Art is all around us

It is a gift to live in an area filled with natural beauty. It is also a gift to be surrounded by visual artists in many media who reflect that beauty in their work and in the thoughts and emotions they express through art. Here are just a few examples.

On Sat., Nov. 22, Fringe Fine Art Gallery on Beech Street opened its show of 6x6 works by 70 local artists, each donating a painting. Each work is $100, and sales benefit Micah’s Place. The show of the remaining works will be on display until Dec.7, at which time the remaining paintings will be given to Purple Dove for later sale. Many thanks to gallery owner/artists Carol Winner and Chris Riley for this gift to the community. Congratulations to Chris Skye Schneider, who won first place with her painting, “The North End.” I hope you will stop by this gallery and support this generous local effort.

Fringe Fine Art, winning painting

ARBUS magazine is the art and business magazine for northeast Florida. It is a visual delight. It alerts readers to all kinds of wonderful events in the arts. Online subscriptions are available or you can pick up a beautiful free copy at many arts venues. It comes out bimonthly. The December/January issue features Fernandina Beach’s own Casey Matthews on the cover.

Casey is one of my gallery’s neighbors on S. Eighth Street in the Pelican Palms Plaza. Casey’s studio/gallery is not always open, but when it is, it is a visual treat from floor to ceiling of colors, shapes and textures.

Here is the cover feature about Casey from the December/January 2025/26 issue of ARBUS magazine.

Last weekend, Nov. 22 and 23, was the CoRK Open Studios weekend, a once-a-year event. “CoRK” stands for “corner of Roselle and King” streets in Jacksonville. These converted warehouse spaces have become a hub of creativity.

Inside CoRK

The project was begun in 2011 by Dolf James and Mac Easton. It has grown to cover more than 80,000 square feet of art spaces with plans for expansion. It houses 70 artists. There are special events and shows throughout the year, during which you can experience the space. The big weekend of open studios is scheduled the weekend before Thanksgiving. It anticipates the feast of food with a feast of visual delight.

I try to go every year for the inspiration the event provides. Last weekend, four of us affiliated with Shady Ladies Art filled a car and filled our hearts and minds with the work we saw and the conversations we had with other artists and with each other. The works tend to be more diverse and sociopolitical than the art we see on our island, as are the artists themselves.

Adjacent to CoRK studios is Yellow House, founded by Hope McMath. Here you can read more about the mission and purpose of Yellow House.

Hope is a printmaker. She works and displays there and includes and teaches others in the printmaking process. This place of vision turned reality plays an important role in the arts community and in the issues of economic and social justice issues facing Jacksonville and its environs.

Hope McMath 

There is, of course, much art to see without going O.T.B. (over the bridge). All of our regular venues are worth your visits and your support to keep local art alive and well in our community.

Island Art Association,

Blue Door Gallery,

Atlantic Contemporary and

Plantation Artists Guild and Gallery,

Chacato @chacato2025 on Instagram

and newcomer, The Inkwell Art Bar