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Mandarin Museum News
September 2024
Embrace the Mandarin Experience
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Left to right: Amy Price, Dr. Elizabeth Heuer, and Nofa Dixon | |
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Dear Friends,
Did you know September is designated as Save Your Photos Month? Celebrated globally, it was established 20 years ago by The Photo Managers, an association of professional photo organizers. Perhaps it is timely, then, that Mandarin Museum is adding to its archival digital photo collection.
Recently, Amy Price, the grand niece of celebrated Mandarin artist Memphis Wood, traveled from Atlanta to view our current exhibit, Memphis Wood Revisited. Bringing with her scrapbooks Memphis kept chronicling her life's work, museum staff as well as exhibit co-curators Dr. Elizabeth Heuer and Nofa Dixon were delighted to view previously unseen images of Memphis in her element. The Museum also received a significant archival contribution from Camille Adams Helminski, daughter of famed watercolorist Lee Adams: a sizable collection of slides documenting his travels and reference images for select paintings. This month, archives volunteers will utilize the Jacksonville Public Library's Memory Lab to digitize each photograph and slide.
This behind-the-scenes work is foundational to Mandarin Museum's mission to share the stories of the community's history, culture, and natural resources. And we are both grateful for and honored to have the public's trust as we preserve these cultural assets for future generations.
September also marks the final month of the Museum's current fiscal year. Your support - whether in the form of membership purchase, attendance, volunteerism, an annual or one-time donation, planned giving, or corporate sponsorship - has also been foundational to our mission. We thank you for an organizational record-setting year in all of these areas!
As we close out the fiscal year, we have one more goal to achieve: celebrating our 35th anniversary! If you haven't purchased tickets to our upcoming dinner yet, limited seats remain. Do not miss your opportunity to be a part of it all! (Scroll for event details.)
But until then and as always, I'll see you at the Museum!
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----Brittany Cohill
----Executive Director
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Throughout the entire month of September, visit Museum Guest Services to enter for your chance to win this one-of-a-kind Mandarin Frog created by Don "Frogman" Bowden!
It is free to enter! One entry per visitor.
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Memphis Wood Revisited is on display in the Stowe Gallery at Mandarin Museum and is hosted in honor of MOCA Jacksonville's 100 year celebration.
Curated by UNF Associate Professor of Art History, Dr. Elizabeth Heuer, and UNF Assistant Professor Emeritus of Art and Design, Nofa Dixon, the exhibition explores the decades-long career of famed fiber artist and longtime Mandarin resident, Memphis Wood.
Experience the color and shapes that brought Memphis "the keenest joy."
Special thanks to the University of North Florida, John & Diane Bunker, and Vina Schemer for supporting curation through loans from their private collections.
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First Saturday @ the Museum
Saturday, September 7
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.
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Located just down the road from Mandarin Museum & Walter Jones Historical Park, the historic Mandarin Store & Post Office will also be open to visitors (12471 Mandarin Road). Admission is free. | |
Meet the Maple Leaf Divers
Saturday, September 7
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Maple Leaf Shipwreck Gallery
Meet the men who dove the Maple Leaf Shipwreck! In 1864, the Union steamboat Maple Leaf was sunk by a Confederate mine just off Mandarin Point in the St. Johns River.
In the 1980s, Dr. Keith Holland and his team located and excavated the site. Now a designated National Historic Landmark, the nearly 3,000 artifacts his team recovered have been entrusted to the State of Florida for preservation. Mandarin Museum displays many of these artifacts through a long-term partnership with the State Archives.
The Maple Leaf Divers will be in the gallery from 10:00 am to noon, this Saturday, September 7th. This is an informal, conversational-style event. Drop in to hear their story of discovery, recovery, and preservation.
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2024 Fundraising Dinner: Celebrating 35 Years of Mandarin Museum
Thursday, September 12
6:00 to 9:30 pm
Blue Bamboo Canton Bistro
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society is thrilled to host its 2024 annual fundraising dinner on Thursday, September 12th at Blue Bamboo Canton Bistro. Honoring the Museum’s 35th anniversary, the evening will be a true celebration of our decades-long love for the community and the incredible impact of our mission over time!
Exciting silent auction items include:
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A private boating excursion for 4 with the Maple Leaf divers
- An after-hours cocktail party for 25 at Mandarin Museum
- 2 tickets + parking pass for FSCJ Artist Series presentation of Mama Mia!
- An evening for 2 at the Jacksonville Symphony
- Congaree and Penn Ecotour, Farm animal meet & greet
- Fine art, Zoo tickets, Escape Room outing, and more!
Proceeds from the event support Mandarin Museum's quality programming and operations.
Tickets are available online and at Museum Guest Services. Limited seats remain!
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Cocktail hour sponsored by | |
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Thank you to our growing list of generous event sponsors!
Dr. Edward N. Cohill, USN (Ret.)
Patrick Plumlee and Laura D'Alisera
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Third Thursday Lecture
Dr. Elizabeth Heuer, UNF Associate Professor of Art History
Thursday, September 19
6:30 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Community Club
12447 Mandarin Rd.
In conjunction with the Memphis Wood Revisited exhibition, Dr. Elizabeth Heuer will present Memphis Wood: Threads of Modernity. Dr. Heuer will examine the art of Memphis Wood within the context of the Studio Craft Movement’s rise in late 20th-century America. Focusing on fiber arts, we will explore Wood’s work alongside that of celebrated artists such as Mariska Karasz, Sheila Hicks, and Anni Albers. Their contributions will be situated within the broader contexts of post-war art movements, providing a comprehensive understanding of their impact and legacy.
Mandarin Museum will remain open until 6:30 pm that day to allow guests to stop in and view the exhibit before continuing on to the lecture at Mandarin Community Club.
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Special thanks to Endless Summer Roofing Co. for generously sponsoring our Fall 2024 Third Thursday Lecture Series! | |
Mandarin Frog Painting
Saturday, October 5
10:00 am
Museum Front Lawn
Please email info@mandarinmuseum.org to register.
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Music Under the Oaks
Sunday, October 6
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Museum Front Lawn
Music Under the Oaks, held in partnership with the North Florida Folk Network, returns in October after its summer hiatus.
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Exhibit Opening Reception
Evolution in Clay: A Vina Schemer Retrospective
Thursday, October 10
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Stowe Gallery at Mandarin Museum
The groves and rural character of Mandarin drew Vina Schemer to the area in 1965. Amidst this backdrop, she made her mark as an innovative studio potter and photo-ceramist, influencing and likewise drawing influence from her friends Charlie M. Brown, Memphis Wood, and fellow members of the Crown Craftsmen. Mark your calendar now for the opening reception celebrating Evolution in Clay: A Vina Schemer Retrospective.
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"Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin" Sculpture Unveiling
Sunday, October 13
3:00 pm
Museum Front Lawn
The community is invited to this monumental occasion as we join with artist Brenda Councill to unveil her life-size bronze sculpture of Harriet Beecher Stowe in Walter Jones Historical Park. More details are forthcoming.
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Third Thursday Lecture
Dr. Guy Prentice, Archaeologist, National Park Service (retired)
Thursday, October 17
6:30 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Community Club
12447 Mandarin Rd
Dr. Prentice will present Andersonville Revisited: An Archaeological and Historical Study of the Civil War's Most Infamous Prison Camp.
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Available at Museum Guest Services! The young (and young at heart) will enjoy our new FREE Scavenger Hunt that leads guests through our exhibits and Walter Jones Historical Park. Check off each item on the hunt and return for a sweet treat at Museum Guest Services.
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Mandarin Museum's volunteer archives team recently began processing a collection of documents and objects for inclusion in our permanent collection. Acquired over the years by the late Jean Morrow, who was considered one of Mandarin's first historians, a notable item sheds light on the lives of Mandarin residents in the late-19th and early-20th centuries: Dr. Henry A. Coleman's ledger.
Dr. Coleman (1837-1908) was born in South Carolina and is buried in Mandarin Cemetery. He served as a surgeon in the South Carolina Infantry of the Confederate Army during the U.S. Civil War. Following the war, he relocated to Florida and settled in Mandarin in 1878. The Coleman House - in which he lived with his wife, Harriet, and daughter, Essie - still stands on Loretto Road at the south end of County Dock Road. Dr. Coleman had a busy practice, seeing patients in his home office or at their own homes when necessary. He also sold medicines, and recorded births and deaths with the county.
A page from his ledger relates medical services rendered to William F. Monson and his family. Mr. Monson built many of the early homes in Mandarin, as well as the Mandarin Store and Post Office. He was a relative of Jean Morrow.
A cursory examination reveals not only an exchange between two prominent Mandarin residents in 1902, but also the cost of medical care and the types of medicines available at the turn of the century. The beautifully stylized logo demonstrates early-20th century aesthetics in graphic design. While Dr. Coleman's penmanship appears influenced by the Spencerian method of handwriting popular in the United States from about the 1850s to the early 1900s.
Do you have photographs, documents, objects, or art tied to Mandarin's history that you'd like us to consider for the museum's collection? If so, please email archives@mandarinmuseum.org.
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Update! We're one step closer to installing artist Brenda Councill's "Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin" in Walter Jones Historical Park. The concrete foundation is in place and will be fully cured by the time Harriet arrives in early October. The project honors her life and legacy, and in particular, her devotion to accessible education for the newly freed following the U.S. Civil War. | |
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Thank you to those who committed their support to making "Harriet Beecher Stowe in Mandarin" a reality.
Orange Blossoms | $25,000 – $34,999
Rosamond Warren Allen
in honor of her great-great grandmother, Harriet Beecher Stowe
Mandarin Oaks | $10,000 – $24,999
Rosemary McCorkle
Emily and Lawrence Lisska
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
Cheryl S. Cummer
Eric and Naomi Gillis
John T. Foster, Jr.
in memory Sarah Whitmer Foster
Robert Pearce and Family
in memory of Gillian Pearce
Lee and Mindy Hanna
James C. and Nancy Capps Hoover
in memory of the Hoover and Capps Families
Ferrigno Family
in honor of Hope Ferrigno
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
Janelle and Bill Watson
Derek D. and Francis M. Igou
Dr. Ian MacKenzie Farnham
Rotary Club of Mandarin
Friends of Historic Mandarin | up to $2499
Bhide & Hall Architects
Matt Carlucci Insurance Agency, Inc.
Pam Neumann
in memory of Dave Neumann and Ed Ralph
John and Leyda Cooksey
Carol Hazouri
Deborah Harmon
Jim and Renee Waler
Jay Caffey
Mel and Sheryl McNichols
in honor of Sandy Arpen
Dale Rohlfing
Billy and Judy Morrow
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Barker, IV
Virginia B. Barker
Steve and Kathy Rawlins
Elizabeth Meux
Peggy and Bill Armstrong
Carol and Jeff Anderson
Byron and Marsha Peacock
Rev. and Mrs. Roger L.D. Williams
Claire King
Bonny Councill
Jeff and Carrie 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
Anne Morrow
Leslie Anderson
Stacy Anderson
Evalyn Campbell
John and Kathleen Holler
Payson J. Tilden
Thomas Entenza
Sherry Cavanagh Cantrell
in memory of growing up in Mandarin
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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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 2024 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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...enjoy life's simple pleasures!
Longtime Mandarin Museum volunteer Roger Sallas helped us celebrate Worldwide Play Music on the Porch Day, held annually on the last Saturday in August. Seen here playing his harmonica, Roger is a regular at our Music Under the Oaks program. You can also find him at the Losco Winery Log Cabin during First Saturday @ the Museum each month. Roger is a wealth of knowledge and kindness!
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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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