ABOUT HOPE McMATH

Hope (she/her) is a cultural leader, educator, artist, and activist whose knowledge of, and passion for, the arts is matched by a strong commitment to social justice and generating positive change in organizations and the community. She connects the arts to community needs including education, accessibility, the environment, wellness, and inclusion and diversity.

A Florida native, Hope earned a bachelor’s degree in visual art and art history and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Jacksonville University. She served at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens for 22 years, the last eight as its executive director. During her time at the Cummer Museum, from her early years as a museum educator through her tenure as director, Hope implemented art programs, education outreach, and facility expansions that increased the Cummer’s relevance and reputation.

Hope’s commitment to using the arts to lift up conversations around education, race, equity, and universal human rights garnered her the OneJax Humanitarian Award (2016), the EVE Award (2012), a Cultural Icon Award from the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville (2016), the Frances Kinne Alumni of Distinction Community Service Award (2017), and the Educational Service Award from the Atlantic Institute (2017).

Hope offers several consulting services for organizations, such as curating exhibitions, guest lecturing and teaching, organizing humanities-based programs, building arts education curriculum, and nonprofit management.

Hope is an alumna of the Getty Leadership Institute and the Chief Executive Program of National Arts Strategies. She divides her time between a variety of organizations and causes including the State of Florida Council on Arts and Culture, TEDx Jacksonville, We Are Straight Allies, the Mayo Clinic Humanities in Medicine Program; in addition to several social justice organizations including #WhiteandWoke, a group of white people standing up for Black lives.

Whether through her work as a cultural leader, an artist, or a community activist, Hope consistently deploys the visual and performing arts to amplify the experiences of others and mobilize communities around human rights.

ARTIST

Hope is a printmaker with a passion for combining images, words, and social comment.  Using a variety of processes including relief printing and letterpress, Hope creates works of art as a means to process the world around her and engage others in conversations around human rights, anti-racism, the importance of women’s voices, environmental justice, and civic engagement.  Several of her series lived first as broadsides, tacked up around Jacksonville in an attempt to bring to light issues she deems important.

In addition, Hope creates public art actions that provide space for community building and sometimes civic critique.  She invites artists and residents to join with her during International Human Rights Day installations and readings, poster and mural making at rallies and marches, and gatherings that lift up the issues and people too often unheard.  She has also created individual art actions that raise questions on the whitewashing of local history.

Hope considers her work as an artist an important part of her overall practice aligned with her passion as an educator, a curator, an activist, and a convener.

CONSULTING

Hope taps into her over 20 years of experience as a cultural leader, museum director, educator, community activist, and artist to support the work of artists, nonprofits and businesses who value the connection between art and community. Hope’s knowledge of, and passion for, the arts is matched by her commitment to social justice and effecting positive change in organizations and the community. Her skillset marries vision and creativity with strong executive and operational abilities. With a large and diverse network of relationships, exceptional communications and interpersonal skills and an unswerving desire to “be the change,” Hope is committed to connecting the arts to community needs including education, the environment, diversity, inclusion and wellness.

PAST AND CURRENT CLIENTS

ORANGE COUNTY REGIONAL HISTORY CENTER – Orlando, FL
CREALDE ART SCHOOL – Winter Park, FL
JEWISH FAMILY & COMMUNITY SERVICES – Jacksonville, FL
FRISCH FAMILY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL GALLERY – Jacksonville, FL
JACKSONVILLE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND – Jacksonville, FL
THE RITZ THEATER AND MUSEUM – Jacksonville, FL
CENTER FOR URBAN EDUCATION AND POLICY AT UNF – Jacksonville, FL
HUMANITIES IN MEDICINE PROGRAM AT MAYO CLINIC – Jacksonville, FL