Gallery at Main

Celebrate our community's deep pool of creative talent with us on the first Wednesday of each month in Downtown Jacksonville! The Main Library stays open until 9 p.m. for the festivities! We are conveniently located directly across from James Weldon Johnson Park, one of Art Walk's two major hubs of activity. Not only that, there is usually local art on display, zinesters meeting and collaborating on the first floor, tabletop gamers doing one-shot adventures, and special drop-in activities going on in the Teen Room.

Celebrate our community's deep pool of creative talent with us on the first Wednesday of each month in Downtown Jacksonville! The Main Library stays open until 9 p.m. for the festivities! We are conveniently located directly across from James Weldon Johnson Park, one of Art Walk's two major hubs of activity. Not only that, there is usually local art on display, zinesters meeting and collaborating on the first floor, tabletop gamers doing one-shot adventures, and special drop-in activities going on in the Teen Room. Don't forget to pick up a Map & Guide to the Main Library on your way in! You'll find murals and other public art, a huge vintage map collection, and more!

A Visual Testimony: The Jazz Jam Photography Collection is making a stop at the Gallery at Main, Jacksonville Public Library's gallery space located on the first floor of the Main Library from August 2 through September 24.  

Get inspired by the imaginative artwork of local school children! The Best of Elementary Art Show will be on display at most of your local libraries starting March 21, 2023.

The 2023 Northeast Florida Scholastic Art Awards Gold Key Exhibition opens Saturday, February 11 and runs through March 7. You'll be absolutely floored by the hundreds of "Gold Key" (or first-place) paintings, photographs, sculptures, and other mixed-media masterpieces on display. You might even need to make more than one trip. At the very least, you'll need to visit the galleries on the Library's first, second and third floors just to see everything!

It's not everyday a city celebrates its Bicentennial! That's why Jacksonville Public Library is so pleased to host the "Jacksonville Past and Present" Bicentennial Art Exhibition featuring the work of Jax artists from June 1 through June 30 in the Gallery at Main Library. Six finalists will be announced at the Opening Reception on Wednesday, June 1 during Art Walk (6 - 8 p.m.). Light refreshments will also be served. The Best in Show, Second and Third Place, 3 "Judges' Recognition" and $2000 in prize money will be awarded on the main stage at the Bicentennial Street Festival & Fireworks event on Saturday, June 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Riverfront Plaza.

Add "supporting young artists" to your list of reasons for visiting the Main Library this April and May! 

Jacksonville Public Library and Duval County Public Schools are partnering once again to bring the Best of Middle School Art Exhibit to the Gallery at Main. The show opens to the public on Saturday, April 22 and runs just three weeks (through May 13).

The 2022 Northeast Florida Scholastic Art Awards Gold Key Exhibition, which features award-winning artwork by middle and high school student-artists from across eight counties, is coming to the Main Library! Hundreds of "Gold Key" (or first-place) paintings, photographs, sculptures, and other mixed-media masterpieces will be on display on the first and second floor Saturday, February 12 through Saturday, March 5.

UPDATE: If you missed seeing this in-person, you can still check out the virtual exhibit here. 

This Spring, Jacksonville Public Library will have had the unique pleasure of hosting “The 2021 Best of Elementary Art Show" and "The Best of Middle School Art Exhibit." These annual art shows are extra special this year, after having been cancelled by the pandemic last year. Not only that: students and teachers had to overcome a lot of obstacles in their art-making when COVID safety protocols changed how art was taught in the schools. The Elementary art show wraps up April 14 and the Middle School art exhibit starts April 17 and runs through May 9.