Jacksonville News

Photo by Member Mark Krancer, Kram Kran Photo

Photo by Member Mark Krancer, Kram Kran Photo

ARTICLE

Date ArticleType
11/12/2024 5:00:00 AM Member News

Community Invited to Celebrate 100th Birthday with MOCA Jax

Free MOCA Family Day Birthday Block Party Presented by the PNC Foundation 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — MOCA Jacksonville, a Cultural Institute of the University of North Florida, invites the community to celebrate the museum’s 100th anniversary at its Free Fall Family Day Birthday Blockparty, presented by PNC and in partnership with the Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park. This birthday party themed event is a larger-scale version of the museum’s recurring biannual Family Day event and will take place on Saturday, November 16, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Activities will take place within the museum, along Laura Street, and into James Weldon Johnson Park, featuring an expanded line-up of kid-friendly activities, art making, live performances – including performances by Shanna Banana!, community partners, and food trucks. Plus, enjoy access to all of MOCA’s exhibitions and regular museum activities and amenities. MOCA will also offer discounts on annual memberships purchased at the event and a free gift with the purchase of any gift membership. 

  

Family Day coincides with VyStar Free Saturdays at MOCA. This ongoing program takes place every Saturday and provides free admission to the entire community.   

Community partners on site during MOCA’s Family Day Block Party include: 

  

  • Balloon Heaven                                                
  • Changeover 
  • Cory Kolb Photos  
  • Downtown Jacksonville  
  • Fae’s BBQ 
  • Galeno’s Pizzeria 
  • Girl Scouts of Gateway Council 
  • GOCA Arts  
  • Good Food 24/7  
  • Invisible Audio  
  • Jacksonville Dance Theater  
  • Jacksonville Public Library 
  • Jacksonville Zoo  
  • James Weldon Johnson Park   
  • JAMS Dancers 
  • Love A’mil  
  • MOCA’s Teen Art Council  
  • Nan Nkama Pan African Drum & Dance Ensemble  
  • Ortega Elementary School  
  • The Performers Academy 
  • Pine Forest Elementary School of the Arts  
  • Project Chance  
  • The Ritz Theater  
  • Ronan School of Music’s Ronan Stones   
  • Scott Jones School of Dance  
  • Shanna Banana  
  • Sk8HersSoulFULL Eats 
  • Sunshine Poppers 
  • Sweet and Salty Sisters 
  • Tough Guy Cookies 
  • The University of North Florida  
  • Yoga 4 Change 
  • and MORE!

  

COST:              Free!  

  

WHEN:           Saturday, November 16, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.   

  

WHERE:          MOCA Jacksonville?  

333 North Laura Street?  

Jacksonville, FL 32202?  

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IMAGES:                     

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/p2p43ptxy53imcmx3qob8/AM9sw5PhJP2RbAbwJWIbKt4?rlkey=dehfaff2mgtiu9p20xi3ajvgp&dl=0  

  

ABOUT PNC FOUNDATION  

The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great®, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life. For more information, visit?http://www.pncgrowupgreat.com.?  

  

ABOUT JAMES WELDON JOHNSON PARK  

Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park is nonprofit organization founded in 2014 and contracted with the City of Jacksonville to revitalize the city’s first and most historic public park. James Weldon Johnson Park is located in the heart of downtown Jacksonville, adjacent to City Hall, the main branch of the Jacksonville Public Library, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. James Weldon Johnson Park’s mission is to transform this park into a moder, urban space that engages diverse communities and restores vitality to our city’s public square.   

  

MOCA JACKSONVILLE?  

The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024, as the oldest art museum in the region and one of the first museums of modern and contemporary art to be established in the US. This celebration year is an opportunity for MOCA to give back to the community that has been its home for a century by presenting groundbreaking exhibitions and programs that will engage the community and elevate Jacksonville as a regional destination for arts and culture.??  

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One hundred years ago, a group of visionary, pioneering women came together to imagine the kind of city they wanted Jacksonville to be — the kind of community they wanted to live in and be a part of. At the core of their vision for a rich, vital, dynamic city were art, culture, and education. Thus, what we now call MOCA Jacksonville was born — first as a series of exhibitions by artists of the day, used as a fundraising tool to support public school education; then as a guild; and later as an art museum and educational leader.?  

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A century later, MOCA’s mission remains focused on the art, artists, and ideas of our time, with a vision that unites education, creativity, and community building in the heart of downtown Jacksonville. Throughout 2024, MOCA will celebrate its centennial year — looking to the past to recognize the legacy of the visionary leaders and important milestones that have brought us to this point; marking this moment with extraordinary exhibitions and programs that will not only elevate MOCA, but provide a stimulus and create an energized destination for our Downtown to build upon; and imagine the future that we want for our great city, nourishing our community through art and culture for the next 100 years.?  

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For more information including hours of operation, admission prices and upcoming exhibitions and programs, call 904.366.6911 or visit mocajacksonville.unf.edu.?  

  

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