After 50 years, Cummer Museum still has a lot in its plans

[thelakelander]

Making the museum look more appealing is a priority on the Cummer’s to-do list. The parking lots are “an eyesore,” Newton said, while “walls of bushes” obstruct the view of the building itself. Perhaps moving the Cummer’s TreeCup Cafe and installing outdoor tables in front of the building would make the exterior more inviting, he said.

“The Sea of the Ear Rings,” the 13-foot sculpture installed in front of the building in 2008, is an identifiable landmark. It is one of the most important acquisitions the Cummer has ever made since “it screams art museum,” McMath said.

But the outside of the building can leave the impression it is home to an engineering firm, not an art museum, said Jim Van Vleck, a board member who recently completed a two-year term as chairman. McMath compared the look to a 1950s high school.

Meanwhile, renovation is ongoing to the Olmstead Garden, designed in the 1930s by William Lyman Phillips of the Olmstead Brothers, who also designed Memorial Park down the street.

Another change McMath said she would welcome would be the extension of the Northbank Riverwalk to the Cummer and beyond.

Probably the biggest project will be completing the renovation of the former Women’s Club, now known as the Lane Building. That expansion project will connect the addition to the Cummer’s main building, constructed on the site of Arthur and Ninah Cummer’s Tudor home in 1961. It has subsequently undergone several expansions to its current 68,000 square feet.

The original plans for the Lane Building, announced early in 2008, would have expanded the Cummer’s size to about 102,000 square feet. But the economy collapsed and fundraising was suspended after $7 million had been raised and exterior renovation completed.

Newton said he expects to resume fundraising for the project, which originally had an estimated cost of $20 million, in 2013. Whether the scope of the project and its $20 million price tag will be the same has not been determined, Newton said. But original plans called for the Lane Building to become an income-producing space suitable for weddings, parties and corporate events. That would free existing space in the main building as gallery space, McMath said.

Discussions also have been held about making Cummer admission free, Newton said. That was actually the case for the first three decades of the museum’s operations. At the moment, the museum is too dependent on the revenue from admissions to make the move, Newton said, but it’s a long-term goal.

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/arts/2011-11-05/story/after-50-years-cummer-museum-still-has-lot-its-plans

[jaxlore]

Wow this is good to hear. Definitely a treasure in Riverside. Wonder if visitor numbers have gone up since the Arts Market has been in effect.

[Tacachale]

Very exiting. It's good to know they still have so much going on.