by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
For the first time, The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is selling tickets to their upcoming exhibit. But this exhibit is unlike any other that has been at the museum.
“Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from The British Museum” opens Dec. 22 and runs through March 18.
“As an international exhibition, there are higher finance conditions than most exhibits,” said Maarten van de Guchte, director of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. “We wanted to bring a first-rate, blockbuster to Jacksonville, but to do so we had to increase ticket prices.”
The museum is expecting record attendance and tickets are on sale now. Adult tickets for non-members are $15, seniors, military and students are $12 and children under six are free. Admission for museum members is $7. Van de Guchte said the price for non-members worked out to be $8 to visit the museum and $7 to see the exhibit. Members do not pay the extra $8.
“We did a comparative study with other museums in Florida and our analysis indicated that this is a fair price to ask for, for an exhibit of this quality,” he said.
“Temples and Tombs” will be located in the museum’s new gallery, the Central Gallery. The new gallery gave the museum the space to house an exhibit of this size.
“We have so much more space and a show of this size and caliber is using 6,000 square feet of exhibit space,” said van de Guchte. “Before the Central Gallery we were not able to house a large exhibit.”
The British Museum’s collection is one of the foremost collections of Egyptian Art — outside of Egypt, he said.
“The event will be exhilarating for the people who work here and those who visit the show,” said van de Guchte.
To give everyone an opportunity to see the exhibit, the museum is going to be open seven days a week. And, the museum will remain open until 9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday while the exhibit is at the museum.
“We want to give as many people the possibility to visit the exhibit,” he said.
Van de Guchte is encouraging people to purchase tickets early. Tickets can be purchased by calling (904)899-6021, by visiting www.cummer.org or at the museum.
Museum Information
829 Riverside Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida 32204
356.6857
Museum hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wednesdays, Fridays, & Saturdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sundays Noon - 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and major holidays
Admissions: Members: Free
Adults: $8
Seniors, Military: $5
Students: $5
Children 5 & under: Free
BellSouth Free Tuesdays: Admission to The Cummer is free every Tuesday from 4-9 p.m. (sponsored by BellSouth)