by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
A 30-foot mixed media mural that was created through a comprehensive art education partnership between Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens and the Jacksonville Port Authority debuted this week at the Main Library as part of First Wednesday Art Walk.
The theme for this year’s arts program at Douglas Anderson is “New View: The Many Faces of the St. Johns River.” Students began working on the project last September using several media including painting, sculpture, photography and printmaking with the St. Johns River as the common subject.
The project was supported by the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the Jacksonville Port Authority as a joint effort to demonstrate to the students who helped create the art and to the citizens who will view the exhibit the partnership between commerce and the environment of the river. The students toured and photographed port facilities last year to get a feel for the activity, and the Riverkeeper offered insight and conservation information.
The mural will join the rest of the exhibit March 25 at the Cummer Museum. Works from the museum’s permanent collection including watercolors and prints by Winslow Homer, Frederick Frieseke and Theodore de Bry will also be on display to give a visual history of how artists have experienced the river.
“It is inspiring to see students now become the teachers and help lead our community deeper into a dialogue about our relationship with the river,” said Hope McMath, deputy director of programming at the Cummer.
The mural will be exhibited at several locations in an effort to bring the message of the St. Johns River to as many people as possible. After it leaves the Main Library, it will be on display at the Cummer Museum March 25-June 22, at the Museum of Science & History June 24-July 27, at the JaxPort Cruise Terminal July 29-Aug. 31 and at the Ritz-LaVilla Museum Sept. 29-Oct. 31.
The exhibition is underwritten by the Jacksonville Port Authority. Programming is sponsored by the Florida Humanities Council, the state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.