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 | 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,…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Jacksonville through the lens of Michael Rakim”
November 3, 2021

PHOTO ESSAY | Jacksonville through the lens of Michael Rakim

Introduction by Matthew Shaw | Photographs and captions by Michael Rakim The first time I saw the work of Wesley…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Leighton Hoey’s view from inside Jacksonville’s music scene”
October 27, 2021

PHOTO ESSAY | Leighton Hoey’s view from inside Jacksonville’s music scene

Introduction by Matthew Shaw | Photographs and captions by Leighton Hoey As someone who has spent the last half-decade or…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Tom Schifanella’s hidden Jacksonville”
Did you know that Jacksonville has a waterfall? It's at Bulls Bay Preserve on the Westside. The 1,200-acre park encompasses the wetlands of two tributaries of the St. Johns River, Cedar River and Six Mile Creek. This area was first settled in the 1820s and was once known as “Cracker Swamp.”
October 21, 2021

PHOTO ESSAY | Tom Schifanella’s hidden Jacksonville

Atlantic Beach-based landscape photographer Tom Schifanella trains his lens on Jacksonville’s natural beauty.…