by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
There are a lot of new faces at the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art these days and they aren’t on the walls.
Between June 13 and July 17 eight new employees began working at JMOMA — all with the same goal: to put JMOMA on the country’s museum map. The new team of employees is excited to be a part of a highly-energized group looking to build on the museum’s current programs and events to make them even better.
The new staff is composed of Jennifer Bailey, curator; Ali Fuderer, assistant director of education; Candace Briles, museum educator; Michael O’Connell, group design and Web manager; Jackie Lunsford, manager of grants and special projects; Roger Bailey, museum educator; James Greene, director of education; and Jordan Boss, director of development.
“We have hired a professional staff that is going to take the museum to new levels,” said George Kinghorn, director of JMOMA. “There is certainly a new sense of energy at the museum with a staff that is rallying around a common goal, to make JMOMA a recognizable museum locally and nationally.”
Kinghorn said the new staff members greatly increase the capability of the organization. He said they will continue to carry out the museum’s existing programs and develop new and innovative programs for the community.
“The museum has certainly transitioned from a start-up organization to a mature organization,” said Kinghorn. “It is essential to have a staff fully in place to support our programs.”
Boss, who came to JMOMA after working at the I.M. Sulzbacher Center as the chief development officer, said right now is a great opportunity to be a part of the museum.
“We are going through a time of growth. The museum is changing and growing and it is great to be a part of a team that is going to take it to the next level,” said Boss. “We have a great staff with a lot of creativity and energy.”
Four of the new employees are artists themselves. Fuderer is a painter and also a Jacksonville native. She attended Douglas Anderson School of Arts and spent three years at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.
“I am excited about working in modern art,” she said. “It (modern art) is definitely where my passion lies.”
She said coming to the museum at this time is both exciting and overwhelming.
“This gives us an opportunity to create the best vision for the education department,” said Fuderer.
Another artist, Greene, is a printmaker. Like Fuderer, Greene wants to refresh and update the education department.
“I want to take our current programs and make them more substantial,” he said.
Briles, a museum educator is a metalsmith. As a museum educator, Briles said she will be working with the community and families, programs that will encompass a lot of community outreach programs and teaching programs for families and children.
“I enjoy spending time with children and making a connection with the community,” she said. “I want to make sure children and families are enjoying spending time with each other at the museum.”
Briles also spoke about being a part of JMOMA’s new staff.
“There is a lot of exciting and creative energy,” she said. “We are all working together for a common goal where we are all committed to seeing the museum grow.”
O’Connell is a local graphic artist who has been working closely with Kinghorn to create a new vision and look for the museum’s current banners/logos. Another area O’Connell is improving is the museum’s Web site to make it more user-friendly.
“We are like the heart beat of Jacksonville,” he said. “It is exciting to be part of this and exposed to the urban renewal of Downtown. We are right in the center of it.”
O’Connell, a native of Jacksonville, previously owned a design agency called Hard Ball Sports.
Lunsford was brought into a whole new position as the museum’s manager of grants and special programs.
“This position is brand new and I can kind of create it as I go,” she said. “It is a neat thing to come in and create a position.”
Roger Bailey was a teacher for over 35 years and moved to Jacksonville after he retired to be closer to family. At JMOMA he will help book tours and work on two new scholarships for children — the Memphis Wood Scholarship and the Reading First Scholarship.
Jennifer Bailey previously worked at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and was looking to focus more on contemporary art.
“When you have a new group like this, there is a lot of creative energy. This also expands our possibilities to create new programs and new funding,” she said. “We are going to expand on the great things that JMOMA has had already and make them better and more efficient.”
Kinghorn added that as a group they will be able to build a world-class contemporary art museum.
“We have great momentum here and we are aligning ourselves with other great contemporary art institutions around the nation.”