The ‘Cummer Museum’ has a spectacular holiday event

The “Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens” invites the community to celebrate the holidays through special events and seasonal promotions. The Museum is commemorating its 60th anniversary this year with the theme a “The Museum is for Everybody.” This holiday season event lineup includes a variety of opportunities for visitors of all ages to explore the Museum’s art and gardens. The Museum offers a variety of holiday events for members and visitors of all ages this season.

“We are excited to welcome visitors to the Museum this holiday season to celebrate together as a community,” said Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and Chief Executive Officer. “Whether it be a picnic in the gardens during Illuminating Nature, a glass of bubbles while perusing gifts in the shop, or exploring the galleries as a family, we offer experiences for everyone to enjoy.”

Upcoming events and promotions include:
●      Museum Store Sunday (Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.): Museum Store Sunday is a worldwide shopping day, with more than 1,800 museums from over 24 countries represented. The Cummer Shop is the perfect place to find unique and one-of-a kind gifts like artisan jewelry, wearable art, special items that reflect the collections, and much more. All shoppers will receive a 25% discount on every Museum Store Sunday purchase plus a 10% discount in the Cummer Café.

●      Champagne & Shopping (Dec. 2, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 3, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.): Shoppers ages 21+ may enjoy complimentary champagne while shopping exclusive offers. Members will receive a 30% discount on purchases; non-members will receive a 20% discount.

●      Illuminating Nature (Dec. 3, 7, 10, 14 and 17, 4 to 9 p.m.): Explore the Gardens in a whole new light. Join the Museum for a magical outdoor experience, as more than a dozen sculptures will be illuminated and placed throughout the 2.5 acre-historic riverfront Gardens— perfect for a festive evening of enjoyment with refreshments from the Cummer Café. This event is free to the public, and registration is required.

●      Sunset Garden Picnics (Every Friday, 5 to 9 p.m.): This weekly event invites visitors to relax in the beautiful riverfront gardens and enjoy a picnic provided by the Cummer Café. Picnics can be created for one ($25) or two guests ($40) and must be ordered in advance. Admission is free, and reservations are required to ensure capacity limits and social distancing.

Support from the community is critical for the Museum to serve as a vibrant civic resource. Proceeds from daily admission, Cummer Shop sales, and the Cummer Café support the Museum’s mission to engage and inspire through the arts, gardens, and education. To register for events, click HERE.

Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
   829 Riverside Avenue
   Jacksonville, Florida 32204
   (904) 356-6857
   Hours of Operation & Admission

Don’t miss ‘They/Them/Their’ (Zanele Muholi) at The Cummer Museum

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is proud to present “Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail The Dark Lioness”, an internationally touring exhibition organized by Autograph, London and curated by Renée Mussai. These magnificent self-portraits were taken throughout the US, and all over the world, as you will note next to each photograph.

The exhibit was brought to Jacksonville, FL due to a redirection caused by the COIVD pandemic. There has not been a more controversial display of blackness since the Augusta Savage showings from Oct. 12, 2018 to Sun., Apr. 7, 2019. The Museum will be the final venue for this exhibition in the United States.

In more than 72 self-portraits and wallpapers, celebrated visual activist Zanele Muholi (South African, b. 1972) uses “their” body as a canvas to confront the deeply personal politics of race and representation in the visual archive. “Their” ongoing series Somnyama Ngonyama, which translates to ‘Hail The Dark Lioness’ from isiZulu, one of the official languages of South Africa, playfully employs the conventions of classical painting, fashion photography and the familiar tropes of ethnographic imagery to rearticulate contemporary identity politics. Each black and white self-portrait asks critical questions about social (in)justice, human rights and contested representations of the Black body.

Muholi states, “I’m reclaiming my blackness, which I feel is continuously performed by the privileged other. My reality is that I do not mimic being Black; it is my skin, and the experience of being Black is deeply entrenched in me. Just like our ancestors, we live as Black people 365 days a year, and we should speak without fear.”

Throughout the series, the dark complexion of Muholi’s skin (intensified through enhanced contrast applied in post-production) becomes the focal point of a profound, multilayered interrogation of beauty, pride, desire, self-care, well-being and the many interlinked phobias and isms navigated daily such as homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, racism and sexism, to name but a few.

“Zanele Muholi’s visually arresting self-portraits compel viewers to consider timely topics such as contrast, dignity, solidarity, difference, history and activism in meaningful ways,” said Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., the Museum’s George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and Chief Executive Officer. “Each one invites deep looking and, ultimately, encourages viewers to ask themselves critical questions about empathy, courage and the power of each and every voice.”

The exhibition features photographs taken between 2012 - 2019 in cities across Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. Muholi's socially-engaged, radical brand of self-portraiture transforms found objects and quotidian materials into dramatic and historically loaded props, merging the political with the personal, aesthetics with history — often commenting on specific events in South Africa’s past, as well as urgent global concerns pertinent to our present times: scouring pads and latex gloves address themes of domestic servitude while alluding to sexual politics, cultural violence and the often-suffocating prisms of gendered identities. Rubber tires, cable ties or electrical cords invoke forms of social brutality and exploitation; sheets of plastic and polythene draw attention to environmental issues and global waste, while accessories like cowrie shells and beaded fly whisks highlight Western fascinations with clichéd, exoticized representations of African cultures and people.

Gazing defiantly at the camera, Muholi challenges viewers’ perceptions while firmly asserting their cultural and sexual identity on their own terms. When you gaze upon each photo, see what is in plain sight and what might be buried in your own observations. This writer saw a surprising resemblance of Zanele Muholi to songstress Nina Simone.

About Zanele Muholi: Zanele Muholi is a visual activist and photographer based in Johannesburg. Muholi’s self- proclaimed mission is “to re-write a Black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to know of our resistance and existence at the height of hate crimes in South Africa and beyond.”

“They” (Muholi’s preferred pronoun) co-founded the Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002 (www.inkanyiso.org), and in 2009 founded Inkanyiso (www.inkanyiso.org), a forum for queer and visual (activist) media. They continue to train and co-facilitate photography workshops for young women in South African townships, and engage in a variety of community supported programs.

“Zanele Muholi”: Somnyama Ngonyama,
    Hail The Dark Lioness

DATES: April 15 – June 20, 2021

Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
   829 Riverside Avenue
   Jacksonville, Florida 32204
   (904) 356-6857
   Hours of Operation & Admission

Cummer Museum of Arts and Gardens is ready for April

Spring is finally in the air and it’s time to go to the Cummer for a safe cultural experience. This month the museum will present exciting inhouse activities and some educational informative online events. Get your tickets and get in on the action.

Events & Programs:
Yoga in the Cummer Gardens: Thursday, April 8 @10 a.m. Enjoy a gentle, mindful yoga hour.
Members $10 | Non-Members $15. Registration required.

LiterARTure: Holocaust Remembrance, Stolen Yet Found: Wednesday, April 21 @
7 p.m. | Virtual Lecture - LiterARTure is both a virtual book and art club. Cindy Edelman, art lecturer, and Stacey Goldring, author, offer prescriptive solace and refuge within the pages of books and painted artworks. Free | Registration required.

Mobile Photography Studio in the Gardens: Saturday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Inspired by Zanele Muholi’s mobile studio concept, participants can use Museum-provided polaroid cameras to create their own self-portrait. Free | Registration required.

Culture & Conversation: with Kimberly Jenkins: Thursday, April 29 @7 p.m. | Virtual Lecture. Lecturer, researcher and fashion consultant who specializes in the sociocultural and historical influences behind why we wear what we wear. Free | Registration required.

Friday Night Picnics: Friday nights in April from 5 to 9 p.m. Prices vary | Registration required.

Education:
Acrylic Painting: with Allison Watson - April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12 Six week class | 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Members $270 | Non-Members $360. Registration required.

Basic Drawing: with William McMahan: April 8, 15, 22, 29; May 6, 13. Six-week class | 1 to 4 p.m. Members $270 | Non-Members $360. Registration required.

Slow Art Wednesdays: Wednesday, April 14 & Wednesday, April 28. Take a fun and mindful break. Second and Fourth Wednesdays. Topics vary | Virtual Lectures from 12 to 1 p.m. Free | Registration required.

Make & Take Tuesday: Tuesday, April 13. Clay: Explore the fluidity of creating with clay.  Tuesday, April 20. Print: Sketch an original idea and create a printing plate. In the studio | Ages 12 and up from 5 to 7 p.m. Members $45 | Non-Members $60. Registration required.

Family Experience: Interactive Virtual Tour: Friday, April 16 @6 p.m. Free | Registration required.

Studio on the Go: Drop-in Art Making Activity: Sunday, April 18 from 2 to 4 p.m.
Free with admission.

Teachers' Virtual Lounge: Connect with Educators: Tuesday, April 27 @5 p.m. Free | Registration required.

Summer Art Camp: Calling all young artists! Check online for details.

Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
   829 Riverside Avenue
   Jacksonville, Florida 32204
   (904) 356-6857
   Hours of Operation & Admission