Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens - Jacksonville, FL
N 30° 18.902 W 081° 40.622
17R E 434908 N 3353888
The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, also known as the Cummer Gallery of Art, is located in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Waymark Code: WMJNA0
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 12/08/2013
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THE PLACE:
The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is a public museum located in Jacksonville, Florida. The museum focuses on portraying European and American artistic paintings. The museum also has a large collection of Meissen porcelain. On January 25, 2010, the Cummer Gardens were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Museum opened in 1961 on the grounds of the former residence of Arthur and Ninah Cummer. There are three flower gardens on the museum grounds, the oldest dating back to 1903. The permanent collection of the Museum currently includes over six thousand works of art dating from 2100 B.C. to the 21st century.
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THE PEOPLE:
Arthur Cummer, born in Michigan, met Ninah May Holden at the University of Michigan. After studying mechanical engineering for three years, Arthur left the university to enter the family lumber business, which by then had expanded to Florida. The couple married in 1897 and moved to Jacksonville where Arthur worked for the Cummer Lumber Company, later becoming President. He served as director and vice-president of Barnett National Bank, as vice-president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, and as director of the Children’s Home Society of St Luke’s Hospital. His numerous interests included the National Recreational Association, the Boy Scouts of America, the Evergreen Cemetery Association, and the Home for the Aged of Jacksonville. Privately he collected antique weaponry, bequeathing more than six hundred pieces to the University of Michigan. His wife, Ninah, established The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens upon her death in 1958. It is important to note that after Arthur passed, Ninah began actively purchasing art for the future museum.
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Ninah Cummer (1875-1958) was an avid educator and promoter of gardening and horticulture through lectures, publications and consultations, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, which originated in her English Garden.
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