by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Whether you’re viewing art or brushing up on your knowledge of science and history, visiting one of Jacksonville’s museums is usually an inspirational experience. And, with the unique merchandise and creative and educational material they carry, a trip to the museum shop can leave you just as inspired.
The Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art , when it opened in May, introduced a new retail space to Hemming Plaza.
The store, which occupies close to 1,400 square feet of space on the first floor, carries books, jewelry, textiles, light fixtures, handbags and neckties.
JMoMA’s retail operations manager, Felicia Bowen, also stocks one-of-a-kind art pieces.
“We carry glass works by Thomas Long, an artist with a glass blowing studio in St. Augustine, and ceramic pieces by local artist Bob Kirk,” said Bowen, adding that she’s tried to make use of the bright, open spaces that the new museum location has to offer.
“This is a much larger space than we had at our former location,” she said. “We’ve tried to set it up like a gallery in some places.”
Bowen has been with the museum for five years, at both of its locations, and has gradually shifted gears to make what the store carries more reflective of the museum’s content.
“I’m focusing more on making the store less of a gift shop and more of a museum store,” she said. “Our mission is the same as the museum’s, which is to focus on art from 1945 to the present. We want to reflect what we have in the museum.”
Many of the books in the shop deal with display at the museum, whether as part of the permanent collection or a current exhibition.
“And because we have the children’s interactive area, we have a lot of children’s items. We have books and also hands-on products that encourage creativity and the use of imagination, different art-related activities.”
Susan Tudor, who runs The Cummer Museum store at the Cummer Museum of Arts & Gardens, has a similar dedication to putting the ideas of the museum into the shop.
“We’ve really tried to emphasize things related to the exhibitions and to our permanent collection,” she said. “A portion of everything we carry relates to what we have on display here.”
In addition to books, reproductions and catalogs, the museum store carries paper goods, holiday items, candles, statuary and computer accessories.
“We also try to carry local artists,” said Tudor. “We have a whole case of glass work from Jacksonville University students and we have pen-and-ink drawings and watercolors by local and Florida artists.”
Tudor, who has been with the museum for four years, said as a member of the Museum Store Association, she has access to an international group of museum stores.
“We have products from the Metropolitan [Museum of Art] and other large museums and I can purchase wholesale from them. I also visit the markets in Atlanta and New York,” she said.
Like JMoMA’s museum store, all proceeds from the shop go to the museum.
“The store is here to support the museum and its mission,” said Tudor.
On the Southbank, the Museum of Science and History has a different purpose, but a similar approach to filling its store.
“Our mission is to educate on physical and natural science, regional history and, with our planetarium, astronomy,” said Jennifer Savage, public relations coordinator for the museum. “The things we carry in the store allow museum visitors to take home what they learn and have even more of a hands-on experience.”
“We have so many school groups coming in and we really want to have things in the shop that reflect what they see in the museum,” said Jacquelyn Blanchard, MOSH’s visitor and retail manager. “The museum is constantly changing and we try to keep up with the exhibits. For the Fins, Feelers and Fangs exhibit, I brought in tools that give kids an ant’s eye view of the world, and we stock magnets that emphasize what they hear in the planetarium about electricity and magnets.”
There are also crystal growing kits, telescopes, star finders and books that offer ideas for science experiments.
And there are packages of freeze dried ice cream, glow in the dark stars and plenty of rubber snakes.
“Besides being educational, everything we carry is fun,” said Savage.
The museum shops keep the same hours as the museums.