Keywords

Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, University of North Florida, Museums and higher education, University museums, Cultural stewardship, Museum sustainability

Subject Categories

History | Museum Studies | Public History

Abstract

This dissertation utilizes a combination of archival research, qualitative interviews, and data-driven analyses to examine how the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville came under the governance of the University of North Florida (UNF). Founded in 1924, MOCA became a cultural institute of UNF in 2009 during the Great Recession. Tracing MOCA’s reinventions and geospatial movements across Jacksonville, this study considers the ideologies that informed the museum’s development, the locations that defined its service to Northeast Florida, and the financial conditions that necessitated its eventual rescue by a public university. The museum’s challenges are reflective of larger tensions in the public-facing engagement demanded of modern museums, the reality of increasing operational costs, and the practical need for cultural institutions to generate new sources of revenue, support, and advocacy. The regional transformation of Jacksonville—from the centralization of philanthropy, business, and manufacturing to the dispersals associated with urban sprawl and decay—has important implications for the assessment of MOCA’s infrastructure and the role the museum now plays in UNF’s efforts to consolidate its cultural assets. Set against Jacksonville’s shifting socioeconomic landscape, this case highlights how a regional university’s acquisition of a museum offers insight into alternative models of cultural stewardship amid growing pressures on higher education.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Keri Watson

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Texts and Technology

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

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