Mennello Museum of American Art

Noted American Impressionist painter Frederick Carl Frieseke moved to northeast Florida in 1881 at the age of seven. Along with his father and sister, they lived in Floral Bluff, then outside the Jacksonville city limits, but now centrally located across the St. Johns River from downtown. The young boy was enchanted with his new surroundings. His family stayed four years before returning to Michigan. Although he would not return, Frieseke never forgot his time on the First Coast. In his mid-40s, while living in France, he created a series of watercolors and paintings inspired by his childhood. Hear about Florida through Frieseke’s eyes from Holly Keris, the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens’ J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver Chief Curator.

Holly Keris is the J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver Chief Curator at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.  She has been with the Cummer Museum since 2003, where she stewards the institution’s cultural assets. Holly strives to bring the Museum’s permanent collection, exhibitions, and historic gardens to life for the broader community every day, as places of respite, inspiration, and conversation.

She received undergraduate degrees in History and Humanities from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and a graduate degree in the History of Art from the University of Virginia. She is also completing a Certificate in Organizational Behavior through Harvard University’s extension program.  Prior to joining the staff at the Cummer Museum, Holly worked at the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, and for the City of Orlando’s Public Art Program.  She also spent three years as Curator of Collections at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach.

.