Calli Marie Webb: #ibelieveinMOCA for unleashing my imagination

Calli Marie Webb's irrepressible spirit has burst onto the Jacksonville culinary scene. More than 27,000 Instagram followers salivate over her seductive, sumptuous photos. Devoted customers flock to BREW Five Points for breakfast tacos, quiche, waffles, and more. She raised $28,000 through Kickstarter to create her new cookbook. Even with her busy schedule, she finds time to visit MOCA Jacksonville and was a featured chef at NOLA MOCA's Women of the Knife.

Throughout the end of the year, we're asking people to share why they support MOCA.

Tell us a little bit about you.

I am the food program manager at BREW Five Points, author of BAKES, and owner of Calli Marie Bakes. I am from Jacksonville, Florida, and a little bit from Dallas, Texas. My parents moved here when I was younger, and no matter how much I travel, I am always drawn back home. When I am not covered in flour, you can find me at one of my favorite restaurants (one being NOLA MOCA) or hiding at another coffee shop.

#ibelieveinMOCA because …

MOCA is the epicenter of fine art in Jacksonville.

Why do you support MOCA?

I support MOCA because of the quality of work they showcase to our arts and culture community.

Why do you think MOCA is important to the community? 

MOCA provides a space to bring works from all over the world to our city. MOCA inspires creativity, fosters imagination, and brings the arts to our downtown core.

What did you do last time you were at MOCA?

My last visit to MOCA was amazing. I had a delicious lunch at NOLA MOCA and then made my way upstairs to the Retro-spective: Analog Photography in a DigitalWorld exhibition. I was able to spend time with each photograph and disconnect for a while. It was a great use of an afternoon.

What are some of your favorite MOCA exhibitions or artworks and why?

Breaking Ground: The Donald and Maria Cox Collection  has some of my favorite additions to MOCA thus far. I adore Philip Guston's paintings and am happy to see two pieces of his work in this exhibition. Confronting the Canvas: Women of Abstraction will always have a special place in my heart because of NOLA MOCA's collaboration dinner with the exhibit that I was honored to be a part of: Women of the Knife.

Why would you tell your friends to support MOCA?

I would tell my friends to support MOCA because what they do for Jacksonville is priceless.

We need your help

Please make a donation to MOCA Jacksonville, then share why #ibelieveinMOCA on your social media pages. Are you a member? Join MOCA and receive valuable perks while supporting access to the arts for everyone.

About the artwork

Time (Smelt) is one of Jackie Saccoccio's “improvisational portraits,” as she refers to them, borne out of her interest in centrifugal forces in portraits. Her paintings are freckled with mica and translucent varnishes, creating multilayered planes of shifting forms. In these large-scale paintings, Saccoccio's process includes tipping, dragging, and shaking the large-scale works over one another, where liquid pools of color, directional lines, and translucent orbs coexist. Saccoccio is the first recipient of MOCA Jacksonville's Brooke and Hap Stein Emerging Artist Prize. Time (Smelt) appeared in Confronting the Canvas: Women of Abstraction and became part of MOCA's Permanent Collection through a gift of Brooke and Hap Stein.