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Mandarin Museum News
January 2025
Embrace the Mandarin Experience
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Dear Friends,
As we begin the new year, I'm sure many of you have made resolutions that will, in some way, shape your future. Mandarin Museum is no different. This month, we will finalize our strategic plan that will guide our organization for the next 3 to 5 years. We are excited to set a clear vision, goals, and objectives that will build on our many years of success and continue the momentum we've enjoyed in recent years.
If you're reading this, that means you have played a role in our past success and present momentum (for which we are so grateful). And we wouldn't dream of planning our future without you!
We have contracted with Allison Galloway-Gonzalez of Galloway-Gonzalez Consulting to facilitate our strategic planning process. Together, we have devised a community feedback survey that will allow YOU to be an active participant. Please see the note and survey link from Allison below. Thank you in advance for helping us chart our path forward!
In addition, keep reading for more information about our upcoming events as we kick off 2025. We can't wait to see you at Mandarin Museum in the new year!
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----Brittany Cohill
----Executive Director
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Hello, everyone!
As we embark on the next chapter of growth for Mandarin Museum and Historical Society, we'd love to hear from you! Your feedback will be collected confidentially via the survey link below and then analyzed to inform the discussions of our Strategic Planning Committee. The survey will remain open until Monday morning, January 6th.
Together, we can build a vision that honors our rich history and looks forward to an inspiring future. The final plan will be shared with you this spring. Thank you for your time, support, and insights.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email at allison@gallowaygonzalez.com.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Allison
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Evolution in Clay: A Vina Schemer Retrospective
On display through April 19, 2025
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First Saturday @ the Museum
Saturday, January 4
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Join Mandarin Museum the first Saturday of every month from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm when all historic buildings throughout Walter Jones Historical Park will be open to the public.
The young and young at heart can pick up a free scavenger hunt at Museum Guest Services to complete as you visit the museum's exhibits and stroll along the park's paved pathways.
Learn more about the area's 19th-century past as museum volunteers greet you at the 1898 St. Joseph's Mission Schoolhouse for African American Children, the 1892 Losco Winery, the 1876 Barn, and the 1875 Webb-Jones Farmhouse.
The historic Mandarin Store & Post Office, located just down the road at 12471 Mandarin Rd., will also be open to visitors.
Admission is free.
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Meet the Maple Leaf Divers
Saturday, January 4
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Maple Leaf Shipwreck Gallery
Meet the men who dove the Maple Leaf Shipwreck! In the early morning hours of April 1, 1864, the Union steamboat Maple Leaf was sunk by Confederates in the St. Johns River just off Mandarin Point. For 120 years, the ship's cargo hold remained undisturbed and preserved beneath the surface of the muddy riverbed. In the 1980s, Dr. Keith Holland and his team of divers located and excavated the site. Now designated a National Historic Landmark, the nearly 3,000 artifacts they recovered have been entrusted to the State of Florida for preservation. Mandarin Museum displays many of these artifacts through a longterm partnership with the State Archives of Florida.
Dr. Holland and the Maple Leaf Divers will be in the gallery from 10:00 am to noon on Saturday, January 4th to meet with visitors. This is an informal, coversational-style event. Drop in to hear their story of discovery, recovery, and preservation.
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Music Under the Oaks
Sunday, January 5
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Museum Front Lawn
Join Mandarin Museum and North Florida Folk Network for an afternoon of music under Mandarin's historic oak canopy. Bring your acoustic instrument and a song to share as part of this community jam session. Listeners are most welcome to attend! Bring a chair or blanket, set up outside the song circle, and enjoy!
Mandarin Museum and the 1898 Schoolhouse will be open to visitors during the event. Admission is free.
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Mandarin Museum Annual Meeting
Tuesday, January 21
5:30 to 6:30 pm
Mandarin Museum
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society's Board of Directors invites all Mandarin Museum members to the 2025 Annual Meeting. Enjoy light refreshments in the galleries beginning at 5:30 pm. At 6:00 pm, Executive Director Brittany Cohill will give a visual presentation of the annual report. It will be wonderful and engaging gathering!
Please RSVP by emailing director@mandarinmuseum.org.
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New in the Museum Shop! Available now, Spires in the Sun: The Carpenter Gothic Episcopal Churches of Florida is a beautiful hardcover book featuring over 500 pages of stories of the oldest surviving wood-frame Episcopal churches in Florida. "Built in the 1800s, when Florida was still the nation’s raw southeastern frontier, these churches breathed the romantic sensibilities of England’s stone parish churches into a new medium: wood," says author Jonathan Rich. Mandarin's own Episcopal Church of Our Saviour is included as are other examples in Northeast Florida. Pick up your copy today! | |
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Our November 2024 Third Thursday Lecture featuring Drs. Cynthia Anderson and Tracy Khona and Mr. Rick Khona as they presented, "A 45-year history of Indian American Immigrants in Jacksonville," is now available on Mandarin Museum's Youtube Channel.
Thank you to all who attended, and a special thank you to the Anderson and Khona families for an insightful and entertaining evening.
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Thank you to Endless Summer Roofing Co. for generously sponsoring our Fall 2024 Third Thursday Lecture Series! | |
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Mandarin Frog Painting
Saturday, February 1
10:00 am
Museum Front Lawn
Purchase, paint, and take home your very own Mandarin Frog (or turtle). The cost is $22 per person and advanced registration is required. To register, email info@mandarinmuseum.org.
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Third Thursday Lecture
Thursday, February 20
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Community Club
February's lecture will feature author Jonathan Rich who will present on his book, Spires in the Sun: The Carpenter Gothic Episcopal Churches of Florida.
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Exhibit Come to Life: The Untold Story of Black Mandarin Saturday, February 22
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Museum and Walter Jones Historical Park
The 2nd Annual Exhibit Come to Life: The Untold Story of Black Mandarin presented by Florida Blue and ASPIRE returns with exciting programs and activites focused on one of the Museum's newest permanent exhibits.
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Mandarin Museum members at the Family level and above automatically enjoy the benefits of NARM (North American Reciprocal Museum Association)! By supporting your favorite museum, you receive reciprocal member benefits at almost 1,500 museums, botanical gardens, aquariums, and more across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and The Cayman Islands. Simply show your Mandarin Museum membership card at participating locations!
Recently, Mandarin Museum members Sandy & Tracey Arpen enjoyed a visit to the beautiful CiCi and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art in Daytona Beach. Using their Mandarin Museum membership card, admission was free! (standard adult admission is $19; senior admission $17 per person) To find other NARM participating locations, visit https://narmassociation.org/members/.
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Ready to join Mandarin Museum and activate your NARM benefits like Sandy & Tracey? Click the membership button below and select the Family level or above! | |
Be a supporter of arts & culture in our community through the purchase of an annual membership! Benefits at the individual, family, and patron levels include free guided walking tours of Walter Jones Historical Park, reciprocal benefits at other museums across the nation, discounts in our Museum Shop, and more!
Every contribution made through the purchase of an annual membership enables us to fulfill our mission!
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Mandarin Newsline
Read 2025 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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...resolve to make 2025 a great year for yourself and those around you!
Thank you to all who made last month's Mandarin Winter Celebration event possible! Approximately 1,200 visitors attended, the weather was beautiful, and it filled our hearts with even more love for our community! A special thank you to our Winter Celebration committee for another great year: Janet Shelfer, Merry Hopper, Maureen Orr, Deborah McLaughlin, Hope Ferrigno, and Paula Suhey. And one more big thank you to TC Federal Bank for returning as our presenting sponsor for a second year in a row!
Pictured is event attendee, Jim, the lucky winner of one of the most popular prizes in the Winter Celebration raffle coutesy of Hagan Ace Hardware in Mandarin.
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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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