunity to display her large scale soft sculptures. Ms. Valeski paints, draws, sews and builds installation pieces. She works mostly from childhood memories, dreams and her imagination. A new-found identity has emerged as she explores the idea of being feminine using methods, materials and imagery that are traditionally assigned to females. She lives in Atlantic beach with her husband, Brent and sons, Tom and Sen.

Julianne French, Utopia, 2010, Vintage photo, oil paint, ink, and paper on canvas, 8″ x 10″, Courtesy of the Artist

Julianne French, artist and art educator, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and art history from Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida and her Master of Fine Arts in painting from The New York Academy of Art, the Graduate School of Figurative Art in New York City. Her work has been exhibited in national and international shows from FL to NY to Italy.  She is currently the Teacher of the Gifted in Nassau County teaching Art Appreciation and Humanities to high school gifted students.  Recently she received an Art Ventures Individual Artist grant from the Community Foundation; a grant to study at Yale University through the Gilder Lehrman Institute; and an invitation to work beside museum and art educators through the Connecting Collections Institute in NYC, studying artworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Tony Wood, Blue Striped, 2012, Photograph on frosted transparent media paper mounted on a light box, 24″ x 20“, Courtesy of the Artist

Tony Wood was born in Nashville, Tennessee but has lived in Jacksonville since 1981. Wood has studied at both the University of South Carolina and the University of North Florida, where he received his BFA in 2001. Since in Florida, he has studied and worked with such renowned artist and professors as Louise Freshman-Brown, Paul Ladnier and Larry Jon Davis. Working with these artists gave him a strong desire to create works of art almost exclusively based on the human figure and face. In 2002-04, Wood was the Duval County Artist in Residence. These experiences lead to an interest and career as an art instructor in the public school system. Wood has exhibited his artwork throughout Florida and Southeast Georgia and has works in many public and private collections. In 1994 he received a talent grant from the state of Florida and in 2009, received an individual artist grant from the Community Foundation, which allowed him to pursue new approaches in portraiture. Wood is currently showing his artwork in the Southlight Gallery and Studio 121 in downtown Jacksonville.

Kelly Crawford, Butternut, 2012, Chromogenic print, 20″ x 20″, Courtesy of the Artist

Kelly Crawford is a Florida native living and photographing in St. Augustine, FL.  Originally from southern Palm Beach County, she headed north after her high school photography teacher suggested she attend Daytona Beach Community College’s photography program. While there she received her A.S. degree in Photographic Technology and went on to receive her Bachelor’s degree in Photography from the University of Central Florida.  Her primary focus lies in shooting film with old cameras, darkroom printing whenever possible, and experimenting with polaroid/instant films.
Look for her in St. Augustine’s “First Friday Artwalk” at Anchor Boutique on September 7, 2012.

Augusta Savage (American, 1892 – 1962), The Diving Boy, c. 1939, bronze, 32 ½ in., Bequest of Ninah M. H. Cummer, C.0.602.1.

Join Hope McMath, Director of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens along with Chief Curator, Holly Keris as they discuss Florida’s little-known connection to the Harlem Renaissance.  Learn about Jacksonville’s native sons James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, along with another local artist, Augusta Savage, each of whom had unique ties to the Harlem Renaissance. The lecture will be followed by cocktails and live music by the Dixie/Swing Quintet featuring Lisa Kelly and JB Scott.

Attendance is $25 for members while non-members will pay $35. Please call (904) 899-6038 to make your required reservations by noon on Monday, November 26.

Doug Eng, Dancing Oaks, 2012, Digital Photograph, Pigment on Paper, 22 x 30 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Doug Eng is a photographer and installation artist. His photographic body of work specializing in urban and natural landscapes has won numerous awards in juried competitions and is widely published. Eng’s engineering background informs the language he utilizes to explain a curiosity about forms, structures, patterns, rhythms, and textures. Eng’s involvement in several local collaborations has developed into a calling to revitalize the city of Jacksonville through the arts.

Doug Eng, Forest Renewal, 2010, Digital Photography, Pigment on Paper 12 x 48 in., Courtesy of the Artist

https://www.facebook.com/doug.eng

Dustin Harewood, Seeds, 2012, Acrylic and Collage on Wood, 40 x 30 x 8 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Dustin Harewood was born and raised in New York City in the 1980’s. In the early 90’s his family moved to Barbados, where he spent his high school years.  He moved back to the U.S to get his first degree in art at North Carolina Central University. He later attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he received his M.F.A in painting and drawing. After graduating, he moved to Jacksonville, where he is currently co-running the Art Program at FSCJ’s Kent Campus.

Jenny Hager, Medallion, 2011, Monoprint, 30 x 40 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Jenny Hager is an Associate Professor of Sculpture at the University of North Florida, where she has been teaching for six years. She received her MFA in Sculpture and Digital Media from San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.  She also holds a BA in Art Education and a BFA in Art Studio from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY.  Interested in a variety of processes and materials, including steel, cast iron, post-it notes, video, wood, digital photography and found objects, she finds inspiration in dreams, objects from her childhood, gadgets, sea life and other curiosities.  She is also very interested in collaboration; the spirit of community is important in both her teaching practice and in her own work.

Jenny Hager, Winged Hoof, 2011, Cast Iron, Steel, Stainless Steel, 3 x 2.5 x 6 ft., Courtesy of the Artist

Hager’s cast iron work has been exhibited across the country and recently in the Cymru Ironstone Castle Exhibition in Wales.  Flight Lab, a video installation, has traveled to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and York College, Pennsylvania.  A collaborative work completed with her husband, Lance Vickery, Three Clouds, is on exhibit at the Knoxville, TN airport for the Art in Public Places exhibition for the next year.  Hager’s most recent project is a collaboration with colleague/printmaker Emily Arthur.  The twenty foot tall Trojan horse, combining sculpture and print, was recently exhibited in New Orleans, Corpus Christi, and Houston.

Loïs Mailou Jones, Design for Cretonne Drapery Fabric, 1932. Watercolor
on paper. Courtesy of the Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust.

The myriad of themes explored by Loïs Mailou Jones (1905-1998) over the impressive length of her career makes for a dynamic exhibition of more than 70 works, including paintings, drawings and textile designs. The retrospective begins with her early textile designs and sketches from the Harlem Renaissance. After graduating from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, at a time when racial and gender prejudices pervaded society, Jones began her career as a textile designer. She sold her bold fabric creations to department stores until a decorator told her that a colored girl wasn’t capable of producing such beautiful designs. This incident prompted Jones to shift her artistic focus to the fine arts so she could sign her name to her works.

During a brief teaching stint at Palmer Memorial Institute, a preparatory school in Sedalia, North Carolina, Jones created several paintings that marked her transition from design to fine art. Though far less vivid than the later works for which she became famous, these early paintings still clearly show her fascination with color and culture.

Loïs Mailou Jones, Marché aux Puces Rue Médard, Paris, 1938. Gouache
on board. Courtesy of the Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust.

Jones’ influences were extensive throughout the remainder of her career. Her lush oil paintings of the French countryside and traditional fruit and flower still lifes highlight her skillful observation of nature. The influence of philosopher Alain Locke, who encouraged Jones to draw inspiration from African art, is evident in many of her later works, such as Irma (1972). She also conveyed the social struggles of African-Americans through powerful psychological portraits such as Mob Victim (1945) and Jennie (1943). Her marriage in 1952 to noted Haitian graphic artist Louis Vergniaud Pierre-Noël instigated a change in the subject matter and palette of her paintings. Her frequent trips to Haiti re-energized her strong design sense and inspired vivid acrylic and watercolor paintings that displayed a marked fascination with Caribbean culture. After additional travels that included African countries, her work became characterized by brilliant color, rich patterns and a variety of Haitian and African motifs.

Loïs Mailou Jones, Nature Morte aux Corail, Haiti, 1985. Watercolor.
Courtesy of the Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust.

In addition to her outstanding accomplishments as an artist, Jones was also a noted educator at Howard University in Washington, D.C. for 47 years. It has been said that Jones was just as involved in her students’ career developments as her own.  Among her illustrious students are David Driskell, Elizabeth Catlett and Robert Freeman.

President Jimmy Carter honored Jones for her outstanding achievements in the arts in 1980, and in the last ten years of her life both President Bill Clinton and French President Jacques Chirac met the artist and collected her work. During a six-year solo exhibition tour, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. held an 89^th birthday party for Jones and apologized for previous prejudicial policies.  Loïs Mailou Jones continued to create her vibrant paintings until her death in 1998.

Leslie Stokes, Tranquility, 2011, Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 36 x 36 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Leslie Stokes resides in Fort Pierce Florida where she has a studio and teaches intuitive oil painting.   Her paintings are a study of color and pattern, while interpreting nature.  She graduated from the University of Kentucky and has a degree in Art History.  She has studied art in France and New Mexico.  In addition to private collections she is in the collections of the Jill Schwartz and Associates, Winter Park FL, City National Bank, Miami FL and the University of Kentucky.

Jessie Barnes, Honor, 2012, Oil on Panel, 36 x 48 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Jessie Barnes is currently a senior at the University of North Florida, majoring in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking, and minoring in Art History. Prior to UNF, Barnes attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and graduated as an AP Scholar and as the president of the school’s chapter of the National Art Honor Society. In addition, she has participated in the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Summer Pre-College program, and a Governor’s Summer Art program at Jacksonville University. She is expected to receive her BFA in the spring of 2013, and intends to continue her education by attending graduate school to obtain her MFA.

Jessie Barnes, Expose, 2012, Gum Transfer with Ink Wash, 22 x 28 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Barnes is a recipient of the prestigious Lazzara Scholarship, and most recently won Best in Show for her painting, Sarah, at the Ponte Vedra Cultural Center in 2011. She then was given a solo exhibition, entitled Collectivity, which opened in May at the Center’s newest gallery. Her body of work focuses on the magnification of a unique collection of found photographs, and seems to speak to the notions of the human condition, nostalgia, and the loss of the private, tangible photograph to the vast world of contemporary digital media.

For more information about the artist and her work, visit her website.

Paul Karabinis, Fish Out of Water, 2011, Toned Cyanotype, 20 x 24 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Paul Karabinis is Associate Professor of Photography at the University of North Florida where he teaches courses in photography and the history of photography. From 1982 until 2007 he served as Director of UNF’s University Gallery. Most recently he served as co-curator and catalog author of Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography, MOCA Jacksonville. Working primarily with historical photographic processes, his tabletop collages are composed of preexisting pictures (photographs and drawings) in combination with three-dimensional objects.

William Schaaf, Suwannee (Shinto Fertility Fetish), 2012, 3/9 Bronze Edition, 29 x 14 x 16 in., Courtesy of the Artist

William Schaaf was born in Richmond, Virginia, in l944.  He has a B.F.A. from the University of Florida, Gainesville, and a M.F.A. from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, both in Painting and Printmaking.  Aside from occasional jobs refurbishing houses, landscaping design, driving tractor-trailer trucks, he has made his living from art business sales, teaching and visiting-artist situations. For many years he has used Art as a Healing Agent with so-called ADD, autistic, abused, and exceptional young persons. He was an early consultant for the Arts In Medicine Program, Shands Hospital, Gainesville, Fl.

Academically, he has served many roles… professor, lecturer, workshop facilitator, visiting artist, in over 25 different institutions, including Southern Illinois University, Penn State University, York University, Toronto, Wayne State University, Detroit, Princeton University, N.J., Universities of Illinois, Florida, Wisconsin, S. Florida, Miami and others.

He has provided for dozens of drawing/writing creative process workshops in such places as: The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, N.Y., The Penland School of Crafts, N.C., Shands Medical Center, Hospice of N. Florida, both of Gainesville, Fl., University Medical Center, Jacksonville, Fl., Valencia Community College, Orlando, The Ringling School of Art & Design, Sarasota, Fl., and some of the afore-mentioned universities.

He has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the MacDowell Colony (twice) at Peterborough, N.H., the Ossabaw Island Project, (twice) Savannah, Ga., and the Virginia Center for the Arts. He has twice been awarded Individual Artist’s Grants from the State of Florida, and served on the Florida Individual Artist’s Grant Panels for the State of Florida. He was an Alternate in Painting for the American Academy in Rome and worked on Christo’s Surrounded Island Project in Miami, Florida.  He was invited as a visiting artist and scholar to the Marino Marini Foundation Headquarters, Pistoia, Italy.

He has exhibited in some 100 group shows, plus some 25 one-person exhibitions in many major U.S. cities, in such galleries as Robert Friedus and Allan Stone, N.Y., Chiaroscuro Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M., The Kentucky Derby Museum, Louisville, The Ringling School, Sarasota, Fl., The Tampa Museum of Art, Fl., Jacksonville Museum of Art, Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville, Fl., The Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Fl., Samuel P. Harn Museum, Gainesville, Fl., Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, Fl., the Orlando Museum of Art, Fl., and the J. Johnson Gallery, Jacksonville, Fl.  His work is in many private, corporate, and museum collections including: The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, Fl., Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, Fl., Deland Museum of Art, Fl., Vero Beach Museum of Art, Fl., The Tampa Museum of Art, Fl., The Orlando Museum of Art, FL., The Kentucky Derby Museum of Art, Lexington, Convergys Corporation, Lake Mary, Fl., Alabama Power Corporation, Birmingham, City of Orlando, Fl., General Telephone and Electric, Tampa, Bell South Corporation, Jacksonville, Fl., Tupperware Corporation, Kissimmee, Fl., Berol Corporation, Ct., State of Florida, Tallahassee, Robert Rauschenberg Estate, Sanibel, Fl., Jennifer Johnson Collection, Fl., Ed Harris Collection, Malibu, Ca., David Cofrin Collection, Gainesville, and others.

His work has been featured in Spur Magazine, The Equine Image, Sky Magazine (Delta Airlines), Sculpture Magazine, Horizon Magazine, Art In America, Notes to A Young Painter, Hiram Williams/book, The Drawing Handbook: An Approach, Stuart Purser/book. He has been featured in videos for television (WUFT-TV, Gainesville), and was a guest speaker for, Voices in the Wind, National Public Radio, Washington, D.C.
ABOUT THE WORK

William Schaaf’s early influential teachers, especially Hiram Williams, gave him a notion that art was a way of life, a lifelong vocation, a place where the spirit of one’s own nature and Self could be sought and found. A project at the University of Florida in his sophomore year put him on the path with the horse and rider theme, which has been varying and cross-pollinating in both 2 & 3-D applications. Rembrandt’s Polish Rider led to what has become a lifelong devotion for well over 45 years. Perhaps childhood memories of heroic Italian monuments or the majestic equine statues of Richmond, Va., his early homes, had incubated long enough.

The 2-D works, usually mixed-media, are as pages out of a diary, often taking years to produce. There is a constant adding and subtracting, fusings of paint to surface, with a resulting rich matrix of markings and scratchings, events that denote history and time.  These 2-D pieces serve as windows through which one can travel expressionistically, realistically, abstractly, psychically. The horse serves as a kind of magic guide, a guardian & protector, a force of soul, accompanied by spirit beings, helpers, guardians, parts of self along for the ride.  Journeys are of visions, dreams, places of power and mystery, healing and discovery.

The 3-D works are characterized with some of the same modes as the 2-D works. The sculpture is influenced by a Japanese aesthetic, and more recently by the simple elegance of the many Native American fetish and doll makers. There is a love of Wabi-Sabi, of accidental happenings of nature, of surface and beauty, all the while serving functionally as ‘medicine’ pieces, reliquaries, works of intention (fetish) and prayer. They may serve as votive offerings which try to honor and emulate the various indigenous traditions that he is attracted to. The horses are often about primal elemental energies long-associated with the equine. In essence, the sculptures are simply fetishes, made large.

He works in stone, wood, clay, which are frequently translated to bronze editions. They are then patinated (visualize watercoloring with acids) so they will resemble lapis, jade, turquoise, which he considers the healing stones. For nearly 40 years, he has been in collaboration with Rick Frignoca, at the Bronzart Foundry, Sarasota, Fl.  It is a full service foundry, which does everything, including the enlargement and adaptation of any sculpture to any required situation.

Elizabeth Gilbert began as a news photographer, documenting the violent civil wars in Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan. Wanting to create work that would have a greater impact, she began documenting the vanishing indigenous people and cultures she saw in more remote areas of Eastern Africa. Her captivating black and white photographs capture customs and traditions that are being lost to the steady infiltration of modern culture.

In sharp contrast to the black in white photography, is the vibrant color and varied style that Loïs Mailou Jones used to create equally fascinating work. From bold and energetic textile designs to the soft tones seen in post-impressionism work inspired while living in France back to deep, rich, contrasting hues used to illustrate the people, landscapes, and symbols witnessed living and traveling through Africa, Haiti and America, her work mirrored her journey. Loïs Mailou Jones painted into her early 90’s and dedicated her life to raising the visibility of black artists, something she accomplished despite the struggle she faced as a woman artist of color.

The Cummer Museum celebrates both women’s journeys at a Members’ Opening on Thursday, October 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Museum. Enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while listening to live music by Ajamu Mutima. Artist Glendia Cooper, a local potter who also takes inspiration from international travels, will be on site to demonstrate methods she uses to create earthenware clay pieces that capture visual ideas that are mysterious, beautiful and memorable.

This opening is free to members and is $15 for Non-member Guests. Please RSVP by Friday, October 5 to Wendy Stanley at 904-899-6007 or wstanley@cummer.org.

Liz Gibson, 3 Legged Fox, 2012, Photograph and Acrylic Handprint on Canvas, 13 x 16 1/2 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Deformity, adversity, and empowerment- these are the themes of my work. Having been born with seven fingers total, (five fingers on my left-hand and two fingers on my right-hand) as an artist, I have chosen to take this unique personal experience and transform it into a shared experience with my audiences. I have created four distinct characters that represent different developmental stages a person born with a physical defect goes through. The transformation is marked in terms of both social perception and self-perspective. It is most important to me that the work I make is both visually intriguing as well as socially compelling.

To see more of Liz Gibson’s work, please visit her website.

Daryl Bunn, Fire Six, 2011, Photography, 59 x 43 1/2 in., Courtesy of the Artist

“Unexpected” is a term that could define the ever-exciting offerings that mark Daryl Bunn’s creative path.  He is a multi-dimensional artist/photographer who continually reaches further to express his inspiration and vision.

Historically, photography has been his prominent mode of creative expression.  He has built his career and reputation on his finely crafted skills and is well-known in the commercial photographic field for his technical and creative excellence.  The fine art photographic images being offered are simply visually breathtaking.

Daryl Bunn, Fire Five, 2011, Photography, 28 1/2 x 38 1/2 in., Courtesy of the Artist

Daryl’s creative interests, however, are vast and varied.  He has recently returned to his love of the art of serigraphy first expressed in 1976.  The prints are simplistic, architecturally elegant, emotionally charged, and challenge the viewer to reflect inward.  “My hope is that they are appreciated for the use of color and shape, composition and balance.  I would consider them successful if the viewer can create their own relationship with the work,” he says of his recent series.

The photographic images and serigraphs are offered as highly limited editions.

Daryl’s work has been included in numerous art exhibitions for which he has received many prestigious awards.

Daryl Bunn’s art is represented in many collections, including:
Mayo Clinic
Rulon Company
The Haskell Company
Drs. Mark and Theresa Abood
Allan Land Group
Ann Betchkal

Dr. and Mrs. Saul Eisen
Michael Dunlap Architects
Dr. and Mrs. Michael Phillips
Taylor Hardwick, AIA
Dr. and Mrs. Richard Markell
Stacy Moseley & Joseph Scherer
Baptist Medical Center
Pajcic & Pajcic Law Firm

Daryl Bunn is currently represented by Fogle Fine Art, HAS Art Solutions, Soho Myriad, Atlanta/Los Angeles, Rollins Fine Art, Tampa, & A.A.R., Houston.

David Engdahl, Lamelliform 205, 2010, Sande (Brosium Utile)/Walnut Veneer, 14 x 20 x 8 in., Courtesy of the Artist

An architect by education and vocation, David Engdahl has been working with laminated wood sculpture since 1971, and has exhibited his works throughout the U.S., including over twenty states. His work is included in numerous corporate collections as well as permanent collections of the Orlando Museum of Art (FL), the Huntsville Museum of Art (AL) and Wiregrass Museum of Art (Dothan, AL).

David Engdahl, Lamelliform 200, 2009, Sande (Brosium Utile), 27 x 13 in., Courtesy of the Artist

He received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Fine Arts Council of Florida, and two of his works were displayed in the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain through the U.S. State Department, and one each have been in U.S. embassies in Latvia, Angola, and Zimbabwe.

Cooking is a big part of our daily lives, and the little one loves to help out in the kitchen.

Calling all photo enthusiasts. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens invites experienced and novice photographers alike to participate in a photo experience as we explore our new exhibition Histories in Africa: 20 Years of Photography by Elizabeth Gilbert.

In the same way that Elizabeth Gilbert endeavored to capture the customs and traditions of disappearing ways of life, we challenge you to do the same using your family’s traditions as the subject of documentation. Whether the image is shot with your cell phone or your pride and joy digital, we want to see your attempt to document your own family traditions. 

From September 14th through December 30th 2012, send between one and three photos to asesnick@cummer.org.  Feel free to include a caption for your pictures.  All appropriate photos will be shared on The Cummer’s Flickr account and on Facebook.

Remember… this is not a contest, but rather a shared photo experience celebrating the Elizabeth Gilbert exhibition and the art of documentary.

Jando Dance, Malawi, 2006, silver gelatin photographic print, 59 7/8 x 40 in. © Elizabeth Gilbert.

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is excited to present a remarkable body of work by photojournalist Elizabeth Gilbert. Opening September 13, Histories in Africa: 20 Years of Photography by Elizabeth Gilbert draws from her impressive career documenting this extraordinary continent.

Gilbert’s startling black and white photographs are featured in the permanent collections of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. They have also been exhibited most recently at The Museum of Arts and Design in New York City in the exhibition ‘The Global Africa Project’ (2010-2011). Her work is also highlighted in two publications, Broken Spears: A Maasai Journey, published by Atlantic Monthly Press, and Tribes of the Great Rift Valley, published by Abrams, and she has also been published in TIME, Newsweek, LIFE, Paris Match, and The New York Times among other publications.

A native of Jacksonville, Gilbert attended St. Mark’s, Bartram, and Episcopal before graduating from Parsons School of Design in 1990.  The following year she moved to Kenya to work with photographer Peter Beard. As a news photographer, Gilbert documented on the brutal civil wars in Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan.  She “soon realized that photographing these events had little impact on their outcome. The brutality and tragedy I witnessed then hit me years later like a great tsunami slowly gathering itself at sea.” Instead, she turned her attention to recording the rapidly disappearing traditional cultures she witnessed around her. “I wanted to find the Africa that hadn’t yet been ravaged by foreign empires, wars, and the modern world,” said Gilbert.

“Nairobi was a different city then,” said Gilbert. “Maasai tribesmen could be found grazing cattle on the side of the road, or entering elevators in city skyscrapers carrying just a spear and a sack of tobacco. It seemed they had stepped into town from another era.”

This juxtaposition between old and new ways of life struck a chord with Gilbert, who drew on her background as a photojournalist to document these traditions before they disappeared. “Most of it is already gone,” said Gilbert, who cites “the steady infiltration of commercial tourism in rural areas; the growing popularity of Western clothing, music, and culture; and the diminishing numbers of small tribes such as the Batwa Pygmies” as just a few examples of this vanishing world.

The Circumcisionist, Malawi, 2006, silver gelatin photographic print, 26 ¼ x 40 in. © Elizabeth Gilbert.

For her first book, Broken Spears: A Maasai Journey, Gilbert spent four years embedded with this noted tribe. Despite the fact that their images were mass-produced on commercial items like postcards and T-shirts, the tribe was losing its customs and traditions to modern culture. Gilbert captured their ceremonies, such as the Eunoto ceremony, a retirement ceremony for warriors, and “The Horn of the Ox,” where young boys try to prove their manhood by grabbing an ox by its horns, as well as more controversial aspects of Maasai life such as female circumcision and lion hunting. “To me,” said Gilbert, “they were relics from Africa’s past. When I looked at them I saw the history, the greatness they had known when the Rift Valley was theirs. The early photographs from these safaris are like artifacts to me, pieces of history suspended in time.”

“The loss of African tradition in the last century and the change I witnessed during my own travels slowly redefined my role as a photographer,” said Gilbert. “I no longer saw myself as an invisible recorder, but as a collaborator with the people whom I photographed. I was a stranger, yet they had allowed me to document their most private rituals and ceremonies. This permission in itself was their own acknowledgement that a way of life was disappearing. Influenced by this, I began to create a more idealized portrayal of what I believed was a vanishing world.”

Her second book continued this journey into the Great Rift Valley, a vast area of Eastern Africa that is thought by scientists to be the birthplace of the human species. Gilbert spent nearly three years living among more than 25 ethnic groups, including the Samburu and Mursi.  “Though African ceremony is full of vivid pageantry, most of my photographs are in black and white,” said Gilbert, who hoped “this would distill the subjects in a timeless record, and preserve the memory of a lost era long after the process of globalization has eroded it forever.”

The Maz Brotherhood, Omo Valley, Ethiopia, 2005, silver gelatin photographic print, 26 ¼ x 40 in. © Elizabeth Gilbert.

Gilbert’s photographs capture Africa in transition. The Cummer’s exhibition draws from her twenty-year career and spans the entire scope of her work.

“After traveling and living abroad, bringing the work home to Jacksonville, the city where I was raised, is especially meaningful to me,” said Gilbert. “This is where I grew up. My family, oldest friends, teachers, god parents – the people who shaped my childhood – are all here. It is very personal to me to be coming home for this milestone, my first solo museum exhibition.”

This exhibition will be on view through December 30, 2012.  For further information on programming, please visit our website.

Jando Dance, Malawi 2006 Silver gelatin photographic print

The Yao people of Malawi, though predominantly Muslim, observe a blend of spiritual beliefs, customs, and cosmologies that remain synonymous with their Bantu heritage. Initiation rites remain an important part of the Yao social order and are celebrated with ceremony and dance. Here, dancers celebrate Jando, the circumcision of young boys coming of age.

Music plays an important role in many African ceremonies. To hear a selection of music composed by local musician, Ajamu Mutima, using the voice, kora, thumb piano, flute, drum and other traditional African instruments, use your mobile device to scan the QR code below. For a free QR scanning app, visit redlaser.com or getscanlife.com. Mr. Mutima’s CDs are also available for purchase.

Simply click on the title links below to listen to each selection.

Healing Waters – Sky & Earth album

Banana Tree – Returning album

Ways To Go – Returning album

Man Who Wears Red & Black Fila – Rhythm of Life album

Ichetucknee (Original Flute Music) – Rhythm of Life album

Alisha Lewis, Self Reflection, 2010, earthenware, 5 x 5 x 9 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

An appreciation of the human figure, satire, and humor, are reflected in
Alisha’s art.  Her current sculptures and videos are social commentaries that express ideas of self-image.  Inspired by the European figurine tradition her sculptures’ physical features are not exaggerated and modeling style is simplistic but emotionally charged.

Alisha’s art relates to work from the Black Arts Movement and to Black
Feminism of the 1970′s.  These intersections of gender, race, and culture are also present in contemporary African American art by Lorna Simpson, damali ayo, and Kara Walker.  These artists address the post-colonialist baggage still present for African Americans, women especially so, in contemporary America.

Her art also comments on the internal struggle of the African American
community.  The sculptures convey a psychological state in a post- colonialist
society, and a double consciousness.  She uses posture in her ceramic figures as well as performances to reflect socio psychological states.  She comments on the internal struggle of African American women with image; conflicts between their physical features, mainstream notions of beauty and social acceptance. The figurines are intimate views, hand modeled, and decorated with terra sigilatta, overglazes and various cold finishes.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Brianna Angelakis, Neurasthenia, 2012, Graphite and oil on wood, Courtesy of the Artist

Brianna Marie Angelakis (b. 1990) is a young, American artist.  She was born in Massachusetts and moved to New Hampshire during her early teen years.  She moved to Florida at the end of her high school years, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.  Her artistic inspiration stems from her love for literature and poetry in addition to her own experiences as a young woman.  She often depicts a narrative which centralizes around the female figure or child figure in nature.  Her paintings evoke the strong emotions correlated with romanticism and childhood innocence, elevating the female and child into a sublime, natural world.  By isolating her figures, she creates an emotional relationship between the figure and the observer.  Brianna Marie Angelakis currently attends Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL.  She will graduate in the Spring of 2013 with a B.A. in the Visual Arts, a B.A. in English, and a minor in Illustration.  Her artworks have been exhibited in various galleries located throughout north and central Florida, and she will be showing internationally for the first time in Leeds, England this December.  Her works have been published internationally through print and online magazines.  She currently lives and works in northern Florida.

You can find more information about the artist here:
Main Portfolio
Facebook
DeviantART
Tumblr

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Bharati Chaudhuri, Spirit of Life, 2011, monoprint, 22 x 30 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

A highly acclaimed contemporary artist, Bharati Chaudhuri has been working professionally for over 30 years, creating painting, printmaking, digital art and ceramics.

Her work, on one hand, expresses Indian sense and sensibilities; on the other hand, it reflects her western life experiences as well. Her works are in private and corporate collections throughout the world, and have received critical acclaim for imaginative composition, vibrant colors and masterful use of design elements.

Bharati received BFA and MFA degrees in painting from a premier art institution in India, Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, founded by the first Asian Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore. Subsequently, she earned post-graduate degrees in painting, and in design & batik at the same school; she also studied printmaking at Cooper School of Art, Ohio. She has been recognized with a national scholarship by the Government of India.

Bharati has participated in over 100 solo, two-person, juried and invitational group shows, received numerous awards, scholarships and recognitions. Her drawings, paintings, prints, book/CD covers, illustrations, greeting cards and other designs have been sold in 22 countries across all 5 continents. Two of her large wall murals are in prominent public places in India.

Bharati is the founder-owner of Creative Studio in Jacksonville, Florida, a Board Member and a former President of Jacksonville Coalition for the Visual Arts. You can contact Bharati at bharatiart2000@yahoo.com, and you can view her gallery.

“When I work, I see my world through my inner eyes. I make my creative journey through an imaginary world of reality, dream and fantasy. My work is a pictorial representation of thoughtful abstraction of nature and form. Simplicity of form and fluidity of composition are the key aspects of my work. I try to achieve a dramatic visual effect using a combination of vibrant and dull colors along with patterns and design elements. I work with all my emotions, feelings and sensitivities to reach a point of satisfaction and attain an esthetic equilibrium” — Bharati

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Brian Shannon, Infinity, 2012, oil on panel, 18 x 14 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

Brian is a 2003 graduate of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and has practiced oil painting since 2005, periodically displaying work and participating in gallery shows around Jacksonville.

The majority of his work is focused on the figure, ranging from portraiture to narrative, combined with aspects of landscape, interior and still life painting. In addition, he has also created dry media work in charcoal, graphite, and chalk.

To learn more about the artist, you can visit Brian’s website, or follow him of Facebook.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

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.

Amalia Galdona Broche, Mannequin, 2011, mixed media, , 24 x 36 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

Amalia Galdona Broche is an incoming freshman majoring in Sculpture at Jacksonville University. As a Douglas Anderson School of the Arts student she participated in school-organized exhibitions as well as high school county shows. Having spent her childhood and early teen years in Cuba, her work is greatly influenced by her Hispanic roots and memories of her upbringing. She has lived in Jacksonville, Florida for the past four years.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Christine Schub, Amsterdam Morning, 2011, oil on board, 16 x 20 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

Christine Schub, a self-taught artist, holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Florida.  She has been a professional artist for thirty years.  Her work is included in many private and corporate art collections.  Christine spends her summers gardening and painting in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Wintertime finds her at her home on Amelia Island, Florida.

MY EARLIEST MEMORY OF CHILDHOOD IS MAKING ART….

plotting designs with Mom’s wonderful collection

of buttons or Crayola-ing the loops and circles I drew

on the cardboard insert from Dad’s laundered shirts.

I have many more colors to work with now but the

process itself hasn’t changed all that much. I still begin

the paintings with no preconceived notion…just a loose

application of thinned oil paints on primed masonite

board, or stretched linen or canvas.

The painting emerges ever so slowly revealing itself

in starts and fits. Most of the paintings, especially

the larger ones, take many months to complete. From

an amorphous splash of color comes a highly detailed

abstraction that may be reminiscent of a city, an

ancient land or even a feeling of carnival or industry.

The paintings are the product of inspiration filtered

through dreams, memories, or human archetypes.

See more at Christine’s Website.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Dimelza Broche, Sea Spirits, 2012, screen print, 15 x 12 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

Dimelza Broche is a 21 year old Jacksonville based Cuban artist. She attended Douglas Anderson School of the Arts during her senior year of high school.  She studied for two years at Florida State College of Jacksonville before transferring to the University of North Florida where she is currently a senior majoring in Fine Arts. Dimelza has shown her work at Roberts Gallery, the Women’s Center of Jacksonville, the Wilson Center Gallery, The Cummer Museum of Arts & Gardens, and most recently at the S. Dillon Ripley Center, Washington, DC.  Last year, she was the Grand Prize recipient of Momentum: a National Juried Exhibit for emerging artists with disabilities. Her art has developed from simple drawings to prints, photography, and more complex portraits and still life paintings.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Up & Cummers and Folio Weekly are partnering to host a lively opening night reception for the Folio Weekly Invitational Artist Exhibition at The Cummer.  Guests will be among the first to view this juried exhibition featuring the work of fifty talented local artists.

In addition to the exceptional art on display, you won’t want to miss live music from Split Tone, a seven piece band out of Jacksonville Beach known for creating a vibrant blend of reggae, hip-hop, soul and rock.

We will be serving hors d’oeuvres generously donated by Espeto Brazilian Steak House, Pele’s Wood Fire, Simply Sara’s and Sweet Pea’s Pantry.  A cash bar will be provided.

Museum members will receive free admission, and non-member guests may purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Tickets are also available at The Cummer’s front desk and the Folio Weekly offices (9456 Philips Highway, Suite 11).

Contact Emily Magevney at (904) 899-6027 if you have questions about this event.

The Folio Weekly Invitational Artist Exhibition and the opening night reception are sponsored by Haskell.

Marcy Appelbaum, Family Series/Americana, Jr Lady Triathlete, 2011, Color Photograph, 12 x 18 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

Marcy Appelbaum, a Jacksonville resident for nearly 25 years, is a free-lance Pulitzer Prize nominee and a Florida State and National award-winning photographer.  She is a gifted visual storyteller.

“Documenting people and their lives allows me to capture who people are at any given moment in time. Their connections to each other — and ultimately to my audience — makes me grateful to my subjects and the candor they give to my lens, memorializing those brief moments in time that the eye can often miss or that we’re otherwise too busy to notice ”

Appelbaum worked as a staff photojournalist at The Jacksonville Business Journal, The Daytona Beach News Journal, The DeLand Sun News, and The Florida Times Union for several years and entered into the digital world early on.

Recent shows include Strike Jax, an on-going participation in the international traveling show The M.I.L.K. (Moments in Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship) Book Series, and Women in Photojournalism.  Although her passion is black and white, the Folio Weekly Invitational Artists Exhibit at The Cummer marks her first showing in digital color. Her work has been published in many publications, including Time magazine, Rolling Stone, Golf Digest, and Child Magazine.  She is currently available for on location assignments, life cycle events, and portraiture.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Leonard Baskin (American, 1922 – 2000), Self Portrait at Age 44, 1966, etching, image: 5 7/8 x 6 in., Gift of Mr. H. Shickman, Shickman Gallery, New York, AG.1968.3.1.

An internationally acclaimed sculptor, printmaker, painter, calligrapher, essayist, book designer, and poet, Leonard Baskin (American, 1922 – 2000) was a major figure in 20th-century American art.  In the 1940s and 1950s when movements such as abstract expressionism all but eliminated the human form in painting and sculpture, Baskin championed it.  Through figuration, his overarching concern was to express the power and depth of the human condition at its most primal.  This exhibition of works on paper, selected from the Museum’s holdings as well as a private collection, highlights images of humanity.  The poignancy of Baskin’s artistic legacy is the common consciousness of humankind.

Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Baskin grew up in Brooklyn under the strict tutelage of his rabbi father, which gave him a rich classical education.  After studying with sculptor Maurice Glickman, and attending several universities, Baskin taught himself the art of printmaking at Yale University, which he attended on a scholarship.  There, in 1942, he founded the Gehenna Press, a private fine art press that published more than 100 handcrafted artist books and portfolios during his lifetime.  Primarily known as a sculptor, Baskin rapidly gained international recognition as a printmaker and book designer.  He worked as professor at Smith College in North Hampton, Massachusetts from 1953 to 1974.

Leonard Baskin: Works on paper is currently on view in the Millner Gallery through November 11th.

Ronald W. Bayles, Street Preaching, 2009, photograph, 6 x 9 in., Courtesy of the Artist.

Ronald W. Bayles was born in 1947 in Des Moines, Iowa.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts at the University of West Florida, Pensacola. He is also is a graduate of the U.S. Military Photojournalism program at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York and the U.S. Navy School of Photography, Pensacola, Florida.  He served 22 years in the U.S. Navy – 14 years as a Navy Photojournalist.  From 1993 – present, Ronald is a police photographer for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Join us for the opening night celebration for this exhibition on Friday, August 24^th.  Purchase $5 tickets on our website by clicking here.  Museum members will receive free admission.

Over 750 submissions were received from the Call to Artists.  This is a true testament to the broad spectrum of ideas and techniques from our vibrant local arts scene.  This also made selecting the final artists all the more challenging.

We are pleased to announce that the jury has chosen 50 artists to be included in the exhibition.  Congratulations to the Winners!

The Cummer will be in contact with all the winners this week.

Mark your calendars for the opening event on Friday, August 24th.  If you have questions about the event, or would like to purchase tickets, please call (904) 899 – 6027.  Tickets will be free for members, and $5 for non-members.

Stay tuned for further details.

The exhibition is sponsored by Haskell.  

Richard N. Chamberlain, Inside Black, 1988, enamel and oil on panel. © Richard Chamberlain.

Don’t miss your last chance to see this very exciting show.  The Year of the Sheep closes on July 8th, 2012.  

In the late 1980s, Richard Chamberlain began a series of paintings dealing with his experiences in Vietnam.  Called The Year of the Sheep, which refers to the Chinese calendar designation for 1967, the year he spent in Southeast Asia, the series is comprised of black-and-white images that are reminiscent of abstracted landscapes. They are markedly different from Chamberlain’s other paintings, which are far more traditional, softly colored interiors, still lifes, and figures.  More than 20 years after his tour of duty in the Marines, Chamberlain still found himself haunted by his war experiences and sought counseling to deal with his anger and depression. A therapist suggested he use his skill as an artist to work through these emotions.  What began as bands of black and white slowly emerged into these stark visions, where the viewer becomes drawn into the conflict.  “The borders of good and evil are not always clear,” says Chamberlain. “I realized we weren’t fighting the enemy. We were fighting nature – the land, the heat, the disease, the monsoons,” he said. “This was the real enemy.” And this meant that we were opposite the side of nature, which is scary, because nature is usually thought of as good.”

Alejandro Colunga (Mexican, b. 1948), Boy with Tricycle (Niño Con Triciclo), 1980, lithograph, Bank of America Collection. © Alejandro Colunga.

Welcome to our very first DIY Challenge.  Much like our Photo Challenges (#1 & #2) this is NOT a contest, but rather a shared experience.  For this challenge we are asking you to write the first line of an imaginary novel using Alejandor Colunga’s Niño con Triciclo (Boy with Tricycle) as your inspiration. This artwork is from the exhibit: Miradas: Ancient Roots in Modern and Contemporary Mexican Art: Works from the Bank of America Collection currently on view at the Museum through September 16, 2012.  Entries must be limited to one sentence containing no more than 50 words.  Consider what you see in the image, the time period, culture, and social setting of the artwork, and interpret it in your own way.  Inspiration can also be drawn from the original Music of Goliath Flores, who created an amazing playlist inspired by the Miradas exhibit.  Please keep in mind that this is a family friendly site, and no inappropriate material will be published.

From June 22nd – September 16th,  send your entry to asesnick@cummer.org. All appropriate entries will be shared on the  Museum’s Facebook page.

1. READ!!!

•  Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, by Isabel Alcantara & Sandra Egnolff
• In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, by Ilene Susan Fort & Tere Arcq, with Terri Geis

2. WATCH…

the movie Frida, for a look into the art, politics, and culture of Modern Mexico.  In addition, you will get a look at the relationship between Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two of the most influential artists from this time period.

3. EAT

Cook your own Mexican cuisine with great recipes online, or go out for dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant.  I will be making a few of the following myself:

Jicama Chili Sticks

Baja Black Beans, Corn, and Rice

Chili Relleños

4. Drink

Cafe de Olla – Sweet Cinnamon Coffee

Mexican Chupacabra Martini

Ponche Navideño – Mexican Holiday Punch

Horchata de Arroz - Refreshing Mexican rice beverage

1. CREATE!!!

Pick up a copy of Mexico!: 40 Activities to Experience Mexico Past & Present, at The Museum Store.  This book is full of interesting facts about Mexican culture and history, as well as tons of great activities for children of all ages.  Make an Ojo de Dios to celebrate birthdays, snip a Papel Picado banner, learn the Mayans glyphs for numbers and how they structured their society, and make Aztec style hot chocolate!

2. COOK

Try cooking some Mexican or Mexican style food with your kids.  Stick to classic ingredients and dishes, and explain why they are important to understanding Mexican culture.  At my house, we love to make these dishes as a family:

Mexican Chicken

Taco Caserole

Guacamole

Salsa - (you may want to leave out the peppers on this one)

3. Drink

Make some of these refreshing Mexican beverages before sending then out to play.

Agua de Sandia - Watermelon Water

Agua de Limon -  Lime Water or Limonada:

Miradas is a fitting title for a show about artists looking at themselves and their heritage and reflecting on where they have been and where they are headed.

From June 5 through September 16, visitors to the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens will have the opportunity to view paintings, prints and photographs as part of a survey of Mexican and Mexican-American art drawn from the collection of Bank of America. As one of the leading corporate collections in the country this exhibition, curated by Cesareo Moreno of the Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, marks the first time Mexican art has been presented in a major exhibition at The Cummer.

Beginning with works produced around the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1920 and carrying through to the first decade of this century, Miradas not only highlights the connection between ancient civilization and the modern Mexican national identity but also common cultural aspects and artistic theories.

Javier Chavira b. 1971 Mexican The Warrior 2004 El guerrero Acrylic and crayon on paper/ acrilico y crayón sobre papel Bank of America Collection

One such trend presented in this exhibition is Indigenismo. This movement emerged as an examination by artists of Mexico’s history prior to the Spanish conquest as well as the ensuing aftermath. The effects were most broadly felt in the Muralist movement, which sought to infuse avant-garde theories on art with Mexico’s indigenous culture and current political climate. The work of artists like Diego Rivera and others established this movement and even inspired the creation of a similar program in the U.S. within the Works Progress Administration-Federal Art Project in 1933. A modern example of Indigenismo on display in Miradas might be Javier Chavira’s El Guerrero (2004). This work evokes an image reminiscent of the Aztec warrior of ancient Mexico while presenting it in a contemporary composition.

The work of the Muralists also ties into the later Chicano movement of the 1960’s. As immigration from Mexico to the U.S. increased during the mid-20th century the Mexican-American children of those immigrants were faced with discrimination and stereotypes about their culture. What ensued was a civil rights movement that sought to establish equality and which used innovative methods that included music, literature, and visual arts to convey its message. One major artist associated with this movement and who is represented in Miradas is Judithe Hernandez.

As a native of Los Angeles, Hernandez was a founding member of that city’s mural movement. Many of the themes that she and her contemporaries were addressing, (injustice, equality, and pride in Mexican identity) were linked to things like the Mexican revolution, the indigenous cultures of their ancestral homeland, new social and political ideas, and advanced art theory.

Judithe Hernández, b. 1948 American Red hand, bloody hand, hand of oppression, 2008 Mano Colorada, Mano de Sangre, Mano de Opresión Pastel on paper/pastel sobre papel Bank of America Collection Graciela Iturbide b. 1942 Mexican

One piece by Hernandez shown in this exhibition reflects both her involvement with the sociopolitical climate she currently inhabits as well as acknowledging her heritage. The work Red Hand, Bloody Hand, Hand of Oppression (2008) references the serial murder of women in Ciudad, Mexico while presenting the portraits as brightly colored elements of indigenous mythology.

Others showcased in Miradas include Mexican artists Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Gunther Gerzso, Gabriel Orozco, Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, as well as Mexican-American artists Robert Graham, and Roberto Juarez.

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is pleased to present this significant collection of artwork to the North Florida community.

Fruta Miradas

Guitarra Ranchera

Huapango

Indigeno

Las Flores

For 20 years, Richard pushed all thought of this period from his mind. But, like so many war veterans, he was haunted by his war experiences. As an artist, he turned to his painting as a way to process the range of emotions he still carried with him. Using black and white and shades of gray, the paintings that emerged, unlike his previous more traditional representational work, are mysterious, dark and somehow, unnervingly beautiful abstracted references to the landscape, the battles, and the struggle of the Vietnam War.

Richard Chamberlain’s “The Year of the Sheep” exhibition is being offered by The Cummer as part of collaboration among Jacksonville’s art and cultural organizations known as Cultural Fusion. The focus of this collaboration is to bring attention to our veterans and war. “The Year of the Sheep” will be on view at the Milner Gallery through July 8.  Come visit The Cummer for our Community Opening on April 3^rd to meet Richard Chamberlain and experience his visual journey through his memories of war. There will also be music and art-making opportunities.

Call to Artists

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is partnering with Folio Weekly to present the Folio Weekly Invitational Artist Exhibition. This juried exhibition will be displayed at The Cummer from August 24 – December 2, 2012 and will showcase local artists.

Artists are invited to submit original works of art (paintings, photographs, works on paper, sculptures, mixed media).  Official guidelines are below.

For questions, please contact submissions@folioweekly.com.  

1. Submissions are welcome beginning May 21 through June 10.
2. Artists are encouraged to submit no more than three works for consideration.
3. Works are not to exceed 6ft high x 4ft wide and must have hanging hardware installed.
4. Digital images of the completed work of art must be submitted to submissions@folioweekly.com.
5. Slides, hard copies or in-person deliveries will not be accepted.
6. Submissions must be accompanied with artist information: email/mail/phone and title/dimensions/media/date for each work of art.
7. Artists will be responsible for transporting the selected artwork to and from The Cummer in advance of the exhibition opening.
8. Submissions will be reviewed by the exhibition’s jury.  Not all submissions will be accepted for exhibition.  Only works that meet the above guidelines will be considered.
9. For questions, please contact submissions@folioweekly.com.

Exhibition Sponsored by: Haskell

For questions, please contact submissions@folioweekly.com. 

]]> http://blog.cummer.org/2012/03/folio-weekly-invitational-artist-exhibition/feed/ 2 http://blog.cummer.org/2012/02/de-jonghes-the-japanese-fan-back-on-view/ http://blog.cummer.org/2012/02/de-jonghes-the-japanese-fan-back-on-view/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:00:58 +0000 Kristen Zimmerman http://blog.cummer.org/?p=6180 Have you seen our new exhibition, Beyond Ukiyo-E: Japanese Woodblock Prints and their influence on Western Art?

This unique show, which opened in December 2011, includes several Western works from our Permanent Collection. And now we’re adding another impressive piece to the mix.

Gustave Leonard de Jonghe (Belgian, 1829 - 1893), L’admiratrice du Japon (The Japanese Fan), c. 1865, oil on canvas, 44 1/4 x 34 1/16 in., Gift of The Francis & Miranda Childress Foundation, AG.1988.3.1

Does this look familiar? It’s a 50 Favorite: Gustave de Jonghe’s The Japanese Fan, painted in 1865.

For the past year, it has been gracing the walls of two other museums. For the exhibition The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918, the Japanese Fan went on display at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi from February through July 2011. Then it traveled with the exhibition to the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, where it has been on display since October.

The prevalence of oriental objects and subjects in The Japanese Fan reflects the late nineteenth-century fascination with Japanese art and aesthetics, a phenonemon called Japonisme, which was spawned by the newly opened trade routes between Europe, the United States, and Japan. The woman in the painting is clearly a fan (no pun intended) of all things Japanese. Are you?

Lucky for us, The Japanese Fan comes back to the Cummer in early February and will be installed in the Stein Gallery soon after.

Want to learn more about this fascinating work, and the West’s admiration for Japanese art and culture? Come see the exhibition! Beyond Ukiyo-e is open until August 9^th 2012.

“Once you ‘got’ Pop, you could never see a sign the same way again.  And once you thought Pop, you could never see America the same way again.”   – Andy Warhol

As the name implies, the ‘Pop’ art movement was interested largely in popular culture and the imagery it produced.  Emerging as a response to Abstract Expressionism; Pop rejected deep personal meaning and instead embraced the superficial, the commonplace and the banal.  Advertisements, celebrities, and household objects were all acceptable subject matter during this movement.

Although Pop became the dominant art form of the 1960’s its origin can be traced back to the seminal exhibition “This is Tomorrow”, which took place in London in 1956.  At this show Richard Hamilton’s Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different so appealing? was first displayed.  Hamilton’s use of mass reproduced images in addition to his sense of irony in representing the ideal home (he was living in a Britain still recovering from World War II) makes this work one of the earliest examples of the Pop movement.  America meanwhile was developing its own version of Pop which came to the forefront in the 1962 exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum “New Painting of Common Objects” which featured future stars of the movement Roy Lichtenstein, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and Wayne Thiebaud.

While all of them would go on to have successful careers it was Warhol who became the house hold name.  Having begun his career as a commercial artist, Andy Warhol was able to translate this experience into the realm of fine art by implementing silkscreen printing into his paintings; a technique normally reserved for advertising.  His early work focused on reproducing everyday objects such as coke bottles, dollar bills, soup cans, etc.  Later stages of his career focused on his social circle and his own growing celebrity as he made paintings of movie stars and heads of state.  In the end Warhol was nearly as good a business man as he was an artist, turning his art into as much a commodity as the objects he’d painted during his career.

In the world of contemporary art the unofficial heir to Andy Warhol’s legacy may be Jeff Koons.  He too has made a career in reproducing low-brow objects in a fine art setting.  Balloon animals, inflatable toys, Easter eggs and cartoon characters regularly make appearances in his work.  Even as a business man he has surpassed his predecessor with his works selling in the tens of millions; a staggering feat for a living artist.  However, despite the appearance of irony in his work, Koons himself has stated that there are no hidden meanings in his works, nor any critiques; this perhaps in an effort to distance himself from the label of Pop artist.

As a movement in art, Pop is not only important historically because it informs us about the time in which it was made but also because many of the issues these artists were dealing with are still present today and being addressed by artists working now.  For greater insight into Pop, Jacksonville is lucky enough to have two exhibitions opening this month with great examples of the genre.

MOCA Jacksonville’s  ReFocus: Art of the 1960’s presents a survey of art from this period of radical change and growth in America.  Pop artists represented here include Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg.

Also this Month here at The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens we have our exhibition 50 Forward: New Additions to the Permanent Collection opens on January 31^st featuring several new purchases in honor of our 50^th anniversary including the work of Andy Warhol.

Richard N. Chamberlain, Inside Black, 1988, enamel and oil on panel. © Richard Chamberlin.

The first exhibition of 2012 will be the artwork of a local artist, Richard Chamberlain.  In the late 1980s, Chamberlain began a series of paintings dealing with his experiences in Vietnam.  Called The Year of the Sheep, which refers to the Chinese calendar designation for 1967, the year he spent in Southeast Asia, the series is comprised of black-and-white images that are reminiscent of abstracted landscapes. They are markedly different from Chamberlain’s other paintings, which are far more traditional, softly colored interiors, still lifes, and figures.

Richard N. Chamberlain, Hard Rain (study), 1987, ink jet reproduction of a lost painting on paper. © Richard Chamberlin.

More than 20 years after his tour of duty in the Marines, Chamberlain still found himself haunted by his war experiences and sought counseling to deal with his anger and depression. A therapist suggested he use his skill as an artist to work through these emotions.  What began as bands of black and white slowly emerged into these stark visions, where the viewer becomes drawn into the conflict.  “The borders of good and evil are not always clear,” says Chamberlain. “I realized we weren’t fighting the enemy. We were fighting nature – the land, the heat, the disease, the monsoons,” he said. “This was the real enemy.” And this meant that we were opposite the side of nature, which is scary, because nature is usually thought of as good.”

Richard N. Chamberlain, Nui Loc-Son, 1988, enamel on oil on panel. © Richard Chamberlin.

The exhibition is poignantly titled, “The Year of the Sheep”  and will be on view in the Millner Gallery from January 10 – July 8, 2012.  The exhibition consists of approximately 22 of these abstracted landscapes paintings.  Come visit The Cummer to see this insightful exhibition and see for yourself one man’s journey through darkness and light.

The Scottish Colourists Installation at Mayo Clinic

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has partnered with Mayo Clinic in many ways over the last ten years.  Our newest project involves Mayo Clinic Center for Humanities in Medicine, which integrates the arts and other expressions of human culture into the healing environment.  One way Mayo Clinic accomplishes this is through visual art exhibitions at the Robert and Isabelle Davis Gallery located in the Mayo Building at Mayo Clinic.

This Gallery and the exhibits featured with in it are made possible by the philanthropic funding of Robert and Isabelle Davis.  Their passion for art, as well as their desire for it to be shared and enjoyed by Mayo patients, families and employees is reflected in each exhibition.  Mr. and Mrs. Davis are also devoted friends, volunteers, donors and advocates for The Cummer.  They have both recently served on The Cummer’s Board of Trustees and have played a critical role in their leadership and dedication to The Cummer.  They have generously supported many initiatives at The Cummer; some include the Lane Building project, beautification of The Cummer Gardens and most recently, the 50^th Anniversary Host Committee.

As a result of Mayo Clinics’ partnerships in the arts, both institutions’ relationship with the Davis Family and the Cummer’s mission to engage and inspire through the arts, gardens and education, working with Mayo Clinic to bring “The Scottish Colourists” exhibition to fruition was a collaboration that produced synergistic rewards for all those involved.

Cummer Curatorial Department Installing Artwork at Davis Gallery

Cummer Curatorial Department Installing Artwork at Davis Gallery

The exhibition, a loan from the personal collection of Mr. and Mrs. Davis, was packed, transported and installed by the Cummer Curatorial Department.  The Center for Humanities in Medicine planned the exhibition content, labels and execution of the project.  The exhibition celebrates “gifts of colour and light” as well as represents Robert and Isabelle Davis’ dedication to arts and healthcare.

Hope McMath, Director of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens speaking at the opening reception

Please join us for a lecture on “The Scottish Colourists” given by Hope McMath, Director of The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens on Monday, November 28 at 12pm in the Walker Auditorium in the Davis Building at Mayo Clinic.  All programs are free and open to the public.

Stay tuned for additional upcoming collaborations between The Cummer and Mayo Clinic in 2012.

One in Three, an exhibit spearheaded by The Jacksonville Public Education Fund, is on display at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens through December.  The exhibit includes large scale photographs, written narratives, and testimonial videos that highlight the faces and stories of 20 Duval County public school students. Through dramatic portraits by photographer Ingrid Damiani, the One in Three exhibit serves as a voice to begin a community conversation about improving our education system and addressing the drop-out crisis. Those who experience One in Three are left with an overwhelming sense of hope and responsibility.

I was able to speak with photographer Ingrid Damiani about her experience with the One In Three project.

• How did you become involved in this project?

I specialize in documenting the work of non-profit organizations.  Hope McMath, the director of the Cummer Museum, knows how much I love bringing light to difficult subjects through personal stories.  I was delighted when she first presented the idea to me. I am drawn to projects that allow me to explore topics that seem daunting or overwhelming.  I also enjoy creating photographs that invite others to learn about those difficult issues, and that I hope are part of inviting positive change. With the One in Three project, I was fortunate enough to not only to be involved through my photography but behind the scenes as well.

• How did you capture the turbulent struggles and successes of each individual in a static image?

My intention when I photograph someone is to connect with them in a meaningful way.  I am looking to show the inner strength they possess in the midst of their struggle.  I am looking to capture the strength and beauty in each person. It’s what drives any image that I create.  My hope is that people who view my photographs will feel drawn to look more closely at situations that may be difficult or painful.

•   How did your conversations with the students affect the photographs themselves?

The interviews that Rachael Tutwiler, from the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF), and I had with each student were more like natural conversations. We didn’t want the students to feel the pressure of being in the spotlight. Rachael lead the interview process with directed questions, but when I saw a moment that I wanted to capture, I would stop them to photograph or begin to redirect the questions myself. We developed a natural rhythm between each other and the kids that took a lot of the pressure off.

• Was there a teacher or mentor while you were growing up that encouraged your interests to lead you to a successful career in photography?

 Not when I was growing up. I was passionate about photography at a young age, but didn’t see it as something I could pursue as a career. I saw photography as a personal interest or something that I did in my free time. It wasn’t until my thirties that I became serious about using the camera to explore issues that interested me.  I was fortunate to find wonderful teachers and mentors along the way who encouraged me to exhibit my work.

• What role do you think art plays in the education of our community’s youth? 

Art accesses a part of the brain that allows humans the opportunity to weigh different options, look at problems from new angles, and try on different hats. This skill can be applied to anything in life. Art brings a rich, colorful texture to the world that instills hope and possibility.

• What hope has the One in Three project instilled in you? 

The sense that these problems are solvable. Despite all of the big struggles that face them, the students in the exhibition are hopeful about their future. I think they are great examples of how resilient the human spirit is.  Their stories also show how powerful it is when an adult takes the time to really listen to a child and help them discover solutions to their challenges.

Major General Gerry Maloney in the exhibition

Some of you may recall, an exhibition that The Cummer hosted last fall:  The Art of War: From the Collection of Major General Gerry Maloney USAF (Ret.).  Jacksonville resident Major General Gerry Maloney, a 31-year veteran of the U. S. Air Force, began collecting propaganda posters in support of World War II as 10-year old boy. From 1941 until 1945, he collected more than 250 of these posters, issued by various government agencies.  The exhibition at The Cummer marked the first time a portion of this collection had been displayed publicly.

After a few months of planning and collaboration between Major General Gerry Maloney, The Cummer and a new venue, Fleet Landing, a selection of this collection is now proudly displayed for a second time at the Coleman Center Gallery.

Exhibition at Fleet Landing

This exhibition includes 11 posters ranging in subject matter.  Some posters address the conservation of materials through rationing; others promote the purchase of war bonds.  A number of posters advocate for women in the workplace. Regardless of subject matter, these images helped unite the American people during a critical time in our nation’s history.

Exhibition at Fleet Landing

Fleet Landing, a retirement community for active seniors, is a perfect location for this exhibition.   Not only is the subject matter interesting and relevant to the people of this community, but the gallery brings a personal more intimate aspect to the somewhat heavy nature of the content of the posters.

The exhibition will be on view until October 6th at the Coleman Center Gallery at Fleet Landing.  For more information about Fleet Landing, please call (904) 246-9900, ext. 107.

Deb Goin, Director of Wellness Services and Major General Gerry Maloney in the exhibition at Fleet Landing

Just as a warning this is a long video, but it is definitely worth the time to hear Travis’s story.

By Bianca Askevold, Marketing Intern

5 Points Theatre is having an encore presentation of Classic Silent Comedy on September 22, 2011 at 7:00 PM. The show will begin with Fatty and Buster’s “The Bell Boy,” (1918). “Norman’s Shorts” will follow, which features clips from some of Richard E. Norman’s silent films. Lastly, “Fatty’s Plucky Pub” will bring the night to a close. Traditionally, silent films were accompanied by live music and sound effects, and this night will be no different. Bob Moore and Tony Steve will perform along with the films. There will also be special guest appearance by Richard E. Norman, portrayed by local actor An-thony Hodge and Fatty Arbuckle, portrayed by Bobb Robinson.

The Cummer is host to Jacksonville’s Norman Studios: Movie Posters from the Permanent Collection until October 30, 2011. The exhibit features movie posters from many of Norman Studio productions, including “The Flying Ace” (1926), which is featured in the event at 5 Points.

Tickets are $10 (Seniors $8), and can be ordered online from the 5 Points Theater.

Join us as an official 1 in 3 event opening tweeter.  Submit to us why you want to cover the community opening event and we may select you to be an official Cummer Tweeter on the afternoon of September 13th. 

Recognizing that Duval County is at a critical moment for improving public education, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund launched the ONE by ONE campaign to unite the community behind a common vision to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college and the workforce.

The sobering reality is that one in three students in Duval County does not graduate from high school on time or at all. High school students from low-income families are six times more likely to drop out than students from higher income families.

Yet people in Jacksonville believe in the power of education!  Join the campaign…

The campaign begins with ONE in THREE, a multimedia art exhibit that features 20 Duval County students. Through large-format photographs and videos, the students’ stories demonstrate the power of an engaged community that works hand-in-hand with the school district to improve student success. The exhibit will begin at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in September 2011. It will travel the entire Jacksonville community, one neighborhood at a time, starting in January 2012.

Norman Film Manufacturing Company, Poster for The Flying Ace, 1926 lithograph on paper, 40 15/16 x 27 ¼ in., Purchased with funds from the Morton R. Hirschberg Bequest, Mr. Moselle C. Bruton, Ms. Janet R. Johnson, Mr. Michael Lewis, Dr. Emma Moran, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Anello, Ms. Thelma Geiger and Mrs. Gloriden J. Norris. AP.2002.3.7.

By: Melanie O’Donnell

Have you seen our new exhibit, Jacksonville’s Norman Studios: Movie Posters from the Permanent Collection?

Before Hollywood dominated the film industry, Florida was the hot spot for movie executives.

With our warm weather, sunny skies, convenient location, cheap labor, and diverse scenery, Florida quickly became a frontrunner in the early film business in the first part of the 20^th century. Jacksonville in particular seemed a logical choice as a capital.  The city was the principal financial, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation gateway in the Southeast.  It was, in fact, the largest metropolis in the state.  Its proximity to the St. Johns River, Atlantic Ocean, and Eastern railroad allowed easy access for crews and materials.  At the same time, numerous environments including beaches, swamps, river views, downtown districts, and historic St. Augustine were also convenient.

Norman Film Manufacturing Company, Poster for Black Gold, 1928, lithograph on paper, 41 x 27 5/16 in., Purchased with funds from the Morton R. Hirschberg Bequest, Mr. Moselle C. Bruton, Ms. Janet R. Johnson, Mr. Michael Lewis, Dr. Emma Moran, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Anello, Ms. Thelma Geiger and Mrs. Gloriden J. Norris. AP.2002.3.1.

However, the heyday was short-lived. By 1920, Hollywood had already gained preeminence as the nation’s film capital. This shift westward allowed First Coast native and silent filmmaker, Richard Norman, the opportunity to purchase the bankrupt Eagle Studios complex in Arlington in 1920. Norman produced at least 8 feature films in 8 years and gained national attention by producing films with African American casts for African American audiences.

In the earliest years of filmmaking, black actors and actresses played extras or bit parts in films aimed toward white markets.  Heroic or positive roles were unheard of until white filmmakers realized that there was a market for race-based pictures. After his purchase of the former Eagle Studios complex, Richard Norman, a white man, had the finest studio complex of any African American-based film producer.

Norman succeeded at producing low budget yet polished and entertaining black cast films.  His productions featured black actors as cowboys, pilots, and businessmen in romance, mystery, and action films.  He recruited some of the most prominent stage actors to make the switch to the screen. Although his films were popular with audiences across the country, especially the emerging black middle class, he was forced to close his business at the onset of the Great Depression.

Norman Film Manufacturing Company, Poster for The Crimson Skull, 1921. lithograph on paper, 41 x 27 in., Purchased with funds from the Morton R. Hirschberg Bequest, Mr. Moselle C. Bruton, Ms. Janet R. Johnson, Mr. Michael Lewis, Dr. Emma Moran, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Anello, Ms. Thelma Geiger and Mrs. Gloriden J. Norris. AP.2002.3.4.

All five buildings of the Eagle/Norman property are still standing today on Arlington Road near Cesery Boulevard and a local nonprofit, The Norman Studios Silent Film Museum, Inc., www.normanstudios.org, was formed in 2007 to celebrate the role of filmmaker Richard Norman in the early days of the movie industry.

Jacksonville’s Norman Studios: Movie Posters from the Permanent Collection is on view at the Cummer from August 1 – October 30.

Aurora, Age 18. Photograph courtesy of Ingrid Damiani.

Duval County is at a critical crossroads for improving public education. Therefore, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund has launched a year-long campaign called ONE by ONE in order to bring the community together with hopes of improving public education and lowering the dropout rate. However, in order to get the public school system it needs, Jacksonville needs civic interest in education. Thus, ONE by ONE was born.

Travis, Age 20. Photograph courtesy of Ingrid Damiani.

This empowering campaign begins at The Cummer on August 12 and runs through December 20 with the exhibition, ONE in THREE: Let’s Solve Our Dropout Crisis. The title, “ONE in THREE,” refers to the fact that one out of every three high school students does not graduate on time, if at all. In this exhibition, 20 young people will tell their incredible stories of the challenges and successes they faced in order to complete their education through photograph and video.

Ezequiel, Age 11. Photograph courtesy of Ingrid Damiani.

After the exhibition’s three-month stay at The Cummer, it will spend the remainder of the year (through August 2012) traveling throughout Jacksonville as a platform for dialogue and engagement. As the exhibition moves around the city, the stories of these students will awaken the community to the fact that we can only solve this problem face to face, voice by voice and ONE by ONE.

Overhead View of the Silk Road Exhibition

Have you seen our exhibition On the Silk Road and the High Seas: Chinese Ceramics, Culture, and Commerce? If you haven’t, time is running out – August 14^th, 2011 is the last day this exhibition will be open to the public.

On the Silk Road… is organized by the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, and features over 70 examples of the goods that inspired Meissen artisans.  These pieces all come from the Doris and Leo Hodroff collection, and demonstrate historical Chinese motifs and decorative styles. This exhibition takes the visitor on a journey through time, down the Silk Road which stretched from eastern China to the Black Sea, linking Asia with Europe. In later centuries the trade and cultural influences that flowed back and forth on land were transferred to the sea, and maritime shipping eventually came to dominate world commerce.

The collection of Chinese ceramics on display in this exhibition is considered to be one of the finest in the world, and will be here at The Cummer until August 14^th. Don’t forget – we are free admission every Tuesday from 4pm-9pm, a perfect opportunity to see this superb display free of charge!

The Museum’s educational tours allow firsthand examination of original works of art from Ancient Egyptian sculpture through American 20^th century painting.  Trained Docents engage students in meaningful discussions of the social, historical, and artistic context of works of art.

Complementing the gallery visit, each tour includes time in the Museum’s beautiful gardens as well as hands-on exploration with studio art projects and activities in Art Connections.

The 2011-2012 Tours are based on integrated curriculum that supports grade level state standards.  In addition to grade level tours we will be offering a Touch Tour for students who are low vision or blind, a Garden Tour, and several special exhibition tours.

For more in-depth tour information visit our website.

Susan Ober, Morning on the River, 2011, watercolor on paper, 32 x 40 in.

The Community Opening for The Neighborhood as Art on Tuesday, June 14th was a fun-filled success! Nearly 950 people came out to the Cummer to celebrate the exhibit and neighborhood. The evening’s festivities included a meet & greet with Riverside Avondale Preservation, painting for children, live music and bike tours. Also in attendance were many artists who have work featured in the show.

Russ Wilson, Yellow Bungalow IV, 2011, oil on canvas, 22 x 28 in.

Have you seen the exhibit, yet? It features artwork that celebrates the art, architecture, people, parks, river and landscape that make the Riverside Avondale neighborhood great. The Cummer partnered with Riverside Avondale Preservation to celebrate our wonderful neighborhood with this juried exhibition.

Riverside Avondale Preservation Inc. (RAP) is a private, non-profit membership organization whose mission is to enhance and preserve the architecture, history, cultural heritage and economic viability of the historic neighborhoods of Riverside and Avondale. Carmen Godwin, Executive Director, had this to say about the neighborhood and exhibition: “Those of us who live and work in Riverside Avondale always knew we lived in a very special place but now, with the Top 10 Great Neighborhoods recognition, everyone else in the nation knows too. Riverside Avondale Preservation was key in maintaining this special sense of place and ensuring quality of life issues in the area are still at the forefront of making our community great.  This exhibition celebrating our neighborhood comes at a perfect time because of The Cummer’s Anniversary and because of the rich arts community that now calls the community home.  The Riverside Arts Market and various galleries and artists’ studios highlight the immense local talent that we have in the historic district and this exhibition allows those artists an opportunity to share what they think is unique about the neighborhood.”

Ellen Diamond, Memorial Park Magnolias, 2010, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 in.

So what do you love about our neighborhood? After the opening of the exhibit, we asked our fans on Facebook what they loved about Riverside Avondale. The small shops, 5 points, Memorial Park and the Cummer are said to be a few favorites. We particularly enjoyed what Amy Pyatt-Buggle had to say: “I love walking or riding my bike and looking at the beautiful architecture and talking with the friendly neighbors. Oh yea, and eating at the great restaurants!” Well said. We agree!

What I found especially nice to see at the opening, was the liveliness and camaraderie of the Riverside Avondale community. Many artists and visitors were often smiling at the sight of a familiar face, and making endless connections and conversations throughout the night. We are just thrilled to be a part of this friendly, wonderful neighborhood!

If you haven’t seen the exhibit yet, come by for a visit, neighbor. It’s open until July 31^st.  Several additional programs are scheduled for this exhibit including Art Adventures on Saturday, July 16, and Talks & Tea Lecture Series on Wednesday, July 20.

Almost every day one adult reaches the top of the ramp leading to Art Connections and stops. He or she looks around, declares “Oh, this is the kids section”, turns around and heads back to the other end of the museum. But Art Connections is not the “kids section”! It’s for everyone!

In 2004 the original Art Connections was redone into the place you all know and love today. From the very first ideas to the final inception, Art Connections has always been intended for all ages! This place is meant to be explored with all of your senses (well, maybe not taste!)

Being able to touch and hear and see all at the same time makes any experience more meaningful and Art Connections aims to do just that. From the Creativity Timeline, to Picture Perfect or Face to Face, Art Connections has got it all to bring out your creativity no matter your age.

The Cummer Museum’s Interactive Meissen Exhibit from Wingard Creative on Vimeo.

Courtesy of Wingard Creative

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens features a permanent collection of nearly 5,000 works of art on their riverfront campus in Jacksonville. The museum recently renovated the Betsy and William D. Lovett Gallery, where an incredible collection of Meissen porcelain is showcased. The Cummer wanted to give the collection new life and offer visitors a unique way to explore the gallery.

The museum decided to partner with Wingard Creative to create a multi-faceted interactive solution. They combined a podcast tour, a mobile website, in-gallery family guides and QR codes to give visitors multiple ways to interact with the exhibit. QR stands for “quick response”–when someone scans a QR code with their mobile device (such as a phone or an iPad), they are instantly directed to special information, like a website.

When a visitor enters the gallery, they can read a brief summary of what QR codes are and how to use them. As they view cases, visitors can scan a QR code to find out more about the highlighted pieces inside. The QR code will take them to a detail page for that particular piece. This detail page has enlarged photos, along with a wealth of information about the history and process behind its creation.

The visitor can also listen to a short excerpt from the podcast that was created for the exhibit as the detail page is viewed. The Museum Director and the Collection Curator walk visitors through the entire collection and offer further insights on the highlighted pieces. Visitors also have the option to listen to the entire podcast as they tour the gallery. If a visitor does not have a mobile phone or device, there are listening devices available at the front desk for use.

By embracing new technology and reaching out to users with mobile devices, the museum is engaging their younger demographic, as well as introducing technology to older visitors. The exhibit reinforces the Cummer Museum’s commitment to engage and inspire through the arts, gardens, and education.

(L to R) Early Meissen Porcelain Family Guide and Meissen Gallery Guide

By now, you may have heard that The Cummer recently unveiled a remodeled Betsy and William D. Lovett Gallery featuring the reintstallation of the Ralph H. and Constance I. Wark Collection of Early Meissen Porcelain. Included in the re-installation are new ways to enjoy the collection, including the beautiful new panels in the cases, the podcast, app, and QR codes in the galleries (more on that in a later post), and the printed guides for visitors of all ages.

If you are a child, a child at heart, or a family with young children, you will love The Royal Dish Family Guide that you can pick up in the Lovett Gallery. Designed with children in mind, this guide helps you interpret the porcelain collection and understand important words, the history of porcelain, curating a collection, and the detailed paintings that decorate the porcelain pieces. There are spaces to draw, color and write. There is even a scavenger hunt! Remember that only pencils are allowed in the galleries, so grab a set of colored pencils from the Make Art Now cart just outside the gallery.

Now the mantra of “look, but don’t touch” that we all hear in the galleries is fun with an interactive family guide.

For those of you who prefer to see a variety of art spanning age, the ages, ability and demographics, now is the time to be inspired at The Cummer.

Currently there is an exhibit of incredible student work entitled New View. It’s a grouping of drawings and paintings as a response to the gardens and the St. Johns river. These freshmen at Douglas Anderson spent an afternoon in the gardens drawing from life and then turned their gallery and studio experiences into the artistic challenge of abstraction.

These very impressively talented young artists used their creative vision to turn the gardens into an outdoor classroom, shared their beauty with us, and I am so glad they did!

Newly Renovated Lovett Gallery

Member's Opening of the Lovett Gallery

Last Thursday, the Cummer unveiled the newly renovated Betsy and William D. Lovett Gallery and opened a new exhibition On the Silk Road: Chinese Ceramics, Culture and Commerce to our members.  Over 300 people attended the event.  Those in attendance received the first look at the completed reinstallation of the museum’s Ralph H. and Constance I. Wark Collection of Early Meissen Porcelain and to accompany it a new 600-page catalogue of the collection.  The renovation of this gallery has been underway since February and with much anticipation is now open to the public as a permanent display.  The reinstallation presents the collection in a manner that is more reminiscent of traditional 18^th century displays but with a modern interpretation.  New interactive experiences designed by Wingard Creative, including a Meissen “app” and podcast have also been incorporated into the gallery.

Overhead View of the Silk Road Exhibition

Member's Opening for the Silk Road Exhibition

The exhibition On the Silk Road and the High Seas: Chinese Ceramics, Culture, and Commerce is organized by the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida. It is on view through August 14, 2011, in the museum’s Minerva and Raymond K. Mason Gallery and consists of more than 70 examples of the goods that inspired Meissen artisans from the Doris and Leo Hodroff collection. Featuring pieces adorned with traditional Western and Eastern designs such as the mille-fleur motif, the exhibition tells the story of why Chinese ceramics were so special back at home and abroad.

Both the Lovett Gallery and the Silk Road exhibition are opened to the public.  Come  and check out the new installations, publication and technology today.

The 575-page volume is written by Ulrich Pietsch, director of the State Porcelain Collection in Dresden, Germany, the most important and most extensive collection of Meissen porcelain in the world.

The publication contains full color photographs and complete text entries for 689 pieces in the Wark Collection of Early Meissen Porcelain, given to The Cummer by St. Augustine siblings Ralph and Constance Wark. The collection they assembled is regarded as the most significant collection of its type in the United States and one of the top three collections in the world.

The book will be available in the museum store on May 13th.

Installation Shot of the Lovett Gallery

As part of the renovation of The Betsy and William D. Lovett Gallery, which contains the museum’s early 18^thCentury Collection of Meissen Porcelain, The Cummer wanted to include objects that would help visitor’s understand the relationship between Asian Ceramics and Meissen Porcelain.  The earliest forms of porcelain produced by alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682-1719) at the Meissen Manufactory were copies of Asian porcelain in the collection of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (reg. 1694-1733).

The Cummer looked no further than the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, which houses the Koger Collection of Chinese Ceramics since 2002.  Last year, the museum formally requested the loan of 11 objects in the Koger Collection, to help visually relate the influence of Asian ceramics on their German counterparts.

Beaker with molded prunus decoration

Beaker with molded prunus decoration

Once approved by the Ringling, the loan objects were condition reported, packed and crated and shipped to Jacksonville.  After allowing for 24-hour acclimatization, the crate was unpacked and the objects condition reported.  Soon, these objects would be measured and prepped for installation in our new display cases alongside pieces from the Cummer’s collection.

Meissen Porcelain Display Case

Can you guess which are Asian originals?  If you need a closer look in order to tell, come check out our new installation of the Lovett Gallery with new a Meissen Porcelain display.  This gallery will open to the public on May 13, 2011.

via Style.com

The Cummer is home to the Ralph. H and Constance I. Wark Collection of Early Meissen Porcelain, one of the three finest and most comprehensive collections in the world. As open the Lovett Gallery, it is great to see Meissen influence shining through in other mediums.

Greek fashion designer Mary Katrantzou, known for her bold, vibrant prints and signature lampshade skirts, has taken the beauty of Meissen and brought it to life in her fall 2011 collection.  Inspired by objects of beauty like Fabregé eggs, cloisonné enamel, Ming vases, and of course, Meissen porcelain, Katrantzou has created a unique and modern array of dresses made from velvet, silk, and Orientalist knit sheath. These lively designs are making an enormous splash in the fashion world this year. So, why not come see the source of the inspiration first hand? Join us Friday, May 13^th to view the Meissen Porcelain collection.

Via http://beaurivagecondos.com/images/200817784531.jpg

Calling all artists!  The Cummer wants your artwork!  As part of The Cummer’s 50th Anniversary, the Museum is partnering with Riverside Avondale Preservation to celebrate our wonderful neighborhood.  Opening in June in the Museum’s Thomas H. Jacobsen Gallery of American Art, The Cummer will host a juried exhibition that celebrates the art, architecture, people, parks, river and landscape that make the Riverside-Avondale neighborhood great.

Artists are invited to submit original works of art (painting, photograph, work on paper, sculpture) that capture the Riverside Avondale area.  These works must be available to be exhibited at The Cummer from June 14 – July 31, 2011.

For Official guidelines: http://cummer.org/pdf/Call-to-Artists.pdf

For questions, please contact jury@cummer.org

Pre-kindergarten through second grade students at S. P. Livingston Elementary School collaboratively created artwork as a response to the natural landscape at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. As part of the Weaver Academy of Art program, a continuing arts in education partnership between the Cummer Museum and Duval County Public Schools, the students in the Exceptional Student Education department experimented with colored pencils, paint, and paper collage while enjoying the inspiring surroundings on the St. Johns River.

To view the students’ artwork visit the hands-on interactive area of the Museum called Art Connections.  The students’ work will be on exhibit from March 7 through May 9.

This exhibit is made possible through the generosity of  J.Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver, The Dianne T. and Charles E. Rice Family Foundation, The Chartrand Foundation and EverBank.

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.

The artist John Singer Sargent once said, “Every time I paint a portrait, I lose a friend”.  What he meant was that his friends thought he painted them too realistically – blemishes and all!

Marie Victoire Lemoine (French, 1754 - 1820), Portrait of a Youth in an Embroidered Vest, 1785, oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 21 ½ in., Purchased with funds from The Cummer Council, AP.1994.3.1.

Before photography was invented important and wealthy people paid artists to paint their portraits.  These portraits provided important clues about lives of these people. Important men may have been shown in uniform, and wealthy people were shown wearing expensive clothes and jewels.

Abraham Rattner (American, 1895 – 1978), Seated Figure in Costume, 1948, oil on masonite, 45 ½ x 37 in., Museum Purchase with funds provided by the Mae W. Schultz Charitable Lead Trust, AP.1991.10.1.

After photography was invented many artists thought there was no need to create a realistic portrait since the camera had that covered.  So artists began to explore new ways to create portraits.  They experimented with different colors to express feelings.  They used different shapes and angles to create portraits.  Artists were free to express their own emotions and thoughts.

Spend some time exploring the portraits on exhibition at the Cummer.  As you look at each portrait try to answer these questions:

• What is a portrait?
• Why have people throughout history had their portraits made?
• What are the various materials that can be used to create a portrait?
• How does an expressive portrait differ from a realistic portrait?
• How do these portraits inspire you to create a portrait yourself?

You might want to try creating a self-portrait when you go home.

What you’ll need:

• One 8” x 10” piece of paper
• Oil pastels or crayons in a variety of colors
• One mirror, on 8” x 10” picture frame, one photograph of yourself

What you’ll do:

• Set up your studio space.  Find a surface that you can make your drawing on where you have access to a mirror.
• Spend a moment looking at yourself in the mirror.  Notice the details of your face and placement of your features.
• Using oil pastels or crayons draw your portrait.  Don’t draw just what you see in the mirror.  Now is the time to be expressive!  This is the time to draw how you feel, not exactly how you look.  If purple hair, green lips, and large ears are always what you wanted, now is the time to draw yourself that way.
• After you finish your self-portrait, compare it to a photograph of yourself.  Which do you prefer?  Why?

Check back soon for more inspirational ideas to be found at the Cummer.

Photo by Ingrid Damiani

Most people think about experiencing art in only one way – a visual way.  We can see works of art in a gallery.  We can see how the elements of a work of art are related to each other, and to the whole.  We take for granted the ability to examine or admire a work of art, or to create our own.

Photo by Ingrid Damiani

For the blind or partially sighted, it is the other way around.  Art not only has a visual presence, it has a tactile presence.  Sound, music and smell can often prompt visual images.  In-depth verbal description and guided touch of an art object can “paint a picture” for the blind.

Photo by Ingrid Damiani

Art Beyond Sight ~ Women of Vision is an exhibition of paintings, drawings and poetry created by the Women of Vision, a group of blind and partially sighted women who have met monthly at The Cummer for over twelve years.  The Women learn the expressive and healing potential of the arts through multi-sensory methods of art making and memoir writing.

Art Beyond Sight ~ Women of Vision is on view in the Art Connections Gallery through March 6.

Now on view at The Cummer, A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era. This exhibition features 52 large-scale black and white photographs of many well-known historic American estates.  From Stockbridge, Massachusetts to Santa Barbara, California, A Genius for Place exhibits seven landscape designs that were originally created as private estates, but have retained significant portions of the original layout.   This exhibition puts our own 2.5 acres of historic riverfront gardens into context.  Developed by the Cummer family more than one hundred years ago, the museum’s gardens are prime examples of the Country Place era in Florida.

In conjunction with A Genius for Place, the Cummer is also currently exhibiting Community Garden Photography, which highlights photographs taken by local professional and amateur photographers of The Cummer Gardens from different perspectives and eras.   Come and enjoy great art or the quiet reading area in the gallery, both with breathtaking views of the gardens. Both exhibitions will be on view until April 24th.

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.

The Circumcision

The Cummer has an extensive collection of works on paper that help provide a well rounded experience for museum guests, along with paintings and sculpture in the galleries.   Unfortunately, due to the fragile nature of works on paper – light sensitivity and over exposure - we are not able to show these works on paper for long periods of time.  With the  new installation of our Medieval gallery, we have been able to pull four works on paper from the vault which have not been on view for a few years.  

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.

Clockwise from top left: Annelies Dykgraaf, Joseph’s Tunic- Orange, 2009, woodcut and acrylic;Russel Wilson, Late Summer, 2009, oil on canvas; Jim Draper, Floating Hearts, 2008, oil on canvas; Thomas Hager, City # 1, 2008, kallitype; Mary Williamson, Nine Mile, No. 2, 2009, pencil on paper; Kathy Stark, Field of Yellow, 2009, watercolor on paper

Established in 1964, The Community Foundation in Jacksonville is the oldest community foundation in Florida.  The Foundation leads the way in efforts to improve public education, expand and strengthen our arts community, provide support for our veterans, and strengthen Jacksonville’s neighborhoods and nonprofits organizations.

Twenty years ago, The Community Foundation was challenged by the National Endowment for the Arts to create the Art Ventures Fund.  This was a big risk for the Foundation.  Instead of taking the safer path and investing in the already established arts community, the Foundation decided to send Art Ventures in a different direction.  Flying in the face of convention, they offered a great opportunity to the local artists of Jacksonville, and gave our city the chance to flourish culturally by offering support to individual artists and small, emerging arts organizations.  Over the past 20 years, the Foundation has been fortunate to be able to support 91 individual artists and 39 small arts organizations.

All of this has lead to our current exhibition, ArtVentures: Supporting the Arts in Jacksonville for 20 Years.  With our mission to engage and inspire through the arts, gardens, and education, and The Community Foundation’s passion for enriching Jacksonville’s arts community to be more vibrant, creative and robust than ever before, this new exhibition is the perfect collaboration.  The Museum is currently exhibiting the work of 30 individual artists and is hosting 6 performance nights with a variety of individuals and performing arts organizations.  Our final performance nights will include an Evening of Film on December 21st, and an Evening of Chamber Music on December 28th.  For more information please visit our calendar of events or call the Museum at 904-356-6857.