New Year starts at the Cummer Museum – 2022

It’s a New Year and time to get out and appreciate some glorious artwork. Don’t miss the happenings at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. Although the Cummer collectively faced significant challenges in 2021, they were so happy to connect with you and offer meaningful opportunities throughout the year. Please take a moment to experience Rebecca Louise Law: The Journey one last time before it closes on January 9, 2022. Another slate of exciting exhibitions and programs are on the horizon for 2022. Here’s to a safe, healthy, and artful New Year. They can’t wait to see you.

Events & Programs for January 2022:

Lecture Series with Scott Brown, Ph.D. – Hosted by Cummer Beaches & Sponsored by Diane Jacobsen Ph.D. Jan. 6, The Cummer Gardens: Natural Beauty and Beautiful Cities in the American Landscape from 7 to 8 p.m. Free.

Culture & Conversation: Gordon Yellowman Sponsored by Wells Fargo Jan. 13 from 7 to 8 p.m. | Free.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Sponsored by The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida Jan. 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free.

Dried Flower Arrangement with Found Objects, With Julie Feldman, ages 18+ Jan. 23 from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Members $55, Non-Members $70 | Registration required.

Offsite Experiences: The Works and Life of Vincent Van Gogh; Tribulations and Triumphs Jan. 18 from 5 to 9 p.m. Per lecture $10, For series $25 + Offsite at Story and Song Bookstore Bistro.

Education:

Get Your Learn On: Highlights Tour, Every Tuesday in Januarythrough March from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m. Free with Admission.

Artful Explorations, Hands on Activities Jan. 9, The Stories of Flowers from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Free with Admission.

Look at That! Virtual event Jan. 12, The Sitter; Jan. 26, Not Me from Noon to 1 p.m. Free | Registration required.

Friday Night Draw With William McMahan, ages 16+ Jan. 14, Drawing in the Galleries Jan. 28, Portrait Drawing with Model from 6 to 8 p.m. Members $25, Non-Members $35 Registration required.

Storyteller Mornings With Jacksonville Public Library Jan. 19 from 11 a.m. to Noon, Free | Registration required.

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

The Cummer Museum and Gardens during September 2021

Now that school has started back, why not take a little time-out for yourself and visit the Cummer Museum & Gardens? You’ll be glad that you did.

“The Journey” now on view at the Cummer Museum: British artist Rebecca Louise Law has created a site-specific installation using both dried and fresh flowers to form an immersive visitor experience that explores the relationship between humanity and nature. It's not to be missed!

Events & Programs: Lecture: Dr. Richard Bell, Hamilton: How the Musical Remixes American History Sept. 22 from 7 to 8 p.m. Virtual Lecture $10 | Registration required.

Culture and Conversation Series Lecture with Artist, Reynier Leyva Novo Oct. 1 from 7 to 8 p.m. Virtual Lecture. Reynier Leyva Novo’s work is currently on view at the Museum. Free | Registration required.

Friday Night Picnics: Friday Nights in Sept. 5 to 9 p.m. Prices vary | Registration required.

Education: Virtual Slow Art Talks Sept. 8: Verifying Value. Sept. 22: Sensing Space Focusing on Rebecca Louise Law from 12 to 1 p.m. Take a fun and mindful break. Free | Registration required.

Art Connection Saturday – Kid-friendly, drop-in activity Sept. 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free with Museum admission.

Studio on the Go: Drop-in Art Making Sept. 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. Free with Museum admission.

Friday Night Live Model: Figure Drawing Sept. 24 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Members $60, Non-Members $75. Registration required.

Cummer Shop: Spotlight on Rebecca Louise Law - Trending now are Rebecca Louise Law: The Journey curated and inspired products! The Cummer’s most in-demand items include Law’s five amazing postcard books. Each book contains 13 lithographic prints of a series of her artworks, hand-bound, and signed by the artist. Visit them at the Museum, or from the comfort of home through their online shop.
 

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

Rebecca Louise Law’s: ‘The Journey’ at the Cummer

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens has commissioned British installation artist, Rebecca Louise Law, to create and implement a site-specific installation, using flowers and natural materials, exploring the relationship between humanity and nature. The exhibition will open to the public on Friday, July 30, 2021, and run through January 9, 2022.

A proponent of sustainability, Law will incorporate 1.2 million flowers from her previous installations around the world in the creation of the Museum’s installation, which also requires more than 1,200 community volunteer hours to install.

“I want this installation to be a physical and participatory experience. After exploring the intimacy of the womb and the sensation of being consumed and cocooned in nature, I would like to explore the momentum of life,” said Law. “From the second we are formed in cells we are moving and changing, within a world that is also evolving. The motion of walking through nature and witnessing its many forms from life to death. This rhythmic cycle that we are all participants of, fascinates me. This installation will be a short journey through nature, with its many forms and scents, stimulating the senses to the extreme.”

“Law’s site-specific installation, The Journey, is a timely invitation to immerse ourselves in nature’s abundant splendor and soak in its awe-inspiring beauty,” said Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., the Museum’s George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and CEO. “In recent months, most have at times felt fragile, depleted and vulnerable. Law’s poetic installation, incorporating millions of delicate dried and fresh flowers that have been painstakingly linked together by hand, is an apt metaphor for our shared quest to emerge stronger and more resilient than ever. This exhibition promises to activate our senses and ignite collective joy. We are privileged to present an original installation by this internationally acclaimed artist, whose work introduces new dimensions to the Museum’s emphasis on art, gardens, and education.”

Law uses both dried and fresh flowers in her work to illuminate the time-bound and natural process of decay, which is an integral part of her practice. Inspired by the dried flowers that hung in her attic as a child, Law’s “sculptures” are suspended from above and held together with copper wire, which are assembled by volunteers.

The volunteer effort began in mid-July, with community members assisting with stringing together garlands of flowers and taking some ownership over the installation — an aspect of the project that the artist feels passionate about.

“The Cummer Museum is thrilled that so many community members jumped at the opportunity to take part in the installation of Rebecca’s exhibition,” said Holly Keris, the Museum’s J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver Chief Curator. “While community participation has always been an important component of her work, whether actively by wiring flowers or more passively through physically and emotionally immersing themselves in the finished product, it has taken on a new level of significance during the pandemic. I hope visitors experiencing this installation will take a moment to delight in the abundance of the Earth, marvel at the interconnectivity of people and nature and our individual roles within our community microcosm and contemplate our collective journey over the past year.”

About Rebecca Louise Law: Based in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales, Law has been commissioned to create installations at the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Chandran Gallery in San Francisco, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in London and in New York City’s Times Square, among other venues. Her work has been exhibited at a range of galleries and at major institutions, including the Royal Academy and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

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