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Mandarin Museum News
May 2025
Embrace the Mandarin Experience
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Dear Friends,
Each month this newsletter hits your inbox with the tagline, "Embrace the Mandarin Experience." What is this "Mandarin Experience" exactly? Many have tried to put into words an adequate explanation. When it becomes too wordy, many resort to another pleasantly enigmatic phrase: it's that "Mandarin Magic."
That Mandarin Magic. Definitions of the word "magic" include: 1. the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. 2. wonderful; exciting.
I may be biased, but I do truly believe Mandarin Museum and our community is wonderful and exciting. Is this the work of mysterious forces, though? I'm less convinced. Behind the "Mandarin Experience" or "Mandarin Magic" is authentic love that drives everything we do - an authentic love for our past, present, and future, an authentic love for people and the new things we learn from everyone we meet, an authentic love for our natural environment and our place in it, and an authentic love for sharing our stories through meaningful connections.
This past month, hundreds of school children embraced the "Mandarin Experience" with many of their teachers vowing to make a field trip to the museum an annual tradition. Master Gardener Volunteer Candace Barone popped in one morning exclaiming her recent article in the Florida Times-Union was picked up by USA Today and published across multiple national outlets online. The Arpen Family enjoyed a private boat tour with the Maple Leaf Divers, an experience they won in last year's silent auction. Thanks to our visitors, we delivered 253 pounds of food to the Daily Bread Food Pantry at Mandarin Presbyterian Church yesterday. The Cummer Museum Docent Corps visited for a tour and stayed as our invited guests at our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Over 1,700 visitors total experienced the "Mandarin Magic," with too many unique connections to go on listing.
In May, the opportunities to "Embrace the Mandarin Experience" continue. This evening, we'll open Kathy Stark's SEE JACKSONVILLE exhibition - the first time her original pieces have been on display. On Saturday, May 3rd, we'll host our annual Miss Aggie Day, honoring four magical individuals. Later this month, our final lecture in the Spring 2025 series will feature Bob Self, recently retired Senior Staff Photographer with the Florida Times-Union. Through the ongoing generosity of our members, donors, and sponsors, we are able to offer free admission to these events and continue free daily admission to Mandarin Museum!
More news and information follows. Make this the month YOU "Embrace the Mandarin Experience"! And as always, I'll see you at the Museum!
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----Brittany Cohill
----Executive Director
| | 253 lbs. of food delivered to our neighbors at Daily Bread Food Pantry at Mandarin Presbyterian Church! Thank you, contributors! | | |
Exhibit Opening Reception
Thursday, May 1
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Museum
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Join Mandarin Museum for a wonderful evening as we open artist Kathy Stark’s exhibition, “SEE JACKSONVILLE.”
SEE JACKSONVILLE will feature Stark’s original acrylic gouache on panel pieces that inform her popular series of 1930s WPA National Park Service-inspired posters of North Florida parks. Each work was designed and painted in the style of silk-screened NPS posters created by The Federal Arts Project poster division during President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal program.
During the reception, we will unveil Kathy Stark’s newest original piece – a WPA National Park Service-inspired poster for WALTER JONES HISTORICAL PARK! A limited quantity of Walter Jones Historical Park poster prints will be available for purchase. A pre-order list will form at the event once sold out.
Admission if free. Refreshments will be served.
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Miss Aggie Day 2025
Saturday, May 3
11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Historic Store & Post Office
12471 Mandarin Rd.
Join us on Miss Aggie Day as we celebrate and recognize Rosemary McCorkle, Vina Schemer, Memphis Wood*, and Charlie Brown* for the indelible mark they have left on our community's arts & culture landscape.
This remarkable group co-founded Mandarin Art Festival in 1968, and played a continued role in its success in the decades following. A juried fine art and fine craft show held by the Mandarin Community Club, it is the longest running festival of its kind in Northeast Florida. Gifted artists themselves, or in Rosemary's case, an avid supporter and champion of the arts, they actively contributed to Mandarin's reputation as an "artist colony" and added value to the lives of so many around them.
Attendees will enjoy ice cold RC Cola and moon pies (once staples at Miss Aggie's store) and live music. Remarks will begin at 11:45 am.
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Left to Right: Rosemary McCorkle, Vina Schemer (Photo courtesy of Olis Garber), Memphis Wood, Charlie Brown.
*Memphis Wood and Charlie Brown will be honored posthumously.
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The Miss Aggie Award is given annually to a resident or residents who have contributed to the Mandarin community in the areas of business, civic, educational or charitable accomplishment. Candidates' contributions may be specific deeds or an accumulation of actions over a period of time. Recipients need not be “experts” in any particular area but might be known or recognized for their sense of community, their caring attitude, or individual accomplishments.
For more about Miss Aggie and the Miss Aggie Award, including past recipients and photographs from last year's event:
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First Saturday @ the Museum
Saturday, May 3
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.
In addition, local artisan Ray Melvin will be here with his beautifully hand-turned wooden bowls, boxes, and trinket dishes. All proceeds from their sale benefit Mandarin Museum's programming and operations.
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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Mandarin Frog Painting
Saturday, May 3
10:00 am
Museum Front Lawn
Limited spots remain! Purchase, paint, and take home your very own Mandarin Frog (or sea turtle). The cost is $22 + tax per person and all supplies are provided. Advanced registration is required, payment is due upon arrival to the event. To sign-up, please email info@mandarinmuseum.org.
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Meet the Maple Leaf Divers
Saturday, May 3
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Maple Leaf Shipwreck Gallery
Meet the men who dove the Maple Leaf Shipwreck! On April 1, 1864, the Union steamboat Maple Leaf was sunk by Confederates in the St. Johns River just off Mandarin Point. 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, May 3rd to meet with visitors. This is an informal, coversational-style event. Drop in to hear their story of discovery, recovery, and preservation.
| Divers pictured in front of artist Julie Fetzer's illustrated map of Mandarin Point in the Maple Leaf Shipwreck Gallery at Mandarin Museum. | |
Music Under the Oaks
Sunday, May 4
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Museum Front Lawn
Join Mandarin Museum and North Florida Folk Network for a lively acoustic music jam underneath Mandarin's historic oak canopy. Bring your 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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Third Thursday Lecture
Bob Self, Retired Senior Staff Photographer, Florida Times-Union
Thursday, May 15
6:30 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Community Club
12447 Mandarin Rd.
Join Mandarin Museum for "Jacksonville Through the Lens of Self," the final lecture in the Spring 2025 Third Thursday Series. Recently retired Florida Times-Union Senior Staff Photographer Bob Self will recount his four decades of work documenting the stories, people, and events that have shaped Jacksonville’s more recent past. Perhaps no Third Thursday Lecture has had or will have a PowerPoint presentation as stunning or poignant. You won’t want to miss it!
Refreshment begin at 6:30 pm. The presentation begins at 7:00 pm.
Admission is free. Donations at the event support Mandarin Museum’s programming.
| | Thank you to Endless Summer Roofing Co. for generously sponsoring our Spring 2025 Third Thursday Lecture Series! | | |
We are thrilled to share that Aidan Wright, our Summer and Fall 2024 archives intern, has been accepted to the University of North Florida's Master of Arts in History program. Aidan will begin his master's coursework in the Fall 2025 semester. His areas of interest include the United States in the Cold War and Europe during World War I.
Concurrent with his studies, Aidan works as a substitute teacher with Duval Charter, teaching primarily middle school, third grade, and kindergarten. He continues to volunteer in our archives on Wednesdays, and never hesitates to jump in when needed on a school tour or special event.
Aidan, we are so proud of you!
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ATTENTION EDUCATORS: While summer break is rapidly approaching, keep us in mind when your pre-planning begins for the 2025-2026 school year! Our field trip program is designed around Florida State Standards for Social Studies, Science, and Visual Arts. We tailor each experience for every grade level.
Our specially trained volunteer tour guides take students throughout the Museum & Walter Jones Historical Park. Along the way, they learn - in an age-accessible manner - about Florida's past, including the Pre-Columbian period when the Timucua Indians called Northeast Florida home, the Colonial and Statehood years, the U.S. Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction, 19th and 20th century industries, and more!
Following the guided tour, enjoy your packed lunches on the Museum's shaded front lawn. We provide the picnic tables and picnic blankets!
| | We had an incredible 2024-2025 school year with our friends all the way from kindergarten to high school! Here are just some of the schools who have made a trip to Mandarin Museum in the last several months: | | |
- Jacksonville Beach Elementary 5th Grade
- Cunningham Creek Elementary Kindergarten
- St. Josephs Catholic School 6th Grade
- Episcopal School of Jacksonville, Beaches Campus 4th Grade
- Riverside Presbyterian Day School 3rd Grade
- Nassau County Bridge Program, Yulee High School
- The Greenwood School Middle Schoolers
- Clay Charter Academy 4th Grade
- St. Johns Classical Academy 3rd Grade
- St. Luke Catholic Church Homeschoolers
- Wild + Free Homeschoolers of Jax
- and more!
| | For more information, including downloadable flyers and grade-level specific Florida State Standards alignments: | | New in the Museum Shop! Joining other prints in her series, Kathy Stark's Walter Jones Historical Park poster prints will be added to the museum shop this month. In addition, custom orders for larger archival matte paper, canvas, or acrylic face prints can be placed at museum guest services during our operating hours. | |
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!
| | 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! | | |
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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...take the time to connect with old and new friends!
At our April Third Thursday Lecture featuring artist Vina Schemer, she was surprised by an old friend of hers who traveled from Tallahassee just for the program. Artist David Worrell was the first president of the Crown Craftsmen, an association of studio crafts artists formed in the late 1960s/early 1970s in Jacksonville of which Vina was a founding member. They hadn't seen each other in 40 years! We also captured a touching moment during which Vina reminisced with Bruce Dempsey, former director of Jacksonville Art Museum (now MOCA) and his wife, Gabriele Dempsey, Mandarin Museum Board Member, about the famed Ramses II exhibition from 1986. With Bruce at the helm, the trio were instrumental in making Jacksonville just 1 of 4 North American stops for the blockbuster display.
| | More ways to stay up-to-date! | | | |
Thank you to all our community partners!
Mandarin Museum is supported, in part, through the Cultural Service Grant Program administered by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and funded by the City of Jacksonville.
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OUR 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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