Event Description
Celebrate Jacksonville's art education community and the work of Jane Condon.
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About this event
Join MOCA Jacksonville for an evening of performances by local students, a book reading, and conversations with local arts organizations, all in honor of Jane Condon’s legacy of work supporting arts education in Duval County Public Schools. Condon will
do a reading from the memoir highlighting her decades-long career, Chosen by Jane, in MOCA’s theater, which will feature performances by DCPS students who have created content for MOCA Jacksonville. The reception includes a book signing and
the opportunity to meet representatives from a variety of arts organizations that serve the community. A full bar will be available in the Museum lobby. Only cards will be accepted (no cash), and make sure to have a valid ID.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Health and safety protocols will be in place.
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About Jane
Jane Condon served eleven years as principal of Duval County Public Schools before being assigned to take over magnet school Douglas Anderson School of the Arts (DA) after its floundering first year. Under Jane’s vision and leadership, Douglas Anderson
quickly became one of the top-ranked arts schools in the nation. After 10 years of success at DA, Jane was asked to design a middle school of the arts to provide students with the background to meet the challenges of DA. Jane worked with top-ranked
local architects and construction firms to design and build LaVilla School of the Arts from the ground up. Both these schools remain the cultural lifeblood of Northeast Florida Arts education, sending talented young adults into professional-level
performance or into the best colleges and universities in the world: The Juilliard School, Carnegie-Mellon, Hofstra, Parsons School of Design, Pratt, and Berklee, to name a few.
In shepherding these schools to excellence, Jane became an expert at negotiating with political adversaries, finding funding, managing faculty, gaining parents’ trust, and challenging students to ever-higher achievement.
Jane is fondly remembered by and still in touch with thousands of alumni from these schools, as well as many of their parents. Douglas Anderson and LaVilla are true success stories in Northeast Florida and continue to be highly regarded in arts education
circles all over the world. Now retired, Jane offers invaluable advice for any challenge schools may face. She is a master at de-escalating conflict, preventive discipline with students and employees, and crafting a public image for an organization
that will gain public trust.