Performing Arts
Jacksonville boasts a thriving arts community. The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is the largest fine arts museum in Northeast Florida and home to more than 5,000 pieces.
Jacksonville’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is the newest addition to the art scene and is the largest contemporary art museum in the Southeast. The monthly First Wednesday Art Walk offers a free, self-guided tour of downtown galleries and museums, featuring original work from local, national and international artists and live music performances.
The performing arts are alive and thriving in Jacksonville. The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, a state-of-the-art facility, complete with three performance environments, regularly hosts traveling Broadway shows, such as Phantom of the Opera, Rent and Miss Saigon. It is also the permanent home of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
The Ritz Theatre & LaVilla Museum feature African-American exhibits and shows, including "Amateur Night at the Ritz," one of the most popular talent showcases in Jacksonville.
The Florida Theatre is a 1923 landmark building in the heart of downtown Jacksonville. It has hosted the who's who of music, dating back to Elvis Presley's first concert on an indoor stage in 1956. The Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena also welcomes big-name artists throughout the year, hosting Prince, John Mayer, Aerosmith, Maroon 5 and Kenny Chesney last year.
Cultural Events
Looking for something to do this weekend? Northeast Florida’s event calendar is packed year-round with events celebrating holidays, history and a diversity of cultures. Music lovers will not want to miss the Jacksonville Jazz Festival downtown at Metro Park, perhaps our most well-known annual event. One of the largest jazz events in the world, this three-day celebration has featured such wide-ranging jazz and blues influences as Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Guy, Harry Connick, Jr., Grover Washington, Jr., Robert Cray Band, Kenny G, Manhattan Transfer and Spyro Gyra.
Grab your passport and experience the sights, sounds and tastes of different nations at the World of Nations Celebration or Fiesta Playera in the summertime. For those with an appetite for seafood, the Shrimp Festival of Fernandina Beach is a must-see.
Did you know Jacksonville was once the “Hollywood” of silent films? The city continues to celebrate its film industry with an annual Film Festival, including both independent and big-budget movie premieres.
Arts & Economy
Jacksonville's nonprofit arts and cultural organizations represent a multi-million dollar industry with several important economic indicators:
- In 2005, 34 organizations had combined expenses of $66.6 million, an increase of nearly 33% from the previous year. The impact of this spending grows exponentially as the dollars are reinvested in our community over and over again.
- This spending impact totaled $131.5 million for the local economy in 2005.
- 410 full-time jobs, 505 part-time jobs and 303 independent contractors were supported by the groups reporting.
- Perhaps most importantly, these organizations recorded admissions of more than 1.43 million people, nearly two times the number of people living in the city of Jacksonville and its Beaches.
These factors, when combined, tell a compelling story of how local cultural groups contribute to Jacksonville's economic vitality.
2005 Arts & Economic Prosperity Report Page 1
2005 Arts & Economic Prosperity Report Page 2
Source: Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, www.culturalcouncil.org
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