Updated: 9/27/2023 
Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Jacksonville, Florida
Description

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens is located on the St. Johns River and is noted for its collection of more than 5,000 masterworks of American and European paintings, beautiful historic gardens, outstanding collection of Meissen porcelain and Art Connections, the museum's national award-winning art education center.

Mission

To engage and inspire through the arts, gardens and education.

History

The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, was founded in 1958 and formally opened to the public in 1961. Its creation was due to the bequest of Mrs. Ninah M. H. Cummer, a prominent resident and patron of the arts. The Museum houses the broadest collection of art in Northeast Florida, encompassing a chronological span from approximately 2000 B.C. through the Twentieth Century, with representations from every significant historical and aesthetic period. Built of the site of the original Cummer home, the Museum maintains Mrs. Cummer's formal English and Italian gardens created by her in 1910 and 1931. Visitors experience a representative survey of the history of art: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities; art of the Middle Ages; early Renaissance through Mannerish; the Baroque period; Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; and American Impressionism and Twentieth Century.

Research Collections

Institutional Archives are documentary evidence of internal documents of the Cummer family, museum and garden’s history, governance, executive administration, collections and curatorial activities. All institutional records are kept permanently.

Programs
Art Connections

A multidisciplinary interactive center that combines art, music, literature, history, dance and poetry through a series of low-tech and high-tech learning stations, ranging from a collage table to a state-of-the-art virtual canvas.

School Tours

Tours allow for first-hand examination of original works of art and are based on an integrated curriculum that supports state standards in the visual arts, math, science and language arts for students in Pre-K through 12th grades.

Weaver Academy of Art and Cummer in the Classroom

Comprehensive art education programs for ten inner city schools. The program includes: visits to the museum, outreach in the classrooms, teacher trainings/professional development, Arts and Literacy Festival at each school, FREE Cummer memberships for students and their families, FREE admission to art classes and Camp Cummer.

VSA Arts Festival

Provides hands-on art experiences and the chance to view original works of art to over 2,200 children with disabilities. Students in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program rotate through art stops in the museum’s galleries and gardens to create art projects, view the collection and listen to live musicians and storytellers.

Art Beyond Sight

Provides especially designed art education and art making experiences for individuals who are blind or experience low vision. - Women of Vision: This program is a unique initiative that brings the visual and literary arts to adult women who are blind and/or experience low-vision. - Museum tours for students who are blind and/or experience low-vision. Tours include time in the galleries and gardens, as well as art-making and experiences in Art Connections. - Touch Tours for The Blind: Visually impaired visitors can experience the Museum’s collection through a variety of hands-on experiences. - Art Beyond Sight Open House: In October, events are held at The Cummer and simultaneously throughout the world, to highlight museum programs for people who are blind.

Teacher Trainings/Professional Development Workshops

Workshops provide instruction in the ways which art can be integrated into various subject areas, especially literacy initiatives.

Family Night

Visitors are admitted FREE to the Museum on four evenings per year. Families are invited to participate in a variety of hands-on art activities, listen to live music, and tour the galleries and gardens.

Free Tuesdays

Visitors are admitted FREE to the Museum every Tuesday evening from 4 to 9 p.m.

Student exhibitions

Artwork from students in a variety of programs are exhibited in Art Connections throughout the year.

Art Classes/Camp Cummer/Slumber at The Cummer

Junior Docents

Provide middle and high school-aged students with learning experiences in the visual arts beyond the offerings of a traditional classroom.

New View

Partnership with students and teachers at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.

A collaboration with the Jewish Community Alliance, allows The Cummer to provide art education to Pre-K students.

A collaboration with St. Vincent’s HealthCare, allows The Cummer to provide an arts program for children whose parents are coping with cancer.

Program of tours for ESE students in Duval County Public Schools self-contained classes, teacher training for ESE teachers and therapists and classroom outreach. In addition, this initiative will bring back Arts for All, an art-making concept that allows children and adults with profound physical disabilities to participate in the joy of painting and drawing using specially adapted equipment and materials.

Provide classes, tours, workshops, camps and access to VSA Arts Festival for children on the autism spectrum and their families.

Programs for adults in the areas of art and garden appreciation and art production, through lectures, art-making workshops, concerts, multi-week courses in a variety of art media, volunteer training and accessible classes and tours for adults with disabilities.

Provide exhibition interpretation during Member Openings and other events through multi-arts programming that infuses music, dance, poetry and social commentary in the galleries and gardens.

Especially for Seniors Seated Gallery Talks

Facilities
Auditoriums
Lecture Halls
Governance

Private Non-Profit

Library

Access: Staff Only

Appointment required: False

Services
Gift Shop
Event Rental
Restaurant
Group Tours
DISCLAIMER
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

April 27 - April 29, 2025

Oregon Museum Association 2025 Conference

TBA

Independence, Oregon

Beginning in 2025, the OMA annual conference will be held in Spring rather than Fall

The conference this year is all about trying new things. We are hoping to organize the conference into the following four tracks: Collections Care, Leadership, Emergency Preparedness, and Tourism

Check our website for more details in early 2025

The OMA newsletter is emailed every month with updates on OMA events, museum news, other events, trainings, jobs, grants and more for the museum community in Oregon.

For more information, please email connect@oregonmuseums.org.

October 1 - October 4, 2025

Western Museums Association’s (WMA) 2025 Annual Meeting

TBA

Reno, Nevada

Save the Date for WMA 202

As we celebrate our 90th anniversary, join us to build relationships and soar higher than ever before. With the theme of ELEVATE, WMA 2025 will explore ways to lift up the experiences of cultural professionals and the communities they serve.

In Reno, Nevada, 4,400 feet above sea level, we will forward the progress of museums by looking to the future.

May 6 - May 9, 2025

2025 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) ANNUAL MEETING & MUSEUMEXPO

Los Angeles Convention Center

Los Angeles, California

AAM 2025 will focus on the theme, Museums & Trust.

Museums have long inspired high levels of public trust, surpassing news outlets, government organizations, researchers and scientists, corporations, and social media platforms. This consistent finding underscores our institutions’ unique position in society as stewards of knowledge, culture, science, and history—areas where credibility and reliability are paramount

In an era marked by mistrust and misinformation, museums have a rare ability to counterbalance the proliferation of false narratives and polarized perspectives. Using our trusted position, we can cultivate a more healthy, empathetic, and informed society.

But to do so, we must maintain our credibility proactively, embracing thoughtful, transparent, and collaborative practices that will defend against influences like bias, resource challenges, abuse of power, and social injustice

An Incredible MuseumExpo

AAM is again partnering this year with the Museum Store Association to host an incredible combined expo hall. Find the most innovative services, products, and solutions in the museum field. With 350 exhibitors, you are bound to find the right partner for your museum’s current challenges and opportunities.

May 5 - May 9, 2025

Museum Store Association FORWARD 2025 in LA

The Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Join MSA in LA

We’re excited about our next MSA FORWARD Conference & Expo in “The City of Angels” – Los Angeles, California in conjunction with the American Alliance of Museums

Join the Museum Store Association (MSA) and hundreds of nonprofit retail professionals for the 70th Annual MSA FORWARD Retail Conference & Expo, taking place May 5-9, 2025 at The Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California

Once again, MSA FORWARD will be held in conjunction with the 2025 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting & Expo

Learn best practices and new ideas for store merchandising, operations, marketing, and sale

Participate in dedicated networking events and create connections that will inspire new ideas

Meet with over 200 MSA vendors about your product needs

Hear from knowledgeable industry experts during session breakouts and keynote presentations

Network with AAM attendees and exhibitor

September 10 - September 13, 2025

2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

TBD

Cincinnati, Ohio

The 2025 AASLH Annual Conference, in partnership with Ohio Local History Alliance, will take place as the history field makes the final preparations to kickoff off the 250th commemoration of the founding of the United States.

The 2025 conference theme, inspired by AASLH’s Making History at 250: The Field Guide for Semiquincentennial, is an opportunity to broadly explore one of the guide’s themes, The American Experiment. For many in the American colonies in 1776, independence from Britain represented a “leap into the dark” into an unknown future

We are excited for you to join us in Cincinnati as we encourage discussion about our democracy and civic institutions and how they can help strengthen understanding, inspire action, and reveal ways that all of us can participate in and shape the ongoing American experiment.

For more information, please call 615-320-3203 or email info@aaslh.org.

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