Urban Jacksonville

now i don't know why you have to bring football into this!!!

if an art fag like myself can go crazy about college football, then anyone is susceptible.

Thanks Mark. That was an interesting insight into the Jacksonville art scene. I myself am a local who moved away to New York hoping to never to return. I went into the Army after 911. Pissed. I transfered at the World Trade Center for work each day. Now I could show you how to clean a latrene. March in a formation. Zero an M16. Therefore, I have no idea what has happened in the last ten years here. Now I'm here with my new family and I'm trying to make the best of it.

I think it is all good and if someone is really trying and putting themselves out there then that's what should matter. Art is not easy to make and let's face it the world really doesn't need it and the majority of folks don't even care about it. Football is big here. Churches. American Idol? Freebird...

I do think all of us need to be supportive as possible to anyone who's trying to put themselves out there as an artist especially in Jacksonville. I'm not sure if there will ever be a real scene here or a gallery district? But I guess it shouldn't be about that anyway. Make the work then show it. To me it's all part of the process unless you want to be a Henry Darger type character who died without anyone ever knowing he made art. I guess that works for some too. Not for me.

Thanks Mark.

Byron
www.byronking.com

And then some of us just make a scene everywhere we go :)

I have been involved/not involved in the scene here for more than 10 years. I have seen moments of excitement similiar to this, It seems every 3-4 years a new swanky contemporary art gallery springs up and sticks around for a year or so.

So my first reaction is skepticism. But I do think there are some very good artists around these days. There have always been very good artists but they seem to either quit or move on to other more accepting art scenes/cities. The key will be how much support these artists/galleries get both in terms of collectors' interest and show opportunities. I think in the past, very few venues were open to local artists- perhaps that is changing. But this town has never had a thriving collector base for anything other than pretty landscapes (thus the reason for so many contemporary art gallery false starts). I will be very happily surprised if THAT situation changes.

You make a very interesting comparison between the shows you mention. They basically exemplify the two types of visual art experiences Jax has been mostly known for since I have been around and longer. Its either the raw, gritty street art scene or the clean, ritzy commercial scene. There is a middle way that doesnt get much attention which is made up of experimental art that is usually found in cleaned up warehouses (not quite as gritty as the street art scene but not as fancy as the other). The art in this world can seem pretentious but it really is just about itself- its not trying to sell and not trying to be cool- it just is. Its art usually made by artschool peeps- BFAers and MFAers who havent yet ditched this city. There is a fourth art scene made up of the type of art seen at the Center which i find much less interesting than the others IMHO.

But all these scenes are important for a truly vibrant art community. And I am excited to see such good art being made within all these scenes by peeps like Dan May, Shaun Thurston, Matt Allison, Katie Nudo, Dustin Harewood, Tonya Lee, Nestor Gil, Ian Chase and Mark George- and im sure there are others I dont even know about. So, I am cautiously optimistic.

And by the way! Thanks for posting info on the art scene! When I got out of grad school and moved back here I thought about starting a blog about the local scene but realized not much was going on at the time and I was also disuaded by the no picture taking policy at Moca Jax. Oh well, you are doing a good thing sir!

True Tony. Good point. Don't wait for someone to throw a show, throw one yourself!

Thats definitely Brooklyn. North Riverside is on the west side of I10.

I'm sorry I missed this show. Great photos. The installation with the trees make really nice pics.

Not to be Corrector, but I bought a piece at the Knight building for $5!

I wouldn't waste a bunch of time qualifying the "scene" just make (or throw) as many shows as you can, and hope your mom is in town enough to watch the childrens.

Nice representation, yo. Good pics. I'll listen to the interviews later. I like the "another bubble in a slow simmer" line. Nice.