Hope McMath - It Was All Yellow - Art Museum Director, Artist, Activist

Swan Dive

A descendant of slave owners, former museum director, Hope McMath, spent 23 years at Jacksonville's venerable Cummer Museum of Art. Her abrupt exit five years ago resulted from "push back" against the 2016 exhibit “LIFT: Contemporary Expressions of the African American Experience,” consisting of work by 10 local artists inspired by the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” considered the national anthem of black America. Leading up to the LIFT exhibition, McMath describes her drive to move the needle for social progress in her Deep South community, "I started waking up every day obsessed, and it really was an obsession, with how to use my seat of privilege, both as a white woman and as somebody leading one of our largest cultural institutions ... how to use that to create progress within the city that is my home.” For many in positions of power, the discomfort of facing their community's hard racial truths was simply too much. Hope's willingness to speak truth to power cost her her dream job but liberated her to open The Yellow House, a place "where art + action creates change." The space serves as a catalyst for personal and collective growth, presenting thought-provoking exhibitions, hosting public events, and promoting community dialogue about racial and gender equity, universal human rights, environmental sustainability, and the untold stories of people and neighborhoods that have shaped our history. Yellow House is more than a physical space; it is a hub for educational outreach and collaborations among artists, writers, organizations, and communities. Hope is a much-needed force for good, a cultural leader, educator, formidable artist, and activist whose knowledge of, and passion for, the arts is matched by a strong commitment to social justice.
Photo credit: Tiffany Manning & Arbus Magazine

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