Courtesy of our friends at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville We, as a society, sometimes have an unhealthy, or at the very least an unproductive, response to the success of others. Social media, which certainly has its benefits, is riddled with examples of this type of behavior, which includes destructive criticism, unjustified public shaming, and passive aggressive commentary. Online networks can be a black hole where individuals can lose their sense of time, civility, and the impact of their words. That isn’t always the case, however, as was recently illustrated through a post made by abstract expressionist painter Rob Middleton. Rob’s entry, which was posted …

Courtesy of our friends at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Myra Oh, now a resident of Jacksonville, was born in Oakland, California and lived in the Bay Area into her early 20s.  At the age of 14, Myra enrolled in courses at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  There she attended classes including figure drawing, fashion design, printmaking, and painting. During Myra’s senior year of high school she attended the Oxbow School, a private single semester arts school located in Napa, California. Myra enrolled in college after high school, with a focus on printmaking, but dropped out before graduating. During …

10 Questions courtesy of our friends at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Thony Aiuppy is a practicing visual artist and an art educator. He is also a husband and father of three children.  He and his family live in the . Making Springfield home for he and his family was an intentional act after previously residing in both and . The diversity of the area appealed to Thony, as did the urban neighborhood’s history. In his blog Thony has said the following about Springfield: “This is the setting for which my journey starts in regards to the story of the work …

Post courtesy of our friends at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville: The neighborhood of is located south of Lackawanna and west of and . It is bordered by Interstate 10, Cassat Avenue, Park Street, and Roosevelt Boulevard. Murray Hill was originally platted in 1906 as Murray Hill Heights suburb.  In 1916 the town of Murray Hill was incorporated with a Mayor, Town Clerk, and Council Member. Murray Hill Avenue was the main commercial corridor in Murray Hill.  The north/south running street, now modern day Edgewood Avenue, was designed as a landscaped boulevard and modeled after Springfield’s Main Street.  Fast forward to modern day Murray …

10 Questions courtesy of our friends at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Andre Gruber is an illustrator, painter, and musician.  Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Andre relocated to the United States at the age of 10 and settled in Jacksonville, Florida.  Andre was a student at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts from 2003 through 2007, where he studied Visual Arts. He never graduated, however, due to being deported back to South America in 2007. After being deported from the United States spent nearly two years living in his native country of Venezuela.  He continued his pursuit of the arts by attending a music conservatory in …

10 Questions courtesy of our friends at the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville: According to the League of American Orchestras, fewer than two percent (2%) of professional classical musicians in the United States are African-American.  The 2010 Census, which is the most recent Census survey, showed that individuals who identify as African-American represent roughly thirteen percent (13%) of the US population. The disheartening statistic related to the number of African-Americans professionally involved in classical music is one of the motivators that led to the founding of the Ritz Chamber Players. Founded in 2002 by , the stopped charging admission to their concerts …