The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville, affiliated with the University of North Florida, has announced two upcoming events in October that will highlight local artists and scholarship. Both events are open to the public at no cost and include access to the museum’s galleries.
On October 18, MOCA will hold its Fall Arts Celebration from noon to 2 p.m. The event marks the awards ceremony for the first Jax Contemporary: MOCA Jacksonville Art Triennial exhibition, which features 64 artists from Northeast Florida. It also coincides with the opening of two new exhibitions: Project Atrium: Muralists in Action by muralists Dustin Harewood and Shaun Thurston, and Sebastian Vallejo: Where the Zephyrs Sleep in the UNF Gallery.
During the celebration, five awards will be presented to artists featured in Jax Contemporary. These include the James W. Doyle Prize for Best in Show, second and third place awards selected by MOCA, a Visiting Curator’s Choice award chosen by Adeze Wilford of Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and a People’s Choice award voted on by community members. The event is scheduled during VyStar Free Saturdays at MOCA and will feature live music, refreshments, and a cash bar.
Project Atrium: Muralists in Action is designed as an extension of Jax Contemporary. Led by Shaun Thurston and Dustin Harewood, along with apprentices and students, this exhibition transforms MOCA’s Atrium Gallery into a collaborative mural over several months. Visitors can observe its progress through February 15, 2026.
Sebastian Vallejo: Where the Wild Zephyrs Sleep runs from September 6, 2025 to February 22, 2026. Vallejo is known for artwork that draws on his Puerto Rican heritage using bold colors and symbolic imagery while exploring themes related to Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. Commonwealth.
On October 29 from 7 to 9 p.m., MOCA will host a book launch for The Armory South: The 1924 Jacksonville Woman’s Club Exhibition Rediscovered. Written by Dr. P. Scott Brown—Interim Dean at UNF’s Hicks Honors College—the catalog explores MOCA’s current exhibition of the same name. The event includes a presentation by Dr. Brown followed by a book signing; seats are available on a first-come basis or can be reserved with a pre-order of the catalog.
According to organizers, “The Armory South: The 1924 Jacksonville Woman’s Club Exhibition Rediscovered reassembles core works from a forgotten but seminal Modernist exhibition mounted in March 1924 by the Woman’s Club of Jacksonville and the newly founded Jacksonville Fine Arts Society (now MOCA). Planned to mark the beginning of the museum’s second century in 2025, The Armory South tells several related stories of essential importance to the history of women in Modern art, the introduction of Modernism to the American South, and the ideas and relationships shaping American art in the mid-1920s.”
Dr. Peter Scott Brown has been part of UNF since 2005 and serves on MOCA Jacksonville’s Board of Trustees since 2015.
MOCA Jacksonville is located downtown and is recognized as one of Northeast Florida’s oldest art museums as well as one of only three percent nationally accredited through the American Alliance of Museums as of 2025.
For more information about hours or upcoming programs visit mocajacksonville.unf.edu or call 904-366-6911.
