The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM), is the largest museum in Northeast Florida, with a permanent collection noted for Old Master and American paintings; Meissen porcelain; historic formal gardens on the St. Johns River; and Art Connections, a national award-winning art education center.
The Cummer presents to the public a permanent collection of over 5,000 pieces of art, including the world’s largest collection of Meissen porcelain outside its place of origin in Germany. The Museum also provides high-quality exhibitions representing a wide variety of cultures, time periods and genres.
Educational programs are offered for adults and children of all ages and cultures throughout the year through classes held at the Museum and through off-site programs to further serve the community. The Cummer fills the gaps for schools by providing standards-based tours, outreach into classrooms, Free teacher workshops on using arts in the daily curriculum, and the VSA Arts Festival. The Cummer also provides a variety of programs and events including Concerts in the Gardens, Free Tuesdays, lectures, theatrical performances and FREE Family Nights.
The Cummer provides year-round access to historic, formal gardens with related programming to enhance the knowledge and understanding of landscaping as an artistic form.
The Cummer strives for excellence by the highest quality and creativity in exhibition and collection display, educational programming, care and presentation of the gardens, and community outreach.
The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens VSA Arts Festival provides hands-on art experiences and the chance to view original works of art to over 2,300 children with disabilities over a four-day period. Public school students from the surrounding four-counties (Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. John’s) Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program rotate through eight art stops in the museum’s galleries and gardens to create hands-on art projects, view The Cummer’s art collection, listen to live musicians and storytellers, and learn about art appreciation.
The VSA Arts Festival permits all students to participate in the creative process at their individual level of ability. This festival fulfills the need of bringing hands-on art making activities, performances, the work of professional artists and first hand museum exploration to a segment of the population often denied such experiences. The VSA Arts Festival raises awareness of arts education initiatives, the need for cultural access in our community and the power of the arts in the lives of children, their parents and teachers.
It is the hope of the Board and staff of The Cummer to “engage and inspire the entire community by the beauty of our gardens, the reach of our educational programs and the diversity of our artistic offerings.”
Many of my students have difficulty expressing themselves academically but are able to do so artistically. The VSA Arts Festival gives them the opportunity to create beautiful things that are not scrutinized for having flaws, like their school work.
- Teacher Evaluation for VSA Arts Festival
The kids loved the hands on experience- “touching” art. One family of ours has already been back to the museum twice. You guys make art accessible outside of the classroom.
- Teacher Evaluation for 2011 VSA Festival
The festival featured a sense of belonging, creativity, and possibility for our students. They came back with more “can do” and thinking outside the box to get tasks done.
- Teacher Evaluation for 2011 VSA Festival
