Cultural Fusion is a collaboration among Jacksonville’s arts and cultural organizations. The hope is that by banding together, our cultural organizations can bring innovative new ideas to the Jacksonville cultural scene. This idea of banding together is important because organizations tend to see themselves as competitors all trying to take a larger piece of the pie than every other organization. Instead, Cultural Fusion is an attempt to break down the barriers between our organizations for the good of the community. By working together toward a common goal of strengthening Jacksonville’s cultural offerings, each organization has the opportunity to flourish, visitor’s expectations are heightened, and the overall community of Jacksonville benefits and is acknowledged as a regional arts destination.
Some examples of programs that have already happened as a result of the Cultural Fusion initiative include:
- The Cummer Museum and Players by the Sea worked together to create a play about the life of Ninah Cummer.
- The Jacksonville Symphony and MOSH collaborated on a performance of Holst’s “The Planets, with a reception and a show at the Bryan Gooding Planetarium prior to the concert.
- The Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens has opened up its member rates to all members of Cultural Fusion organizations for their Zoo Fit exercise class.
- The Jacksonville Public Library is bringing Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried, a novel about the war in Vietnam, to Jacksonville and The Cummer Museum will have an exhibit featuring paintings by Richard Chamberlain, painted after he returned from Vietnam call The Year of the Sheep. Other organizations around town will be doing military themed programs as well.
