Urban Jacksonville

First things first, First Fridays in Five Points is tonight!  I haven’t heard about any major artwork being displayed or a movie being shown, but as usual, the stores will be open late.  Plus, you can get some delicious food at one of the many restaurants in the area.  Outside seating is delightful.

Heads up for a new store coming to Riverside.  Nest Living is a design studio opening in 5 Points in March that will stock furniture, bedding, lighting, wallpaper, ceramics, media players, etc.  The picture above shows the type of furniture the store will sell.  Some of the furniture will be on display tonight at First Fridays.  Check it out while you’re making your way around town.

Saturday is the More Than Wallpaper show at Bogda.  The poster really says it all, but it’s from 8-11 p.m. at 1253 McDuff Ave. S.  Maybe Jacksonville’s called-upon ‘art critic’ will make an appearance.  We’ll see.

Lastly, if you don’t have a hot lunch date Saturday, you should probably head over to the Springfield Community Garden (located on Main Street between 1st and 2nd) for clean up day.  Bring gloves, water, snacks, trash bags and/or hand tools.   Hey, bring your date, too!  It starts at noon.

 See you guys out and about.

UPDATE: Here is a fun, informal podcast with interviews and comments at the 3rd annual Jacksonville Tangerine Festival.

The third annual Tangerine Festival is going on this Saturday at Memorial Park in Riverside. This is possibly the most blogged about event all week! Don’t miss it.

The festival is coming, the festival is you, the festival is me, the festival is citrusy, the festival is food, is fun, is farmers, is friends, is joy, is daytime, is winter, is Saturday the 26th! is rain or shine, is Riverside (but more importantly, Jacksonville), is dogs and cats, is soccer and bikes, is SCA, is drum circle, is yours and mine and theirs and his and hers and ours.

Deets
Saturday, January 26, 2008
10:00am - 8:00pm
Memorial Park (Riverside Avenue @ 5points)

Other Activities of Note

• Alleycat bike race at 1:00
• 3-on-3 soccer tournament
• Potato sack races, frisbee matches, hoola hoop competitions
• Handmade goods for sale
• About 6 local bands
• Jax Bike Co-op will also be hosting a repair clinic, bike show and a tall bike joust.
• A local farmer’s market and garden swap.

If you do have a Facebook account check out the Tangerine Festival on Facebook (login required). It has the most information on the event.

More Festival Related Posts
JaxScene post on Tangerine Festival
Inertia post on Tangerine Festival
Urban Core post on Tangerine Festival and again
RADO post on Tangerine Festival

I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of this until Tuesday, but Steve Forster shared with me this gem of information.  Peter Max will be at R. Roberts gallery this weekend with an exhibit.  According to the gallery Web site, more than 800 people have already called to R.S.V.P., which is impressive considering I haven’t seen any advertisement for it.

Peter Max’s art work was a part of the psychedelic movement in graphic design.  He evolved from a pop artist in the 1960’s to a neo-expressionist.  Max has painted for five former U.S. presidents, the most recent being Bill Clinton.

Max is designated the official artist for the Gammy’s, the 25th Anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Woodstock Festival.  Most notably (in my opinion), Max did the artwork for the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.

You can check out the collection at R. Roberts right now.  The gallery has been open this week showcasing more than 200 of Max’s original paintings; however, the real show happens Saturday and Sunday.  Check it out.  This is an impressive exhibit.

Regrowing The Raindrop! by Marisa Carta
Friday night December 7th, from 6pm-9pm

Marisa who blogs at Flufflife will be having a gallery show at the Art Institute of Jacksonville in Baymeadows. I know, Baymeadows, soo not urban. BUT, Marisa is a good friend of mine and an awesome artist. Check out the Munny she created for the Color of Munny show.

“Full Circle” featuring works by Sarah Crooks Flair
Friday night December 7th, from 6pm-9pm

This show will be at the Jane Gray Gallery in Brooklyn. That’s North Riverside for all ya’ll who don’t know. Next to the Blue Cross Blue Shield building at 643 Edison Avenue.

Crafty Sidewalk Sale at Bogda
Saturday December 8th, from

Bogda’s sidewalks are sponsoring a one-of-a-kind craft fair so get here around 9am to see all the goodies. Get there early for good deals on art by Jimmy Pines and handmade jewelry by Kailene. All are now priced $15 a piece. Word!

International Fest of Cinema and Technology
December 6th-8th, 2007 in Springfield at 9th and Main

Festival screenings include short comedies, dramas, animated films, experimental films, music videos and documentaries and are from independent filmmakers from a variety of countries. All festival screenings will be taking place in historic Springfield in Jacksonville at the Rusted Hinge at 9th and Main. Specific details about all the films screenings and the festival schedule can be found at the festival website.

Tickets for each night are $6 per screening session, $3 for students. Screenings will be taking place Thursday December 6th and Friday December 7th from 5pm-11:30pm. On Saturday December 8th, screenings will run from 2pm-11:30pm. Live music will be performed on Friday December 6th from 6pm-10pm approximately. All attendees will also receive half off regular drink prices when they present their ticket stubs.

Text by Brittni Wood

As I mentioned in a previous post, there are some great art shows happening this weekend, starting tonight. Here’s what I know of so far. If you have any others to list, don’t hesitate to leave a comment about it. I will be taking photos at as many events as you can shake a stick at and will post them here early next week, so check back for that.

Here we go…

First up have Contemporary Capitol at Pedestrian Projects, which starts at 7pm. The exhibit will feature new contemporary art made by artists living in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital city. Curated by Sarah Rae Wagoner the show, is conceived as an emissary exhibition in community spirit through contemporary art on a regional scale. Artists include Terri Lindbloom, Mark Messersmith, Dorian Chen, Cindy Miller, Linda Hall, and more.

Then we Tonya Lee’s show at Violet tonight from 6-9pm. Also at Violet that night, view handmade jewelry from April Aultman and new products by Jill Bliss !

Screen Arts will host a show an opening at Casa Monica Hotel tonight in the main ballroom from 5-9pm. Here’s the info: “Keep a Breast Foundation, the Burlesque Hall of Fame and the Gallery@Screen Arts bring you ‘Breast Defense’ an exhibition of painted plaster casts of renowned burlesque dancers cast at this years Miss Exotic World Pageant in Las Vegas and painted by renowned artists such as Derek Hess, Gary Baseman, Mark Mothersbaugh, Iggy Pop, Joe Coleman, Liz McGrath, etc.”

UPDATED: Molly Riefler’s show is tonight at Anomaly from 6-9pm. The show is entitled Fashion Isn’t Dead.

Last but not least, The Art Institute of Jacksonville will have an opening reception for “Night Moves” tonight from 6-9pm. Artists in the show include Bobby Davidson, Toni Bova, Deborah Brown, Kendrick Kidd, Levi Ratliff, and more. Sorry, no flyer for this one.

Also on Saturday night, the LABOR group will have an opening reception at Bogda from 8-11pm. This show will feature artists Byron King, Jason Wright, Kelly Eason, Amie Murray, Roman Bradley, and more.

That’s it for me. Hope to see you at some of these events over the weekend.

Text by Brittni Wood 

From now until Saturday evening, there will be no shortage of art related events. So far, I have counted seven that shouldn’t be missed. More on that later. For now, let’s just cover Art Walk.

“One Night Only” Bogda at Opaq Gallery from 5-9pm: Make sure you stop by OPAQ Wednesday, October 3rd (ArtWalk) to see some of Bogda’s favorite artists. Artists include: Amie Murray, Byron King, Jason Wright, Kelly Eason, Megan Cosby, Jason Leader, and Rachel Rosheck.

Then head over to MOCA for a silk-screen demonstration on the fifth floor by James Greene at 6pm. Then at 7pm, also at MOCA, there will be a very special advanced screening of Art21’s newest season. According to MOCA’s website, “The series provides behind the scenes views of the artists in their studios, homes and communities. The artists speak directly to the audience, in their own words, about how, why, and what they create.”

The End of Suburbia is showing Thursday October 4th at Fuel in 5 Points at 7:00pm.

The End of Suburbia is basically a detailed explanation of how screwed we’ll be (we sprawl-builders and SUV-drivers) when the oil runs out and/or the planet decides to annihilate us.

Sounds pretty serious. In addition, Sarah Boren from the Green Team Project will be doing a brief Q&A following the movie. The movie will be showing free of charge courtesy of RADO. What the hell is RADO? Good question. I asked my friend and RADO employee Jennifer McCharen about the organization. Here’s what she had to say:

What is RADO?
RADO is the Riverside Avondale Development Organization, started by RAP (the historic preservation folks) back in 1998 to address the issue of affordability in Riverside. The organization focuses on building and restoring homes to sell to median-income buyers, but is starting to branch out a bit into other types of community development such as neighborhood clean-ups, and events like this movie screening, as well as developing a comprehensive calendar of city meetings, and a map of commercial space for lease.

Why did you guys select this movie to show?
Matt Bowler, the executive director, is a dedicated proponent of new urbanist land-use theories. He happened to watch this movie sometime during the summer, and decided he’d like to host a public viewing. I mentioned green building techniques, but RADO is a nonprofit, funded through various avenues, and working in a pricey neighborhood.

It’s not easy at this point to do real green construction (LEED, and all that), and it’s a very recent focus-shift. But as this film points out, and the new urbanist literature discusses at length, if you can manage to live in a truly walkable community, and build new housing stock within urban areas, you’re greener by default than any LEED platinum suburban island out on Kernan Boulevard (which doesn’t exist, by the way, that’s a hypothetical green suburb).

While it’s not fair to pat oneself on the back retroactively for choosing sustainable digs without realizing you were doing so, it is great to start a conversation about why places like Riverside are so great. What the film talks about is just one set of reasons.

How can someone get involved with RADO if they want to volunteer?
RADO needs volunteers for various things, I think we’re looking for one more board members, and there are always little things to here and there. I’ll take this opportunity to mention that my true love, JCNI (Jacksonville Carbon Neutral Initiative), has some fun work to do as well.

We started working in the garden site at 1st and Main, and anyone with tools, gloves, spare wood to build raised beds, bricks or pavers for paths, landscape plastic to donate, an idea for a mural for the front wall, spare seeds…or time, there’s a plethora of needs, and it’s pretty nice work now that it’s cooled off a bit.

We may (fingers crossed) get a group called the Emerging Green Builders to design and construct an amazing little toolshed/community space for us on the site. They’re a bunch of young LEED accredited professionals, architects and designers looking to donate their services. Awesome, in other words.