Jacksonville, Florida, has in recent years put substantial resources behind a revitalization of its downtown area. With influxes of new and younger residents seeking expanded arts and entertainment choices, the River City has begun to experience a renaissance of civic and cultural growth.

1. MOCA Jacksonville Renews
Downtown with Art
By Clarence Gooden

2. Introduction
• Jacksonville, Florida, has in recent years put
substantial resources behind a revitalization of its
downtown area. With influxes of new and younger
residents seeking expanded arts and entertainment
choices, the River City has begun to experience a
renaissance of civic and cultural growth.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville is
among the community institutions taking part in
this renewal. First opened in 1924 as the
Jacksonville Fine Arts Society, the museum
subsequently took the name of the Jacksonville Art
Museum.

3. MOCA Jacksonville
• In 2006, it rebranded itself, in alignment with its
more focused mission, as the Museum of
Contemporary Art Jacksonville. Today, the museum
is housed in a 60,000-square-foot space, and its
permanent collection of nearly 1,000 pieces has
become a centerpiece for community arts education
for people of all ages. With a recent $5 million donor
gift, MOCA Jacksonville has set itself on the road to
long-term financial sustainability.
Visitors to the museum will find a collection heavily
focused on works produced after 1960.

4. Conclusion
• The permanent collection features works by such
modern masters as Alexander Calder, Robert
Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, and Helen Frankenthaler.
The museum’s holdings span a range of mediums,
including painting, sculpture, photography, and
printmaking. Special exhibitions concentrate on
promoting the work of local and regional artists. The
subjects of recent exhibits include photographic
images representative of the Deep South and a
retrospective of the work of 1970s traveling
documentary photographer Raymond Smith.