The Moon Museum, Art & Technology, & Local Artists
Exploring the Ideas of Our Time with MOCA Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — MOCA Jacksonville, a cultural institute of the University of North Florida, announces its summer/fall season of its ongoing Ideas of Our Time lecture series featuring expert guest speakers and local artists. This free lecture series provides a forum for creative dialogue with artists, educators, and others around some of the most vital art and ideas of our time. Seating is limited, so registration is recommended for this free program series.
IDEAS OF OUR TIME: ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG & THE MOON MUSEUM
Saturday, August 23 | 1 p.m.
Join MOCA Jacksonville for a lecture on Robert Rauschenberg in Florida & The Moon Museum: Apollo XII’s Secret Art Mission, with Jade Dellinger, Director of the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery. The illustrated and insightful lecture will explore a little-known chapter in the U.S.-Soviet Space Race and an art project unknown even to NASA astronauts. This program takes place Saturday, August 23 at 1 p.m. during VyStar Free Saturdays at MOCA and in coordination with the exhibition Honoring Rauschenberg, which is on view through November 2, 2025.
The "Moon Museum" was the first-ever "Space Art" object and secretly sited the drawings of Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Forrest Myers, David Novros and John Chamberlain on the lunar surface in 1969. Bob Rauschenberg attended the Apollo XI launch and purchased his first property on Captiva Island in the late 1960's - living and working in the Sunshine State until his death in 2008. He would have turned 100 on October 22nd, 2025. At the invitation of the U.S. Department of State, Dellinger has shared his findings about this project at museums, galleries and universities in Tbilisi, Georgia; Caracas, Venezuela; Kyiv, Ukraine; Ljubljana, Slovenia and many more.
IDEAS OF OUR TIME: ART & TECHNOLOGY ROUNDTABLE
Saturday, September 13 | 11 a.m.
MOCA Jacksonville will host an Art & Technology Roundtable discussion moderated by Senior Curator Ylva Rouse and featuring media artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and professor and scholar Michael Nardone. The group will explore how artists have long subverted the intended uses of different technologies, laying bare the ethical and moral impacts of the ever-increasing digital landscape in our society. This program takes place Saturday, September 13 at 11 a.m., during the final weekend of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Project Atrium installation, Spectral Subjects.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, the featured artist in MOCA’s current interactive Project Atrium installation Spectral Subjects, has been working for more than 30 years at the intersection of architecture and performance art, creating platforms for public participation that utilize technologies such as robotics, digital fountains, computerized surveillance, media walls, and telematic networks. Spectral Subjects uses thermographic cameras to detect and project the temperature in the space onto the wall, making the viewer part of the work and opening conversation around the often-invasive uses of technology.
IDEAS OF OUR TIME: JAX CONTEMPORARY ARTIST TALKS
MOCA Jacksonville is hosting a series of talks featuring local artists in its Jax Contemporary Artist Talks. Hear from the local artists whose works are on display in Jax Contemporary: MOCA Jacksonville Arts Triennial. These free events take place during first Wednesday Museum Nights, presented by Florida Blue, and VyStar Free Saturdays, in the MOCA Theater through November. Each artist will speak for thirty minutes. Participants can visit the exhibition on the third floor of the museum and cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award! Voting ends September 1, 2025
Wed, April 2 | 7 p.m.
Michael Rakim, Marsha Hatcher, and Kaz McCue
April 5 | 3 p.m.
Ana Ion, Elena Øhlander, and Vivien Zink
Sat, May 3 | 1 p.m.
Sandy Harrington and Deshonna Buchanan
Wed, June 4 | 7 p.m.
Mark Creegan, Christopher Clark, and Mico Fuentes
Sat, June 7 | 1 p.m.
Overstreet Ducasse, Keith Doles, and Storm Rowland
Wed, July 2 | 7 p.m.
David Engdahl, Jeff Whipple, Mark George, and Mary Joan Hinson
Sat, July 5 | 1 p.m.
Sarah Crooks, Gail Beveridge, and Jason John
Wed, August 6 | 7 p.m.
Zakriya Rabani, Stephen Heywood, Overstreet Ducasse, and J. Adam McGalliard
Wed, September 3 | 7 p.m.
Robert Dewitt Adams, d. lance vickery, Jenny Hager, and Erin Kendrick
Wed, October 1 | 7 p.m.
Susanne Schuenke Ph.D., Hillary Hogue, Tanner Pletzke, and Chip Southworth
Wed, November 5 | 7 p.m.
Yna Cruz, Laura Colomb, Holly Blanton, and Joshua Cooper
MEDIA PORTAL
To schedule interviews or request additional content, please reach out to Amber Sesnick, Director of Communications and Marketing at MOCA Jacksonville at amber.sesnick@unf.edu or 904-620-3224. Jade Delinger, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and Michael Nardone are available for interview via phone or Zoom. Press releases, images, and credit lines related to each talk can be found through the links below:
Robert Rauschenberg & the Moon Museum
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/v722lz7by9xqv6qjprbn1/ACoGVLjbnaa_oUaK12S98c8?rlkey=8x4mdouy3144hfvkjv8fmhdla&st=nrcmri15&dl=0
Art & Technology Roundtable
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/avp4469kkinhymy9bmx4q/AJL-itauiRx8MfqJ-_GMt28?rlkey=79z2rml89kz4x9yqk1ql8xt01&st=3ly8wodi&dl=0
Jax Contemporary Artist Talks
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/cgdbfj5fn8tiqxani9kie/AHRzo1xf3lGjQ1EGIqIGHG8?rlkey=so56k8z8fbn3ullfkq3v9pjv9&st=df3otqgs&dl=0
ABOUT MOCA JACKSONVILLE
Located in the heart of historic Downtown, the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville is one of the city’s most significant cultural assets. As the oldest art museum in Northeast Florida and one of the first contemporary art museums to be established in the United States, MOCA is focused on promoting the discovery, knowledge, and advancement of the art, artists, and ideas of our time.
In 1924, a group of visionary local women artists 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. In 2009, MOCA became a cultural institute of the University of North Florida and in 2025 the museum became one of only three percent of museums to achieve accreditation through the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition afforded to American museums. More than 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.
Among the most prominent contemporary art museums in the Southeast, MOCA’s exhibitions and programs set the pace for arts and art-integrated programming on a regional and national stage, with an emphasis on works created from 1960 to the present. Renowned in this community, MOCA casts the spotlight on Jacksonville as a burgeoning, vital arts destination.
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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AMBER SESNICK (She/Her)
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
W: 904-620-3224 // C: 904-303-0703
MOCA JACKSONVILLE
A Cultural Institute of UNF
333 North Laura Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32202
Social Media @mocajax
MOCAJACKSONVILLE.UNF.EDU