MOCA Jacksonville, the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, fills the historic Western Union Telegraph Building on Hemming Plaza, now James Weldon Johnson Park, right in front of you. Funded and operated as a "cultural institute" of the University of North Florida, MOCA is one of the largest contemporary art institutions in the Southeastern United States and presents exhibitions by international, national and regional artists. Its story begins in 1924, when it was founded as the Jacksonville Fine Arts Society, the first organization in the Jacksonville community devoted to the visual arts.
In 1948 it was incorporated as the Jacksonville Art Museum, and in 1978 it became the first institution in Jacksonville to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. In late 1999 the museum acquired this permanent home and became the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art (JMOMA). In 2000 preview exhibitions opened while the building facade was restored to its original Art Deco style; the interior was completely refurbished to...
The restored Art Deco facade and the newly renovated City Hall anchor this corner of Hemming Plaza—James Weldon Johnson Park—around which the city still gathers, right beside you.