An exploration of the lower basin and confluence of the St Johns, Trout and Ribault rivers through sculpture, photography, iIllustration and installation of interdisciplinary works by 6 artists.
Rivers are the connective tissue of the world’s great cities. Like the umbilical cord of Mother Nature, the river provides sustenance to the birth of a city. She delivers nutrients and carries away the waste of the embryo from inception to birth. She remains constant as the organic progression of community life begins and upon which all successive layers of a complex society are built.
The St Johns River and her sisters, The Trout and The Ribault, support the economic backbone of our society with trans-world shipping ports for commercial goods, the oil and gas industry and military bases. They flow through every socio-economic sector of our city, from the poorest backwaters to the poshest marinas and yacht clubs. It is the basis for our tourist trade as an international destination for sport fishing. They have always provided transportation, commerce and recreation equally and without discrimination.
Yet most of the residents of the city see these rivers every day, and simply have no engagement with her in any way.
Now, that the automobile dominates transportation systems for the average person, we are insulated from the natural world by a thin shell of steel and glass. Telecommunication systems seem to have increasingly restricted our awareness of the world around us by placing people in a hypnotic trance of virtual experience.
In this modern world, the River is regarded more as an obstacle of deep mystery or simply a picturesque screenshot, as we speed along on our daily routine in climate-controlled comfort which separates us from our environment.
There are many great rivers in the world. These are ours.
IAM Residency sponsors Th3Rivers Project, an interpretation of the History, Economy and Ecology of the rivers and their impact on us.
For media inquiries please email Brett Waller: brttwllr@gmail.com.
Opening Friday April 9, 2021
Closing Saturday May 29, 2021 Memorial Day weekend
Karpeles Museum
101 W 1st St, Jacksonville, FL 32206
Featured Artists
Th3Rivers Featured Artist: Brett Waller
Brett Waller is an artist, designer and program director of IAM Residency.Born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, he received a degree in Sculpture and Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has worked in Film and Production Design in Los Angeles for 30...
Th3Rivers Featured Artist: Franklin Matthews
Franklin Matthews was born in Jacksonville, Florida, which is not terribly uncommon, but he is of a family that goes back 5 generations in Northeast Florida, which is uncommon. This does not mean so much in any sort of tongue-in-cheek titled sense, but it does hint at...
Th3Rivers Featured Artist: Olivia Warro
Growing up, art class was always Olivia’s favorite and her peers promoted this with paintbrushes and polymer clay. Olivia Warro began her journey at the University of North Florida, where she designed and built a large-scaleJumbo Shrimpsculpture. That same year, 2018,...
Th3Rivers Featured Artist: Greg Chapman
Photography hasn’t always been a part of Greg Chapman's life, it happened by accident. After near fatal car crash he was drawn to photography as a way to keep him busy and relatively sane. He started to see things differently. He was looking for something to keep him...
Th3Rivers Featured Artist: Brian Frus
Brian Frus is an artist and educator. He started working with glass in 1996 and has loved the medium and surrounding community ever since. He currently runs the Glass Art program at Jacksonville University in Florida as Assistant Professor of Glass Art. Notably, he...
Th3Rivers Featured Artist: Clark Lunberry
Clark Lunberry is a Professor in the Department of English at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville, Florida. Along with his interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching, Lunberry creates site-specific “writing on water | writing on air” art and poetry...