[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUcaErlGKHA[/embedyt]

Hemming Park is no stranger to art installations. On Tuesday, three UNF student’s sculptures were added to the park’s scenery.

Stephen Magyar’s “Sunshine Mimosa,” Olivia Warro’s “Deer” and Jennifer Peek’s “Histor-Tree of Jacksonville” have found their home in Jacksonville’s historic Hemming Park. These sculptures were chosen from a group of eight, and originally, only one sculpture was supposed to be displayed in the park. However, three sculptures caught the eyes of the judges, who were a committee of people from UNF, MOCA and members of the downtown Jacksonville community.

Each artist was given $1,000 to work with in order to make their sculpture happen. Also, if someone becomes interested in buying one of the sculptures, the artist gets 100 percent of the money.

“It’s pretty surreal,” said Stephen Magyar when asked how it feels to have a sculpture at the park. “The whole process has taken about a whole year, from inception, to making a maquette, and having to put it up against all the other ones.”

The three sculptures will be on display until June 2020. At that point, they will be replaced with new sculptures. This is all thanks to the local organization, Friends of Hemming Park, which launched a partnership with UNF to give advanced sculpture students an opportunity to display their work while enriching the lives of Jacksonville residents and the city’s visitors with visual pieces of art. The partnership will continue on for another 5 years.

__

For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact [email protected].