by Bailey White
Staff Writer
It was less than two months ago that the building at 333 N. Laura St. was overrun with workers hustling to put the final touches on the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art’s new location. Art had yet to be installed and renovations to the exterior of the 1931 building weren’t complete.
Today, the staff of the newly-opened museum says they’ve been blown away with the response they’ve received and are thrilled with their beginning.
“The response has exceeded our expectations,” said Jane Craven, president and CEO of the museum. “We’ve had over 3,000 visitors within a month and things are going really well.”
Craven said she thinks people are immediately impressed with the museum’s striking new headquarters.
“The comment I hear most is, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m in Jacksonville,’ ” she said. “When people first walk in, I think it’s the space that really strikes them as being so huge and bright. Then, looking at the exhibits, they see that what we have is really typical of museums in much larger cities like Chicago and Atlanta.”
Part of the museum’s success, Craven says, is that it appeals to a cross section of the city.
“That’s something we work really hard on,” she said. “We have made it a very high priority to serve the whole community.
“We have the Bank of America Family Free Day on Sundays, which brings in children and their families. And Wednesday nights, the museum is open until 9 p.m., admission is free and Cafe Nola has wine tastings. We’re seeing a lot of younger people then,” she said.
“The range of people is probably most obvious in our docent program,” added Craven. “We’re in the middle of training about 35 volunteers who will be leading tours and they are of every age, race and gender.”
While JMoMA’s art classes will begin in July, Craven said the lunchtime lecture series has proven to be popular with people from downtown and beyond.
“They’re informal gallery talks that are free for everyone and they’re drawing crowds of around 40 people,” she said.
There’s no evidence that things will be slowing down anytime soon.
“Our next big exhibition opening and member’s reception will be Sept. 6, which is a Saturday evening,” said Craven. “We’ll also be having an opening in July for both the regional and Blue Cross Blue Shield Education Gallery.”
The July 31 event will showcase the art of Charleston-based artist Joe Walters in the Regional Gallery, and Jacksonville’s Jonathan Lux in the Education Gallery.”
The staff is also preparing for the September launch of its film series and is working on a new music series.
“For that, we’re going to concentrate on chamber music,” said Craven. “We haven’t firmed up any dates yet, but we know it will start this fall.”