100th Anniversary
Celebrating a Century of Creativity and Community
The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024, as the oldest art museum in the region and one of the oldest contemporary art museum to be established in the United States. 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.
One hundred years ago, four 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 – a museum dedicated to the exhibition and teaching of art, focused on the art and ideas of the time, and guided by the principle that access to beauty is something that everyone should have and benefit from. 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.
EXHIBITIONS
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
‘70s New York in the Norman E. Fisher Collection
Through Jul 14, 2024
Kicking off our anniversary year is an exhibition showcasing the experimental, collaborative art world of '70s New York through the work of iconic artists of the 1970s in the collection of Jacksonville native Norman E. Fisher.
PROJECT ATRIUM: FRANK STELLA
Jacksonville Stacked Stars
Feb 29 - Aug 18, 2024
One of America's foremost contemporary sculptors, Frank Stella will unveil his brand new sculptural work, Jacksonville Stacked Stars, created for MOCA's 100 year anniversary! Be the first to see this larger than life installation by one of the most influential artists working today.
ELYSA ADAMS
UNF Student Artist-in-Residence Exhibition
May 10 - Sep 1, 2024
MOCA marks the 10th anniversary of its UNF Student Artist-in-Residene program in 2024 and will feature two residencies, one in the spring and one in the fall. Elysa Adams has been chosen as the spring resident! Elysa is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Jacksonville. She is majoring in Printmaking, Painting, and Drawing, with minor in Psychology. Her artistic expression takes a dual approach, revealing hardship while celebrating resilience and excellence that thrive within the black community.
FILL MY HEART WITH HOPE
Works from the Gordon W. Bailey Collection
Jul 25, 2024 - Mar 23, 2025 | Opening Celebration Sep 5
Fill My Heart With Hope: Works from the Gordon W. Bailey Collection is an exhibition featuring works from the collection of Los Angeles-based scholar and collector Gordon W. Bailey. The exceptional works on view reflect Bailey’s decades-long advocacy of marginalized artists, particularly Black Southerners. All of the artists featured in the inclusive exhibition, whether because of their gender, race, religion, or socio-economic status, pushed through discrimination and overcame various hardships. MOCA’s exhibition asks us to set aside preconceived notions, reconsider our historical definitions of contemporary art, and more fully embrace the power of individual expression.
EMIL ALZAMORA
Starship Abundance
Aug 3, 2024 - Feb 2, 2025 | Opening Celebration Sep 5
In Starship Abundance, New York based artist Emil Alzamora (b. 1975 Lima, Peru) presents a multidisciplinary exhibition, intended “as a nod to the seemingly unending richness that abounds on planet Earth.” Alzamora is best known for his sculpture, where he employs a wide range of materials and techniques to explore the human form, both physically and psychologically. Combining his unrelenting curiosity for materials with an intuitive sense for conveying emotionally charged imagery, his hands-on approach brings forth notions of transience, beauty, harmony, uncertainty, and hope, delivering unexpected interpretations of the sculpted human figure.
PROJECT ATRIUM: RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER
Spectral Subjects
Sep 5, 2024 - Feb 16, 2025 | Opening Celebration Sep 5
Spectral Subjects is a new exciting immersive art installation designed to transform the Atrium Gallery of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida. World-renowned artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, has proposed an installation that, using state-of-the-art thermal imaging software, detects heat and cold in the environment. The changes in temperature, caused by the visitor’s body heat, as well as the building’s air circulation and ventilation, will manifest as colossal wall projections in the atrium.
EVENTS
CENTENNIAL GALA
A Walk on the Wild Side
April 6, 2024
Thank you to all those who attended our Centennial Gala: A Walk on the Wild Side! This event was made truly amazing by the creative energy, amazing fashion, and celebratory spirit every one of you had on display that evening! This SOLD OUT fundraising event raised more than $300k in support of MOCA's mission to promote the discovery, knowledge, and advancement of the art, artists, and ideas of our time. We are so thankful for our community of generous supporters who have empowered the museum to continue to present groundbreaking exhibitions, public program, and educational initiatives that engage the community and elevate Jacksonville as a regional destination for arts and culture.
IDEAS OF OUR TIME | MOCA Jacksonville: The First 100 Years
Four Part Lecture Series
Select Wednesdays | Free with Admission
Ideas of Our Time is a lecture series providing a forum for creative dialogue with artists, educators, and others around some of the most vital and important art and ideas of our time. In early 2024, the museum hosted the series MOCA Jacksonville: The First 100 Years, recounting the history of the museum by both historians and those who lived it. You can view program recordings through the link below.
HERE COMES TOMORROW
Cinema of the Last Century
Every Third Wednesday During Museum Nights
As MOCA Jacksonville celebrates its 100th anniversary, we look back at the last century of artistic expression in film. With a particular focus on films that imagined the future, this year long series explores decade by decade, the hopes, anxieties, and dreams of filmmakers and audiences from the 1920s till the present day.
FALL FAMILY DAY BLOCK PARTY
November 16, 2024 | FREE
Kid-friendly activities will fill the museum and spill out into Downtown this fall! Enjoy access to exhibitions, art making, musical performances, community projects, local partners, food trucks, and more!
HYPERLOCAL ART HISTORY LECTURE SERIES
Select Wednesdays in Spring 2024 | FREE
In the 100th anniversary year of MOCA Jacksonville, MOCA hosted a series of talks by UNF Professor of Art History, Dr. Scott Brown, that presented the history of art from a standpoint here in North Florida. While this lecture series is over, you can view the recordings by clicking the button below.
In the Media
ARBUS MAGAZINE
When Jacksonville Was Avant-Garde
On the 100th Anniversary of MOCA Jacksonville
One hundred years ago a group of visionary, pioneering women came together to imagine the kind of city that they wanted Jacksonville to be. From their vision for a rich, vital, and dynamic city, what we now call MOCA Jacksonville was born. Over the years... Read More >>
CENTENNIAL SPONSORS
Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville
Joan and Preston Haskell
MOCA Jacksonville Board of Trustees
State of Florida
University of North Florida