Art in Jacksonville, FL

Because today was windy, gray, misty, and the temp never eked past 60, the original plan of visiting a museum and laying in supplies, for our drive west tomorrow, fit the weather perfectly.

We had to park a couple of blocks away from the museum and, with our finely tuned ability to stumble perfectly, the walk brought us to this side of the Jacksonville, FL Public Library. Do you see it?

Take a closer look. I now have another favorite sculpture. What could be a more perfect illustration of the fact that books are the key to wisdom? The sculptor was Larry Kirkland; this bronze sculpture is actually named "Wisdom" and stands 25 feet tall. The key is another 9 feet tall. I love this!

The museum we were planning to visit is past the Library in the same block, the Museum of Contemporary Art.

I take particular joy in seeing large and/or bizarre installation art and sculpture so this museum was slightly disappointing, but only in that respect. Even though the galleries primarily contained contemporary paintings, there were many wonderful pieces. Among my favorites were several works in the UNF Art & Design Faculty Exhibition and a series of celebrity photos by Andy Warhol in the Art of the 1980s Exhibition. Good stuff...

Walking to the museum, the music of this street pianist filled the air and gave these downtown blocks an ambiance, a personality. I don't recall ever seeing anyone playing piano on the street; he is incredibly talented.

We allowed plenty of parking meter time to check out this bookstore on the way back to our car. We both LOVE independent bookstores, especially those that are filled to the brim with mostly used books. On the second floor I found exactly what I was looking for, plus two of course!

In a FB discussion about books last night, a friend of a friend was recommending The Song of the Lark and I had intended to read Willa Cather for years. Rich didn't leave there empty-handed either! I'm not aware of any stores like this in our area but we frequently saw them in the northeast last summer. Like I mentioned to the cashier, we have to set a self-imposed time limit for shopping in bookstores, especially with the space limitations of the motorhome!

When we drove through Jacksonville yesterday on our way to St. Augustine we saw the Duval County Courthouse; today I was able to get this shot of the entrance with its large American Flag. The building is huge and the exterior design emphatically states, "Courthouse!"

And that was our day of art...sculptures, paintings, photographs, music, books, and architecture. Art enhances so many aspects of our life and we will long remember this day.

Lovin' Life ~~ Lovin' Art