For decades when its tenants were Southern Bell, BellSouth, AT&T and CSX Corp., the space past the security desk at Downtown's signature office tower at 301 W. Bay St, was off limits to people lacking an employee identification badge.
That changed in 2010 when other tenants began moving in. The building now has a mix of businesses, the only Nature's Table restaurant in Northeast Florida and a public art gallery in the first- and second-floor lobbies.
The first acquisition for the building's permanent art collection was a pair of paintings by local artist Steve Williams. The paintings flank the reception desk at the top of the escalators on the second floor.
When Williams' paintings were installed in January 2011, Pamela Smith, El-Ad Florida LLC owner's representative, said it was the first step in a plan to enhance the arts Downtown.
"By reaching out to the art community and bringing art into the building, we feel we are taking the first steps to awakening the 'sleeping giant' in the community," said Smith.
The building's ever-evolving exhibit includes work by several artists and sculptors, some of which is for sale.
The latest installation is "TX presents Signal from San Francisco," two abstract paintings by Nicholas Bohac.
His work has been featured in shows at ThinkSpace Gallery in Culver City, Calif., and Circuit 12 Gallery in Dallas. Bohac's exhibit marks the first time contemporary American painting included in the "New American Paintings" annual survey has been shown in public in Jacksonville.
Both paintings were exhibited in downtown San Francisco's 101 California Building before arriving at EverBank Center.
TX is an ongoing public art series of paintings originating in other metropolitan U.S. cities that will be shown in Jacksonville.
The series is a project of Cavendish Productions, the nonprofit arm of the art collection of local attorney Michael Cavendish. The idea is to share art never before exhibited in Jacksonville with the public and to showcase venues that might not be first considered art galleries.
"Signal from San Francisco" will be exhibited at EverBank Center through March 7.
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