Sunshine Happy Hour

Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park has made great strides over the last five years to make the park clean, safe and hospitable for our entire community. In addition to the lunchtime programming and weekend festivals and concerts, we have improved the esthetics of the park through our Sculpture Project. Launching in 2019 via a generous gift from Preston Haskell, we partnered with Jenny Hager and her talented sculpture students at UNF Art & Design. Each year until 2024, UNF Sculpture students create three sculptures to be installed in James Weldon Johnson Park for a period of one year. Last year, with the pandemic requiring UNF to discontinue on-site classes, the sculpture student’s work was delayed, but they are finally being installed in the park!

Instead of saying goodbye to our 2019 sculptures, we’d like to retain two of the three sculptures to further enhance the beauty of the park. However, the purchase and maintenance of our sculptures come solely from the funds we raise through our Sculpture Project Fund. Our fundraising goal for this mission is $10,000, which will be utilized for paying the artists for their work as well as new artwork bases and plaques. We invite you to make a donation to our Sculpture Project Fund. It will go a long way to ensure our goal of continuously adding new art to enrich our downtown park.

Here are ways to make a donation:

• Write a check to I-3 Jax, Inc. and mail it to: “Sculpture Project Fund” 214 N Hogan St Suite 114, Jacksonville, FL 32202
• Visit www.jwjpark.wpengine.com/get-involved/ to make a secure donation online.
• Join us at the Sunshine Happy Hour on May 21st at 4pm