Jillian Lombardo
Word by Jillian Lombardo
Did you know Jacksonville has a rich history of women leaders? Starting with the creation of the MOCA 100 years ago, Rose Tharpe, Louese Washburn, and Edith Harrison broke the social norms at the time to create a women’s club in Jacksonville to help raise money for education and the arts. On March 17th, 1924, the Jacksonville Art Society was founded. This brought modern art to the South, bringing about 65 artists into the space, most of whom were women. The goals from the past that echo into the future are to unite art with education and community building.
The Ideas of Our Time lecture hosted at the MOCA brought in many influential women from our community: Caitlín Doherty, Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Diana Donovan and Rev. Kimberly Hyatt. Each woman positively impacts society and the arts. Following in the footsteps of women before them, they are fighting for our right to have the arts in schools and the community.
Inspired by those they can make this better for, each woman recognized the youth as their motivation for what they do. Doherty expressed that when children can create, it changes them. The arts help kids find their voice. Brownlee believed that you never know what art piece will spark inspiration or a passion inside a young mind. Doherty mentioned a moment she holds dear as a tribute to her work. She led a field trip in Ireland with a group of 3- to 4-year-olds. They stopped in front of an abstract picture of a road leading to somewhere. Doherty asked the children where they believed the path leads. Many said ice cream or Disneyland, but one boy in particular said it led to his grandfather. Doherty later learned that this boy had lost his grandfather about a year prior and hadn’t spoken until that day. The power of art was monumental at that moment.
Do you remember your first field trip, or any field trip, for that matter? The anticipation the night before, the boisterous bus ride to the destination, and the inspiration from whatever you may come face to face with. This simple act becomes the exposure needed to plant an inspirational seed in the minds of the youth. Doherty, a speaker on the panel and director of the MOCA Jacksonville, spoke of a donor who had entered a museum when they were 10. Years later, they still vividly remember the museum’s impact on them and continue to this day. The donor wanted to give another child an experience with art in the community. The exposure to the arts as a child is instrumental to building a gateway into future artistic endeavors. According to Rev. Hyatt, nearly 71% of adults today attend the museum or theater for the first time because their kids dragged them.
It is crucial to see the arts as equal to math and reading. While the arts are the first to go during a financial crisis, they need to be seen as something easy to access rather than another thing to fit into the schedule. It is critical to embed the arts in the community through representation, education and collaboration. One example of this is the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville sponsorship of art bikes which created a new realm of possibility for the community. Jesse, a local Filipino artist, was commissioned to paint a bike to represent her culture. This representation of culture showed those with the same ancestry that they have a community within a new community. A family from the Philippines decided to move to Jacksonville after seeing the representation of their culture and, in turn, learning there was a large population of their culture in Jacksonville. Representation matters for the quality of life.
Accessibility, showing up and changing the narrative were strong talking points among these women. Donovan expressed how there is never enough funding for the arts and culture. Until this year, just $2.25 million went to 35 organizations for operational costs. Donovan and her team now secured with a $3 million increase for the arts and culture non-profits in greater Jacksonville. Her team has seen the need in Jacksonville and wants to meet the need in real-time, not change but impact. As the executive director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, she strives to continue to find ways to elevate the community. Donovan often noted throughout the lecture that unrestricted funding for the arts would drastically change organizations focused on creating cultural experiences for the city. Offering unrestricted financing would allow the organization to concentrate on the overall mission instead of having specific use spending. It’s important to note that each of the speakers acknowledged the back-and-forth momentum in the arts community. They described it as a lot of work going nowhere — the dreaded almost. Now, there’s a shift.
“We need to change the narrative. So when I think of working with companies in Jacksonville … I haven’t said I need you to support me in this project,” Doherty said in the conversation about the arts in the community. “I have been saying, and genuinely saying, that I am trying to contribute and build to the community where you are also invested. I can help you achieve what you want through the lens of arts and culture. Let me help you achieve what you want. You’re no longer a draw; suddenly, you’re a resource.”
If you want to support the arts and culture in your community, simply show up. Show up when you’re not expected, show up deliberately, and encourage others to show up. Show up alone, in a group, with your coworkers. Experience art; experience it in its entirety. Experience it alone. Experience it with friends. Be vocal champs for the arts and its importance in the community. Hyatt shared how she visited a school with over 100 languages spoken within it. Their largest class was music because even though students spoke different languages, they could all communicate as one through the arts. Hyatt also referred to a recent National Endowment of Arts function, where participants were told if anyone cares to visit a place doing it right, “Jacksonville is doing it right.”
The arts bloom out-of-the-box thinking. They heal and connect. They promote place-making and place-keeping. The arts demonstrate value, and their access is essential to a community. If we can look at ancient art to decipher what life was like, why not pay attention to modern art, which shows the life we lead to future generations?
To continue to be contributors in our communities arts and culture, keep an eye out for the monthly art walks in Downtown Jacksonville, as well as the MOCA’s 100 year anniversary exhibits and the Cummer Museum of Art & Garden’s exhibit “Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960” through May 19, 2024.
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