by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
It was a record-breaking year for the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens after showing significant growth in attendance and its educational outreach programs in 2007, and museum officials hope to see more of the same in 2008.
“It was our biggest attendance year ever,” said Hope McMath, deputy director of programs from the Cummer Museum. “We also had a significant increase in membership. Plus, our programs in general stayed flat or saw some growth.”
She said about 139,000 people visited the Cummer Museum last year.
The museum’s largest and most popular exhibit, “Temples and Tombs: Treasures of Egyptian Art from The British Museum” had a lot to do with the museum’s growth in 2007.
“From a business standpoint, we did well,” she said. “Certainly it was a little chaotic over the summer as City cuts became final. But the cuts were not as drastic as we thought.”
The Cummer Museum saw a 10 percent cut in funding.
“It had an impact on us, but that was far better news than we were preparing for,” said McMath. “We had a strong plan in place if it came to that.”
But because of the funding cuts, the museum had to reorganize its staff as well as make some small staff cuts.
“The reorganization has gone really well,” she said. “We moved some staff around, and that needed to be done.
“We did have to make some small staff cuts, but since that has happened, many of our programs have expanded and we were able to bring some of the staff back on.”
She added that there were no changes in the visitor experience due to the funding cuts.
“Hours were not changed and we are still offering all of our same programs,” said McMath.
Future growth
In the next year-and-a-half, the museum is looking to grow physically as well as in attendance.
The Cummer Museum Foundation purchased the former Women’s Club of Jacksonville in 2004. McMath said they are planning to begin the exterior renovation of the Edward W. Lane, Jr. Building in early spring.
“The building will become our primary event space,” she said. “We are going to maintain the inside and keep it what it was — a social space.”
There is a large ballroom that will be used for lectures, concerts, member openings and large educational events as well as weddings and other private events.
Another area of growth the Cummer Museum is seeing is in its educational outreach programs. The Cummer Museum has been serving about 30,000 inner city elementary school students each year.
“We will be serving an additional 4,000 students,” said McMath. “We are going to hit a high point — this is one of our largest expansions.”
Two staff members give tours and visit the children’s classrooms five times during the school year to teach them about art and literature. They are also planning an arts festival to involve the children’s neighborhoods this spring. Nine Duval County Public Schools participate in this program.
Current and upcoming exhibits, events
Even after the Egyptian exhibit, the museum is still pulling in high attendance numbers for their current exhibit, “Art from the Ashes: In Stabiano, Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite.”
McMath said it is not as big as last year’s blockbuster, but it is still very popular.
“It’s not like the Egyptian exhibit, but it is still putting up great numbers,” she said. “It was very popular over the holidays and we saw a spike in attendance.”
The programs surrounding the “Art from the Ashes” exhibit is seeing very high attendance. The art classes have been full and the Toga Party was well attended, she said.
Like the Egyptian exhibit, they combined art and history and both of the exhibits were very well attended by school groups.
There are several exhibits planned for 2008 including a Native American exhibit, which is the first time the Cummer Museum has had an exhibit about the Native American culture. The exhibit is titled “A Kiowa’s Odyssey: A Sketchbook from Ft. Marion” and opens Jan. 22 and runs through March 16.
From March 8-June 1, an exhibit titled “Ernest Hemingway and Walker Evans: Three Weeks in Cuba, 1933” explores the subjects’ time on the island nation.
McMath said the museum’s largest exhibit in 2008 is called “Scalpel to Sketch: The Science and Beauty of Medical Illustration at Mayo Clinic.” The exhibit from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. runs July 10 through Sept. 28 and will include over 100 medical illustrations.
While the past two large exhibits highlighted art and history, this exhibit will highlight art and science.
“It shows the artists’ partnership with doctors and it highlights our partnership with the local Mayo Clinic,” said McMath.
Upcoming events include:
• Part II: Art from the Ashes: Panel Discussion - Jan. 15, 7-8:30 p.m.
• 2-Day Pottery Wheel Workshop - Jan. 12 1-5 p.m., Part 1: Wheel Throwing and Jan. 19 1-3 p.m., Part 2: Glazing.
• Roman Life Family Day - Jan. 27, noon-5 p.m. (free admission).
• Cummer Kiowa Pow-Wow Dinner Ceremony - Jan. 31, Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa, 3-9 p.m.
• Garden Week - March.
• VSA Arts Festival - April 8-11.
• The Annual Cummer Ball and Auction - April 26.
Some events require registration and a fee to attend. For more information, call the museum at 356-6857. For a full calendar listing, visit www.cummer.org.