Before Michael Cavendish could take too many strides, something caught his eye.
“Wait, this looks like something,” he said.
A bike spray-painted green, adorned with fake flowers. It was intriguing enough to cause the One Spark juror to head toward the booth.
A quick greeting later, he was kneeling next to Nicole Holderbaum, introducing himself and finding out what she was painting on the large white mural propped up in the middle of Monroe Street.
It was “Art for Jacksonville’s Youth and Beyond,” which involves painting art in as many schools as possible.
“It’s a great project,” he said as he walked away.
A couple of days later, his input as a One Spark juror would help Holderbaum become one of the finalists in the art category for this year’s crowdfunding extravaganza.
On this hot Thursday afternoon, Cavendish was off to see more art exhibits. His first stop was Sweet Pete’s.
Cavendish is a Gunster shareholder who specializes in complex commercial litigation and arbitration cases. But outside the courtroom, he’s also an art aficionado, a collector who sits on the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville board.
He was asked to be one of the festival’s art jurors more than a month ago.
“I suspect that I’m a substitute for someone who was more qualified,” he said in a self-deprecating manner. “I wasn’t dumb enough to turn them down.”
Before too long, he’s on the second floor of Downtown’s newest attraction. Past the ice cream, cupcakes and other confections, is his second stop of the day.
A deck of cards is on the table, a magician to its side.
“What’s going on here?” he asks.
Michael Chrosniak was trying to “bring magic back to Jacksonville.”
He told Cavendish he was looking for a place of operations — Downtown, Riverside and Five Points all were ideal — for his business that included retail and live entertainment. He sought $50,000 for the effort.
But instead of simply telling, he asked Cavendish if he wanted to see a trick.
“Of course,” he replied. “Just don’t cut me in half.”
The only slicing was Cavendish cutting the deck, selecting the six of hearts and placing it directly on the bottom.
“It’s either going to be a red card or a black card,” Chrosniak said. A magic joke causing Cavendish to smile.
Moments later after minimal questions, Chrosniak nailed it. He guessed the six of hearts.
“Wow, very good,” Cavendish said before wishing him luck for the rest of the festival.
As he walked downstairs toward the exit, he said he was a little surprised to see a magic show in the festival, let alone the art category.
“That’s the thing about One Spark,” he said. “There are so many unique projects.”
Like “The Yarn Bomb” and the bright pops of color Cavendish points out that are devouring the oak trees in Hemming Park.
“She nailed it,” he said, referring to Shannon Palmer, one of the project’s creators. “It’s incredible looking … a great example of using this as a stage to really show how big of an idea you have.”
The yarn-inspired project also was a finalist in the art category.
In all, Cavendish would spend close to 20 hours on One Spark-related duties, balancing the festival work with the job that pays the bills.
Some of the firm’s partners in the past had pooled money for a sponsorship for the festival. So, when he was asked to participate this year, he told his legal mates they could “eat their hearts out” and he had the best gig.
He talked about how there wasn’t any pressure in the role. The festival’s open format and emphasis on crowdfunding meant his vote didn’t dictate who else could support an artist with their vision.
Back on Monroe Street, Cavendish visited Heather Allison’s “pArt galleries.” She sought $50,000 for an e-commerce website to advance leasing art on a part-time basis.
“This is a brilliant idea and there’s nothing like it in town,” Cavendish said.
Allison said she knew Cavendish’s sister from their time at Florida State University. But, the relationship wouldn’t win any brownie points in the eyes of the juror.
“Absolutely not,” he said as he walked away down crowded Laura Street, where some colorful pictures soon attracted him. With them, an artist and a banner professing his borderline personality disorder.
False alarm. After a minute or two of conversation, Cavendish finds out the artist isn’t a One Spark creator.
“He doesn’t play by no rules,” Cavendish said, somewhat laughing as he repeats the line the artist just proudly expressed.
Just about 2 p.m., temperatures are near record highs. Most attendees are in T-shirts, shorts, flip-flops and the like but Cavendish maintains the professional look by keeping his jacket on as he marches onward.
A peek into some of Downtown’s taller buildings results in no exhibits, but it does come with a blast of air conditioning.
Much like the bike in the beginning of his day, something catches his eye on Forsyth Street.
Vivid photos of children, scenes from Tibet displayed by Elise Racine and her “Faces of Dharamsala” exhibit. Her $7,500 goal is to support a photo-book of the Tibetan exile community. It’s in the social good category, though.
Unable to help with a vote, he offers another form of support: a picture tweet of Racine, telling folks to check her and the pictures out. He said he’d done a similar deed for others he couldn’t help as a juror.
“It is cool to see stuff outside your category,” he said.
Cavendish winds his way back through the streets toward MOCA with the goal to see one of several movies on display. That includes eventual art grand prize winner, “The Grey Area.”
But after making a quick stop to chat with a group about its Live Action Role Playing art performances, Cavendish looks at his phone.
Almost three hours into his expected five-hour jury duty for the day, the legal profession came calling. He had to sit in on a conference call. Art would have to be put on hold, but would resume Friday for about seven hours and again Saturday for several more. He and the other two judges would make up their minds on the category winners with about an hour to spare Saturday.
“It was a whole new vantage point,” he said of the experience.
He even found art in an unexpected place. Under the bearing down sun Thursday, someone had dropped an almost full ice cream cone in the middle of the sidewalk on Forsyth Street.
Splat.
“Wow, look at that,” he said as he bent down to take a picture. “It’s kind of a metaphor, like someone’s crushed dream.”
It might have been one of the only letdowns he saw during the week.
@writerchapman
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