Last night Andrea and I went down to the Florida Theatre for 'Art After Dark'.  Several of the local artists there absolutely knocked my socks off!  I'm absolutely unschooled in Art.  I don't know what to look for, but I know what makes me 'feel'; and to me, feeling is the purpose of Art.  Special kudos go to the following artists:

• Grant Thornton - Man your stuff is great!  It's like post nuclear electric candy!
• Nicklos Richards - I love your vision of the hypocrisy and danger that underlies the 'Leave it to Beaver" persona of Conservative America's Golden Age.
• Jonathan Atkins - My favorite pieces look like they walked out of a Lovecraft Novel.  Terrible, but beautiful.  H.R. Giger better keep an eye on you.
• Phillip Chesnick - Dude, the fact that you are still in high school is frecking unreal!  Wow, have you got a bright future...Stunning imagination!
• Ali Isabelle - Ali your work was like walking into a Dr. Seuss landscape at sunset, I loved it and can't wait for your show next week.

So to these artists and the many more that came out to Art After Dark; thank you for sharing your essence.

With that said, Art After Dark, as an organizational venture totally sucked.  For Andrea and myself it was $40.  The halls were too crowded, and I felt trapped in Ponta Vedra Land..."Who told these people how to get downtown?!"  If you want to see the same quality, with more variety, in a more genuine event, check out 'Art Walk'.  Although, I understand the artists were likely to get more sales from 'Art After Dark', then from us locals at 'Art Walk'.  So 'Long Live Art After Dark', but don't look for me there next year.

Andrea and I went to Art Walk on March 5.  It was my first Art Walk, since leaving Microsoft, and it filled me with creative electricity.  The evening was full of fresh experiences.  We especially enjoyed meeting the young artists above ClubTSI.  The evening must have been a bit too adventurous, because I was certain that we passed the NGen Works Studios, during Art Walk.  I'd have bet $50.00 that their studios were right next to ClubTSI.

I've got an appointment on my calendar this Thursday for Refresh Jacksonville and as I recalled, from skimming the announcement, Refresh Jacksonville meets at the NGen Works Studio.  Since I wanted to bike to the Refresh Jacksonville meeting, I decided to take the afternoon and find the NGen Works Studio.

The day was bright and beautiful, if a bit windy and cool.  But with a sweatshirt in hand, I biked Downtown to find NGen Works.  When I got to ClubTSI and the building that I thought housed the studio, I found the following:

Looking like an idiot, in front of an empty building

In fact, I found a ton of commercial space for lease.  What a travesty and what an opportunity!  As soon as I'm building some kind of revenue stream from my business ideas, I'm definitely getting a place downtown!

Back to the story.  So obviously, I had the wrong location.  I used my trusty XV6700 to find their address off NGenWorks.com, then I used Mobile Live Search to get directions to their actual studio, off Hendricks.  Finally, I hopped on my trusty bike and road towards the other side of the river.

 
My Killer Recumbent

I finally arrived at the studio and was greeted by Joey Marchy and Travis Schmeisser.  After offering me a glass of water, which was SO appreciated, we spent a few minutes talking about the creative community in Jacksonville.  These are really bright young business people, and I'm very impressed with the way they present themselves.  At Microsoft, we are taught to always have your 'elevator pitch' ready, but I am really just researching the market; so I wasn't looking to sell or buy any services.  In fact, having a conversation without an ulterior motive was pretty refreshing.

It turns out that it was a good thing I checked out their studio beforehand.  Apparently, the March 27th event is tentative at best.  Thus, I could have been making this exact same bike ride, Thursday evening only to find 2 empty buildings.  That would have sucked!

Anyway, it was an awesome day.  I'm really looking forward to getting to know the guys at NGen works.  They think about the community in much the same way that I do. 

On February 28th, I went to the Town Hall Meeting regarding vehicle access to Huguenot Park.  There are several competing interest groups that will be affected by this decision:

• Locals who live on Heckscher Drive and will be affected by increased daily fees.
• The Audubon Society who is interested in preserving the habitat of endangered birds.
• The Florida Fish and Wildlife experts interested in protecting the nesting grounds of the Sea Turtles.
• The Kite Surfers, my interest group, interested in the ability to drive out to the point and have access to the Lagoon (the Pond).
• The Florida Surf Riders, interested in preserving open access to the beaches.

I was struck by two things during the meeting.

First, I was struck by the self-righteous arrogance of the members of the Audubon Society.  Frankly, I came to the meeting believing that the interests of the Audubon Society must certainly be considered in the decision.  As each presenter from the Audubon Society spoke, I found their demeanor to be haughty.  Instead of providing their recommended plan to the gathered attendees, rather they preferred to state they will work with the City Council to ensure the plan meets their needs.  Well screw that!  A Forum is intended for all parties to discuss the issues, not for a single party to make a public statement and defer debate to a closed audience with the ones in positions of power.

Second, I was profoundly impressed by the locals and shocked by the incompetence of the officials.  The locals know that beach, and you can instantly tell how much they respect her.  The locals pointed out BIG problems with the current plan:

• The number of cones required to demarcate the driving lanes would be impossible to manage, during the changing of the tide.
• What happens to the people that are turned away from access to the park?  Heckscher, a major traffic artery, will come to a stop.
• The habitat pattern assertions cited by the Audubon Society and the Fish and Wildlife were misleading and untrue.

I don't know how the Huguenot Issue will play out.  But I learned quite a bit by participating in my first Town Hall.  I do hope our local officials take the time to listen to the people who actually live near the beach.  They have her (and our) best interests at heart.

Almost forgot, here's a link to the Times Union Article.