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Mandarin Museum News
January 2024
Embrace the Mandarin Experience
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L to R: Former U.S. Congresswoman Val Demings, Museum Executive Director Brittany Cohill, Reverend Eugene Moseley, Jr., former longtime pastor of Phillip R. Cousin AME Church, and Museum Volunteer Karen Sistare. Photo courtesy of Olis Garber. | |
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Dear Friends,
Wow! What a year 2023 was for Mandarin Museum & Historical Society! With your support, we were able to reopen our doors with brand new exhibits, hire a full-time executive director, expand our operating hours to 4 days a week, 52 weeks a year, develop new programming, and welcome more visitors than ever before!
We also hosted esteemed guests from the Florida Department of State and former U.S. Congresswoman Val Demings, a Mandarin native who appears in our exhibition, The Untold Story of Black Mandarin.
In 2024, Mandarin Museum will continue offering quality programming to include crowd favorites like Music Under the Oaks, Meet the Maple Leaf Divers, Mandarin Frog painting events, Winter Celebration, and First Saturdays at the Museum when all the historic buildings are open.
In addition, exciting new programs will include a partnership with MOCA Jacksonville during their 100-year celebration to exhibit the Memphis Wood Estate Collection, plus never-before-displayed pieces from the renowned artist. We will also debut our new Third Thursday spring lecture series, Our Mandarin Neighbors, featuring residents from the Mandarin community whose poignant stories highlight our rich diversity. And by summertime, families will be able to check out Adventure Backpacks from Museum Guest Services that will include child-friendly tools and activities through which to explore Walter Jones Historical Park, developing a love for Florida’s natural spaces and wildlife.
Also in 2024, Mandarin Museum will unveil an exciting piece of outdoor public art, “Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin,” a life-size bronze sculpture created by artist Brenda Councill to commemorate Stowe’s legacy in our area. You can view the sculpting process in real time at Open Studio with Brenda Councill every Friday through Sunday during January at the historic Mandarin Store & Post Office.
Your continued support in the new year through the purchase of an annual Mandarin Museum membership will sustain our organization, allowing us to offer these quality exhibits and programs that share the stories of Mandarin’s history, culture, and natural resources. With your contribution, you will also enjoy the benefits a membership with us offers, including a discount in our Museum Shop, free walking tour passes, reciprocal benefits through regional and national museum networks, and more!
Read on for more information regarding our upcoming programs and how to support them by becoming a member.
From everyone at Mandarin Museum, I wish you a very happy and healthy new year! We can't wait to see you at the Museum!
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----Brittany Cohill
----Executive Director
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More on the Val Demings visit, including a photo gallery, can be found here. | |
First Saturday @ the Museum
Saturday, January 6
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
All historic buildings throughout Walter Jones Historical Park will be open to the public. Stroll along the park's paved pathways and stop in to the 1898 St. Joseph's Mission Schoolhouse for African American Children, the 1892 Losco Winery, the 1876 Barn, and the 1875 Webb-Jones Farmhouse. Admission if free.
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Meet the Maple Leaf Divers
Saturday, January 6
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Maple Leaf Shipwreck Gallery
Meet the men who dove the Maple Leaf Shipwreck! This is an informal, conversational-style event. Drop in anytime between 10:00 am and noon to hear about their story of discovery, recovery, and preservation of artifacts from the Union steamboat Maple Leaf that was sunk by a Confederate mine off Mandarin Point in the St. Johns River.
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Music Under the Oaks
Sunday, January 7
2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Museum Front Lawn
Join Mandarin Museum and North Florida Folk Network for an afternoon under Mandarin's historic oak canopy. Bring your acoustic instrument and join the jam session OR bring your chair or blanket and enjoy a day in the shade, taking in the melodic sounds.
Mandarin Museum and the 1898 Schoolhouse will be open to visitors during the event. Admission is free.
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Photo courtesy of Olis Garber. | |
Open Studio with Brenda Councill
Friday - Sunday, January 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 26-28
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Mandarin Store & Post Office
12471 Mandarin Road
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Photo courtesy of Olis Garber. | |
Mandarin Museum is pleased to host Open Studio with Brenda Councill every Friday through Sunday in January. Visit the historic Mandarin Store & Post Office to see and interact with Brenda as she creates her newest work, "Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin." The finished piece will be a life-size bronze sculpture of Harriet and two young boys from her orange grove. Emphasizing Harriet's commitment to equitable education, she is portrayed in an instructing manner. Follow Brenda's process as she begins with armature construction and ends with a full-size clay sculpture ready for the foundry.
Admission to Open Studio with Brenda Councill is free. Limited edition prints of Brenda's popular Mandarin series will be available for purchase. All proceeds support "Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin" and its eventual installation in Walter Jones Historical Park.
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Thank you to those who have committed their support to making "Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin" a reality.
Mandarin Oaks | $10,000 - $24,999
Rosemary McCorkle
Thomas Davant Johns, Ph.D. and Gretchen Schaef Johns, M.D.
in memory of Thomas Joseph Agee
in honor of Sandy Arpen
Magnolias | $2500 - $9,999
Sandy and Tracey Arpen
Colonel John T. and Judith Winkler
George Ash and Kate Arpen
Patrick Plumlee and Laura D'Alisera
in memory of their parents
Marilyn Carpenter
in memory of Pete Carpenter
Don and Pam Chandler
Friends of Historic Mandarin | up to $2499
Bhide & Hall Architects
Pam Neumann
in memory of Dave Neumann and Ed Ralph
Deborah Harmon
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Barker, IV
Virginia B. Barker
Peggy and Bill Armstrong
Carol and Jeff Anderson
Claire King
Jeff and Carrie Councill
Bonny Councill
Pam Neumann
in honor of Carolyn Hall and Bettye Stilley
Bettye Stilley
in honor of Pam Neumann and Carolyn Hall
Gabriele Dempsey
in memory of Ruth Heerling
Leslie Anderson
Stacy Anderson
Friends of Gabriele Dempsey in her honor
Courtenay Wilson
Lynn McManus
Ruth Stein
Marilyn Stein
Margaret Gellatly
Blair Woolverton
Renate Hixon
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We have rolled out our 2024 membership program with new benefits at the individual, family, and patron levels! Every contribution made through the purchase of an annual membership enables us to fulfill our mission.
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New titles that share the stories of Mandarin's history, culture, and natural resources will be hitting the Museum Shop shelves throughout the month. Pick one up on your next visit!
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Author Bio: Emily Meggett (1932–2023) was the matriarch of the Gullah community on Edisto Island, South Carolina. She has been featured on television and in print by PBS, the Food Network, Bon Appétit, Eater, and NPR. She is also a member of the family who was raised in the Point of Pines cabin, a 19th-century slave cabin from Edisto Island that has been relocated to Washington, DC, as the central exhibit of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Did you know Mandarin Museum is a partner site along the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor? Following the U.S. Civil War, a group of formerly-enslaved Edisto Island families migrated to the Mandarin area. They named their new settlement Edisto and brought with them their Gullah culture and traditions. Visit our exhibition, The Untold Story of Black Mandarin, to learn more.
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Author Bio: Ray Whaley is a retired U.S. Army helicopter pilot and a native of Jacksonville, Florida. He enjoys paddling the various waterways of the state as well as backpacking the Florida Trail and Appalachian Trail.
When Whaley set out to accomplish his bucket-list goal of kayaking the length of the St. Johns River, it didn’t take long for him to realize he was in over his head. The longest river in Florida, stretching 310 miles between Vero Beach and Jacksonville, the St. Johns had been paddled in its entirety by only a handful of people. Whaley found himself blazing his own trail on an exciting and unexpected adventure.
Whaley’s journey also highlights the delicate ecosystem of the river and the importance of conserving its environment, raising awareness of the fragile yet critical link between humans and nature.
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Mandarin Frog Painting
Saturday, February 3
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Museum Front Lawn
Join us for the first Mandarin Frog Painting event in 2024 on Saturday, February 3rd at 10:00 am. Pick, paint, and take home your very own Mandarin Frog (or turtle or squirrel). Advanced registration is required by emailing info@mandarinmuseum.org. The cost is $22, payable upon arrival.
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Third Thursday Lecture
Thursday, February 15
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Mandarin Community Club
12447 Mandarin Road
As part of our spring 2024 lecture series, "Our Mandarin Neighbors," Mandarin residents Irene Jaffa and her son Andrew Jaffa will share their family's harrowing story of Holocaust survival, immigration, and building a life in the United States.
February's presentation is in partnership with The LJD Jewish Family & Community Services and Mandarin Community Club.
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Mandarin Newsline
Read 2023 current and past issues of the Mandarin Newsline online now!
This free newspaper allows Mandarin Museum to share history, events, and programs with the public. The newspaper remains free to readers due to the robust local advertising. Please visit, shop, and eat at those businesses who support the community in this way.
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click here to enjoy a photo gallery from our 2023 Winter Celebration presented by TC Federal Bank. | |
More ways to stay up-to-date! | |
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Thank you to all our community partners!
Mandarin Museum is funded, in part, through the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and the City of Jacksonville.
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MISSION: Mandarin Museum & Historical Society shares the stories of Mandarin's history, culture, and natural resources by providing engaging programs that educate, entertain and inspire.
VISIT. JOIN. VOLUNTEER.
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society
904-268-0784
info@mandarinmuseum.org
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