The Outings Project has officially made its way to the Jacksonville community.
The project, explained as “a global participative project, initiated by Julien de Casabianca, a French visual artist and filmmaker. Anyone in their own town can go to their museums, take pictures of portraits with their phones and set them free,” has officially introduced itself to Jacksonville and local art fanatics as well as art professionals who have recently moved to Jacksonville – are excited to be showcased.
This past Saturday, a small group of art fanatics involved with the project, put up six prints of figures found in paintings in the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens’ permanent collection on walls in downtown Jacksonville. By doing this, the project added another city to the list of those involved with the Outings Project, moving initiatives farther than they predicted would occur right now.
Another artist, Dolf James, who has been involved with other public art projects and was the driving force behind the creation of the CoRK Arts District in Riverside, has recently been made aware of the Outings Project and suggested it to Hope McMath, director of the Cummer, as a great project to take part in.
And it’s a great thing that James thought to mention it, as McMath stated that, “we have had an interest since our 50th anniversary in 2011, in putting our images outside the museum and onto the streets.” Previously, those at the museum had thought that pulling off something like this would be too time and cost consuming.
According to James, “the response has been just fantastic,” and as a result, they plan to add more copies of the museum’s artwork to the walls of downtown Jacksonville this weekend. If you are moving to Jacksonville and you are an artist, an art teacher, or even just an art fanatic – be sure to check out the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens and other Jacksonville art galleries that now allow the Outings Project or photo sharing of the art that is displayed.