Urban Jacksonville

Here’s a video of me at Pecha Kucha night

Tags: artwalk, moca, pechakucha

This will be my first slide. Possibly my last.

The buzz has been building about this event, so they are expecting a huge turnout tonight. Here is the presentation order, saving the best for last. Bam! I was hoping to go first. Oh well.

• Marshall Adams - MOCA
• Greg Beere - Content Design Group
• Shaan Batten - Nest Living
• Melissa Hirschman - UNF
• Kim Heyde - Artist
• Ryan Price - Florida Creatives / Likemind
• Marc Rapp - Renaissance Creative
• Dustin Harewood - Artist
• Chris Noel - TTV Architects, AIA
• Joey Marchy - Urban Jacksonville

More Info
Official Event Information
Jacksonville Pecha Kucha on Facebook
Urban Jacksonville at Pecha Kucha

Tags: artwalk, moca, pecha kucha

I’ll be one of ten speakers giving a presentation at the inaugural Jacksonville Pecha Kucha (peh-chak-cha) night. It will be held at MOCA as part of the June Artwalk, this Wednesday June 4th. I should be able to post a full list of speakers and times later on Monday. I’ll be talking about where Urban Jacksonville comes from and where I see the city going in the next year.

Pecha Kucha (peh-chak-cha) Night is a presentation format in which work can be easily and informally shown. It originated in Tokyo in 2003 as a place for young creatives to meet, network and show their work in public. The name derives from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation “chitchat”. The presenters from a wide range of fields such as architecture, design, art, music, culinary arts, journalism and academia have 20 slides and 20 seconds to present each slide.

Attendance is limited to 125 and is first come, first served. Sorry, you can’t sign up in advance. The presentation begins at 8:20pm in the MOCA Theatre. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. Future Pecha Kucha nights are scheduled during the Art Walks on July 2, August 6 and September 3.

In addition, there are lots of other things going on at MOCA this Wednesday for Artwalk: Paper Cuts: Contemporary Works on Paper. Included in this exhibition are And Further the Dew Drop Falls: Installations by Chris Natrop and Civitates Orbis Terrarum: Recent Drawings by John Bailly. And in the David A. Stein Family Gallery see Carly, So Far: Photographs by Francie Bishop Good. This will be the last chance at ArtWalk to see the First Coast Educators juried exhibition.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
MOCA Jacksonville - Downtown
7:00 pm - 8:20 pm Social
8:20 pm Presentations begin
Admission: Free
Cash bar available at Café Nola

Here are some sample slide from my presentation:

Tags: artwalk, moca, pecha kucha

Thursday, May 29th is Downtown Jacksonville’s final rooftop party. This will be the third party the city has thrown on top of Water Street Garage. The parking garage parties are part of a larger program called Make a Scene Downtown.

The plan is to change the venues each month to showcase how much downtown has to offer. For example next month the parties will move to Hemming Plaza and will be called Party in the Plaza. (June 5, 12, 19 & 26 from 5-8 pm)

It’s free and there will be live music, drink specials, giveaways and food. Jacksonville Confidential had this to say about the last party

They had free draft beer, a hotdog stand, another food stand with $6 kabobs, and a cigar stand. The Reggae band members were…..decent, well until they started playing the electric slide. The theme was kind of beachy, which I thought was tacky. It probably would have been better if more people where there.

DO NOT let me catch you doing this:

WTF is with everyone doing the electric slide?! Am I missing something? Maybe I just don’t konw how to have fun anymore. Check out this video of AJ’s Riverside Street Party. St. Louis style ribs and Electric Slidin, Erry Friday on May Street in Riverside.

Tags: make a scene downtown, parking garage, water street

Nobody throws a birthday party better than an art museum and nobody celebrates birthdays harder than cake makers.

Last Friday night I attended the celebration of MOCA Jacksonville’s fifth anniversary downtown.  If you caught the previous post about this event, I mentioned that I would be assisting Chef Katie Dumphy of Tasteful Creations for the evening.  I did just that.  And ate a lot of cake, too.

Set-up was from 4 to 6 Friday afternoon.  Of course it was pouring, but five of us arrived at the loading dock of the museum and managed to get everything inside with no problems.  I went upstairs with boxes of cake and saw other chefs working on their masterpieces.  I felt like I was at a Food Network Challenge.  It was excellent.

After set-up, I went home and got ready for the party.  I was able to bring two friends to also assist the chef, so we arrived back at the museum at 7:30.  It had been completely transformed. 

Hors d’oereves  were being served downstairs and there was a dj and dance floor on the upper level.  A station had been setup for guests to create their own party hat and decorate sugar cookies.  Upstairs was full of people mingling and admiring cakes.  All 12 of the cakes featured were complete masterpieces.

I loved all of the cakes, but my particular favorite (besides Chef Katie’s) was done by the chefs at Etiquette of Chocolate.  Coincidentally, I had just gone to Etiquette of Chocolate with my family a couple nights before the event to check out the shop and meet the chefs. 

The Etiquette of Chocolate cake is pictured below.  Each level of the cake was dedicated to a different artist.  The artist’s name was written on the layer next to his design.  Of the five layers, my favorites were Warhol and Murakami.  The cake was a true piece of art.

Chef Katie’s cake was a contemporary abstract design.  It was well executed and very colorful.  The cake was chocolate with cheesecake swirls.  It was the most delicious cake that I tasted all night.

The evening concluded with the awards ceremony followed by some song requests I was dying to hear and dancing.  By midnight we were all packed up and ready to go.  I had a most excellent time and recommend the party next year!

Here’s to five years for the MOCA downtown!  Cheers!

If you missed viewing Inside the Circle Sunday night, you missed a great documentary, great break dancing and a great drum line.  And it all took place inside the Florida Theatre.

I sat around reading most of the afternoon and watching the looming clouds that never opened up until I left for the Festival; at which point, the sky fell in. 

I parked, quickly ran into the theatre and found a seat upstairs next to a B-Boy team that had more energy than anyone should ever have on a Sunday evening.  Their clapping and screaming got me fired up about the film, though, and it was especially entertaining when any one of the boys would see someone they knew on screen or when Florida was mentioned.

The film was well executed and entertaining.  I love learning about interesting sub-cultures and the way they exist.  Watching the lives of B-Boys on screen was revelatory mostly because it removed me from everyday living and threw me into another social scene.  I came away with so much knowledge about a facet of life that I knew nothing about.

Marcy Garriott is my new favorite person.  She is the director and producer of Inside the Circle.  She and members of the film answered questions from the audience.  Garriott is a slender blonde with a soccer-mom type appearance, a far stretch from her B-Boy counterparts on stage.  When asked how she came to be involved in the B-Boy scene, she stated that she found it fascinating and began to follow competitions.  She was slowly accepted by Romeo of B-Boy City (an organization that holds competitions) who agreed to be a part of the documentary.

The film and question and answer period were followed up by an introduction to the Theatre’s Plan B.  Originally, a street party was to be held but because of the rain, the party was moved indoors.  As this was being explained, a drum line started in the downstairs lobby and the audience moved out.  I was able to look over the balcony and get a couple shots. 

When I started down the stairs, a group of teenagers had created their own B-Boy circle complete with moms taking pictures and boys taking turns.  I stood around and watched for a bit and then headed downstairs.  The Theatre had turned into a massive dance party.  The drum line was getting down, the B-Boys were getting down, the old people were getting down and I was trying to take as many pictures as possible.  I apologize for the bad views though, I’m pretty short.

This year marks my third Film Festival attendance and I have to say it just keeps getting better.  Jacksonville is lucky to have such an awesome event.  The Florida Theatre, as usual, is a gracious host and throws a fun party.  If you couldn’t get out to any events this year, make sure to do so next year.  You won’t be disappointed.

Two of your best bets for achieving awesome during the 2008 Jacksonville Film Festival are the parking garage party on Thursday the 15th and Hip-Hop For The Masses on Sunday the 18th.

I’m stunned that Jacksonville came up with something as awesome as a parking garage party. I went to one called Austin Blowout when I was at SXSW and it was the most fun I had in a while. Granted this COJ sponsored event will likely be much more domesticated, but fun none the less.

Thursday, May 15 (also the 22nd and 29th)
5 - 8 p.m, Rooftop of the Water Street Garage
Free Admission

6 pm. – 8 p.m. - Ceremony and Screening of Inside The Circle
8 p.m. – 11 p.m. – Hip-Hop For The Masses street party

Hip-Hop For The Masses is a Sunday street party that will include a screening of Inside the Circle

The multi-award-winning documentary “Inside the Circle, tells the story of two strikingly talented b-boys (break-dancers), Josh and Omar, best friends who become rivals when they join competing dance crews. Immersed in the b-boy culture of defiant creativity, Omar rises to international renown, while Josh tangles with the criminal justice system.

The Hip-Hop for the Masses street party will take place outside of the Florida Theatre with a one-on-one b-boy battle for $200, live graffiti artists and a hip-hop stage with guest DJ’s and performers.

$15 Includes film presentation and street party. Buy Tickets

Tags: hip hop for the masses, inside the circle