Decorating your home in a cool and airy style will make it fit in with the environment. For a finishing touch, why not support some local artists and add some pieces of Jacksonville art? This part of Florida has a vibrant art scene, with serious artists doing world-class works. There are no throwaway beach scenes here. Instead, you’ll find artists working in such diverse media as charcoal, sculpture, collage, and oils. Shop either the classic downtown area or the bohemian Five Points to find the perfect original works for your home decor.

Downtown Jacksonville

The downtown area north of the St. John’s River and east of I-95 has a large cluster of art galleries and artists’ co-ops. The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and other entities have sponsored Off the Grid, a partnership that enables artists to turn vacant storefronts into galleries and work spaces. Off the Grid galleries are helping to fill a downtown area already populated with dozens of venues.

This diverse neighborhood offers such unique shops as Architectural Accents & Antiques, which offers salvaged architectural pieces from the 17th through the 19th centuries. If you’re looking for stark realism, pick up a charcoal original at the Adrian Pickett Gallery. You can even find one-of-a-kind gifts of etched glass and stone at Aly Cat.

Five Points

If there is a true spiritual home for Jacksonville art, it’s the Five Points area. This casually mixed neighborhood of bohemian, hippie, artistic, and New Age sensibilities is the natural environment for local artists to gather and settle. Five Points is home to dozens of restaurants, independent businesses, and artist galleries and shops. If you’re looking for original works of art in every medium, you’ll find it here.

Within the area of a few blocks, you’ll find diverse galleries such as Burrito Gallery, The Art Center Cooperative, and Flat File, all of which feature both prominent and obscure Jacksonville artists, shown on a rotating basis. You’ll never see the same art two months in a row here, so the shopping is always fresh. R. Roberts Gallery shows such world-class work as paintings by Matisse and new works by Dimelza Broche.

Even the restaurants and coffee shops are part of the art scene here. Almost all the independent businesses serve as mini galleries, with local art pieces decorating the walls. Almost everything on the walls is for sale, as well; simply ask a server and you might score a fabulous painting along with your latte.

Photo Source: stock.xchng

[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[/cf]