Arts & Culture in Jacksonville
Northeast Florida's arts institutions range from a nationally accredited fine-art museum in Riverside to one of the largest intact historic downtowns in the state. Several carry designations that put them in a small national club, not just a long local history.
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Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Located on the St. Johns River in Riverside, the Cummer is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums — a status held by fewer than 5% of U.S. museums — and pairs its permanent collection with historic gardens designed by Ellen Biddle Shipman.
Ritz Theatre and LaVilla Museum
Built on the former Ritz Theatre site in LaVilla — once known as the "Harlem of the South" — the museum and performance hall is dedicated to African American history and culture in Jacksonville, operated by the City of Jacksonville's cultural affairs division.
Alhambra Theatre & Dining
Operating since 1967, the Alhambra bills itself as the oldest continuously running professional dinner theater in the United States and the only professional resident theatre company in Northeast Florida; USA Today readers voted it the best dinner theater in the country in 2025.
Riverside Avondale Historic District
Riverside-Avondale's historic district is among the largest in the state on the National Register of Historic Places, protecting thousands of homes spanning Prairie, Colonial Revival, and Mediterranean Revival architecture from the early 1900s.
Lightner Museum
St. Augustine's Lightner Museum occupies the former Hotel Alcazar, one of railroad magnate Henry Flagler's Gilded Age resort hotels, and holds a collection of 19th-century fine and decorative arts assembled by publisher Otto C. Lightner.
Fernandina Beach Historic District
Downtown Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island is a National Register historic district covering roughly 2,470 acres and about 300 Victorian-era buildings, first listed in 1973 and expanded in 1987.