Matthew Shaw Arts & Culture Editor
Matthew Shaw is a writer, editor and musician. His writing has appeared in Folio Weekly, Edible Northeast Florida, The Surfer's Journal, and SURFER Magazine, and he's reported on national stories for The New York Times. He was previously editor in chief of the Void Magazine.
Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Feb. 24-26”
Winterland V headliners (clockwise from bottom left) Jacuzzi Boys, Sudan Archives, The Dandy Warhols, The Nude Party, Gustaf and Os Mutantes perform in Downtown Jacksonville this weekend, alongside nearly two dozen local and regional artists | Credit: Press photos courtesy of the artists
February 22, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Feb. 24-26

The Dandy Warhols headline a free fest; a new Cummer Museum exhibit opens; and a piano quartet kicks off the…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Feb. 17-19”
Duval singer and rapper, and member of local hip-hop collective L.O.V.E. Culture, Ché performing at last year's JWJ Hip Hop Festival. Ché hosts this year's fest, which honors the late Paten Locke | Credit: Courtesy of JWJ Park
February 15, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Feb. 17-19

Visual art at the Beaches, jazz and blues in St. Augustine and hip hop in Downtown Jacksonville are this week’s…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Feb. 9-12”
Headliners for this year's Discover Fort Mose Jazz and Blues Series (clockwise from left) Christian McBride's New Jawn, Mavis Staples, Rhiannon Giddens, Christone Ingram, Gladys Knight, Valerie June | Courtesy of the artists
February 8, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Feb. 9-12

Live jazz and blues, a local painter’s solo show and the Jax Symphony’s pipes are this weekend’s Arts Picks.…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Feb. 3-5”
Seattle's the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio visits the Ritz Theatre this weekend | Credit: Courtesy of the artist
February 1, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Feb. 3-5

Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend.…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Jan. 27-29”
MOCA Studio View. | Credit: Photo by Casey Van Dyke
January 25, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Jan. 27-29

Piano performance, a solo art show and a bike tour of Downtown are this week’s Art Picks.…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Jan. 20-22”
Credit: Michael Rakim, cropped, courtesy of the artist
January 19, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Jan. 20-22

Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Friday and…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Jan. 13-15”
Press photograph of bass prodigy Michael Feinberg | Credit; Courtesy of the artists
January 12, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Jan. 13-15

Two chances to appreciate jazz and a bit of Disney magic are on tap this weekend in Jacksonville.…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Jan. 6-8”
As evidenced by the streaming numbers for his music, Beaches-based singer-songwriter Corey Kilgannon is one of the most popular independent artists working in Jacksonville today. He plays Blue Jay Listening Room on Sunday. Credit: Jacob Cummings, courtesy of the artist
January 5, 2023

ARTS PICKS | Jan. 6-8

Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend.…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Dec. 16-18”
Credit: Courtesy of the Jacksonville Symphony
December 14, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Dec. 16-18

Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Friday Print…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Dec. 9-11”
December 7, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Dec. 9-11

Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Friday Milagros:…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Dec. 1-4”
Courtesy of the artist
December 1, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Dec. 1-4

Every Friday, Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Thursday-Friday…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Nov. 18-20”
Credit: Courtesy of CoRK Arts District
November 17, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Nov. 18-20

Every Friday, Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Friday…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Nov. 11-13”
Credit: Courtesy of Jacksonville Dance Theatre
November 10, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Nov. 11-13

Every week, Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Friday…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Nov. 4-6”
November 2, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Nov. 4-6

Every week, Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Friday…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Oct. 28-30”
Don’t Blame it on ZEN: The Way of John Cage & Friends, Installation view. Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Curated by Jade Dellinger, Director of the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at FSW September 2021-January 2022.
October 27, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Oct. 28-30

Every Friday, Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the weekend. Tonight…

Featured image for “ARTS PICKS | Oct. 21-23”
October 21, 2022

ARTS PICKS | Oct. 21-23

Every Friday, Jacksonville Today Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw shares his top 3 arts and culture picks for the…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Eastside Jax ‘on the right path’”
KaCheryl Gantt, born and raised on the Eastside, is the sole proprietor of the Avenue Grille on A. Philip Randolph, and has simultaneously run the kitchen and cash register for nine years. “It’s been good actually for me,” she says, referring to the 2019 announcement of a new soccer stadium to be built nearby. “Everyday it’s been getting better. I didn’t even have to close during Covid.” Because her family owns property close to the construction site, Gantt stands to gain from the eventual opening of the stadium. But it’s the citizens of the Eastside that keep her restaurant going. “As long as I have the support of the neighborhood, I don’t see myself leaving.”
August 31, 2022

PHOTO ESSAY | Eastside Jax ‘on the right path’

Photos and captions by Dennis Ho | Editing by Matthew Shaw | Intro by Jessica Palombo The Eastside, or Out…

Featured image for “Public art in bloom — yes, even at the Duval Courthouse”
Rendering of "These Truths," a public art installation set to be installed in front of the Duval County Courthouse in 2023. | Credit: Image courtesy of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville
March 13, 2022

Public art in bloom — yes, even at the Duval Courthouse

The Duval County Courthouse is certainly a sight to behold. With its precast concrete and steel facade, the 800,000-square-foot, seven-story…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | The Skyway in Transit”
Jamar Gassett was making his way downtown from Kings Station in San Marco. Standing in the parking lot, he heard the train approaching and ran up to the platform, just making the train before the doors closed. He was looking for a job and explained that he has a son to support. “Right now my son is acting up, and I’ll take anything.”
February 16, 2022

PHOTO ESSAY | The Skyway in Transit

As the pace of development in the city’s urban core continues to ramp up, Jacksonville’s Downtown is beginning to look…

Featured image for “Painter Richard Heipp forces us to see the world, and his art, anew”
"Reliquario De Santi Cosmos (Medici, 1691)," 2020 by Richard Heipp courtesy of the artist
January 26, 2022

Painter Richard Heipp forces us to see the world, and his art, anew

In Wes Anderson’s new film, The French Dispatch, Julian Cadazio (a huckster of substantial means played by Adrien Brody) is…

Featured image for “How 4 Jacksonville artists made it to Miami Art Week”
Long Roads Project booth at Untitled Art in Miami featuring works by Jax-based artists Dustin Harewood, Mark Creegan, Tony Rodrigues and Hiromi Moneyhun | Credit: Photograph courtesy of Long Road Projects
December 16, 2021

How 4 Jacksonville artists made it to Miami Art Week

It’s just after 5 p.m. on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Artist and Professor Dustin Harewood dons a paint-splattered denim apron…

Featured image for “3 local photojournalists frame up the First Coast in ‘Last Coast’”
"Blue" by Malcolm Jackson is on view at the Lark as part of the group show of photography Last Coast. The image was inspired by the movie Moonlight, says Malcolm Jackson. "I chose to shoot it near the Talbot Islands off Heckscher Drive because of the the area's ties to the Atlantic slave trade. I felt a Black woman was best subject for this because nobody has a better combination of power, grace and resilience." | Photograph courtesy of the artist
November 30, 2021

3 local photojournalists frame up the First Coast in ‘Last Coast’

The term First Coast is synonymous with Jacksonville and its four surrounding counties: Clay, Nassau, Baker and St. Johns. A…

Featured image for “In ‘Age of Cognizance’ 3 Jacksonville artists explore their individual identities through collective consciousness”
A composite image of Ricder Ricardo, Mimi Tran and Kirsten Williams for the show 'Age of Cognizance' on view at the Yellow House | Art by Ricder Ricardo
November 22, 2021

In ‘Age of Cognizance’ 3 Jacksonville artists explore their individual identities through collective consciousness

The Age of Cognizance, which opened this month, is the Yellow House’s first in-person exhibit in nearly two years. A…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Downtown Jacksonville dresses up for Toni Smailagic”
Kalypso Couture owner Michael Armanno in front of his new downtown storefront on Laura Street.
November 10, 2021

PHOTO ESSAY | Downtown Jacksonville dresses up for Toni Smailagic

Introduction by Matthew Shaw | Photographs and captions by Toni Smailagic When Toni Smailagic brings out his camera, it seems,…