by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
It’s official. On Wednesday, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville introduced its new logo and Web site to match its new name.
MOCA Jacksonville, formally Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, changed its name last November to better reflect the nature of the museum’s collections and exhibitions. Now the logo and Web site are matching the name change, said George Kinghorn, director of MOCA Jacksonville.
“This is truly a celebratory occasion,” he said. “This has been a big milestone for the museum.”
MOCA Jacksonville’s new logo was created by the museum’s in-house graphic designer, Michael O’Connell. Kinghorn said the “O” in MOCA references a contemporary art video screen that can be changed anytime to match what is going on at the museum. “Shift Your Perspective” is the museum’s new tag line.
City Council member Suzanne Jenkins said she is proud MOCA Jacksonville is in her district.
“MOCA Jacksonville is a leader in the city and it speaks so well for us,” said Jenkins. “It brings a lot of culture and depth to this city.”
Preston Haskell, chairman of the Board of Trustees for MOCA Jacksonville, said the name change is parallel to many other contemporary art museums.
“This is a very appropriate thing to do,” said Haskell, chairman of The Haskell Company and a collector of contemporary art. “This is just another step forward for advancement ... not only in Jacksonville, but for the museum in general.”
Haskell added that all great cities have a contemporary museum and a fine art museum – such as the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens – and the two in Jacksonville complement each other.
“We should be very proud of what the museum (MOCA Jacksonville) is doing today, what it did yesterday and what it will do tomorrow,” he said.
Besides the name change in November, the most significant change is the museum’s new Web site, www.mocajacksonville.org. Kinghorn said the Web site was made possible through a generous grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. A local Web site design firm, nGen Works, designed the Web site.
Kinghorn said they wanted to give the Web site a sense of energy.
“It really captures the nature of what we are doing,” he said. “All of our visitors and members now have an easy, accessible way to really stay connected to the museum.”