She spent decades at Jacksonville’s Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, rising from volunteer to director of the organization.
Now, Hope McMath has reinvented herself after a very public and controversial exit from the Cummer – as head of the new Yellow House, a gallery for socially conscious art and events.
“The arts are a powerful bridge to find common interests,” McMath said. “And there are some buttons that need to continue to be pushed.” You can’t miss the bright yellow building at 577 King Street, just north of the CoRK Arts District warehouse.
McMath has kept the space humming with exhibitions and community gatherings. She’s expert in this, after 22 years at the more traditional Cummer Museum. McMath stepped down from that role in 2016 after some complaints about a Cummer exhibit called “LIFT: Contemporary Expressions of the African American Experience.” It featured work by 10 local artists inspired by the famous song, “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” written by Jacksonville natives James Weldon Johnson and his brother Rosamund Johnson. The tune is
renowned as the “black National Anthem.”
The current exhibit at Yellow House, “Voices Unearthed,” runs through May
19. Learn more at yellowhouseart.org.
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First Coast Connect and the most compelling voices of the First Coast!
