Best Local Crusader: Hope McMath

Best Local Crusader: Hope McMath

A crusader is someone who campaigns vigorously for social, political or religious change. And when Jacksonville was asked to name its “Best Local Crusader,” they resoundingly voted for Hope McMath. A graduate of Jacksonville University, McMath is the founder and director of Yellow House, an art gallery more accurately described as “a place where art + action creates change” and oversees the student gallery at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Prior to opening the doors to Yellow House, she worked at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens for more than 20 years, including eight years as its executive director. 

Not only is McMath a lover of the arts, but she is a renowned artist herself (a printmaker to be exact), whose work sparks conversations around equity, race, education and human rights. 

Over her career, she has given countless hours to speaking truth to change “especially when it is hard, messy and unpopular” and has been honored with an EVE Award, OneJax Humanitarian Award and Cultural Icon Award, the Frances Kinne Alumni of Distinction Community Service Award and the Educational Service Award (among others) and Jacksonville’s “Best Local Crusader.” – Ambar Ramirez