Ninah Cummer's bequest became the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, your stop in Jacksonville. This museum in Jacksonville was founded in 1961 after the death of Ninah Cummer, who bequeathed her gardens and personal art collection to the new museum. The institution has since expanded to include property once owned by Ninah's brother-in-law, yet it retains her original garden designs and a portion of her home with its historic furnishing.
Each year the museum and gardens welcome about 130,000 visitors. Inside, a permanent collection of over 5,000 works spans from 2100 BCE to the twenty-first century, with particular strength in European and American paintings and notable holdings of Meissen porcelain. The grounds include three flower gardens, the oldest dating to 1903, which have preserved their original layout for over a century and were designed by landscape firms such as the Olmsted Brothers and Thomas Meehan & Sons.
The museum's award-winning education center, Art Connections, offers interactive installations and serves underprivileged and special education students. Layers of art, history, and cultivated gardens settle in around this museum and the grounds spreading beside you.