Experience an evening of powerful storytelling and reflection inspired by Calida Rawles: Away with the Tides. With artist Calida Rawles joining local artists, historians, and community leaders, you’ll hear firsthand how water carries memory, emotion, and history and how those themes shape both Rawles’ artwork and our community’s stories.
The panel will explore Jacksonville’s layered history, drawing parallels between local narratives and Miami’s displaced Overtown community featured in the exhibition. You’ll learn about places like the once-thriving Sugar Hill neighborhood in Jacksonville, disrupted by the construction of I-95 in the 1950s and 1960s, and consider how water, land, and infrastructure continue to shape the social and environmental fabric of our city. This conversation invites you to reflect on how Black communities are reclaiming their stories to heal, rebuild, and thrive.
Panelists:
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Calida Rawles, Artist
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Dr. Alan Bliss, CEO, Jacksonville History Center
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Kandice Clark, Placemaking Manager, Riverside Avondale Preservation
- Ennis Davis, Public Historian, Author, and Principal at Community Planning Collaborative
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Erin Kendrick, Director of Education, Jacksonville Arts & Music School (JAMS)
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Gloria McNair, Manager of Community Engagement & Equity Initiatives, Groundwork Jacksonville
Presented in partnership with the St. Johns Riverkeeper’s Resilient Ribault project, this program reflects the Museum’s commitment to connect arts and gardens to contemporary issues and celebrating the power of community, made possible with generous support from Lauren and Ted Baker and the Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board.
