Ormond Beach
Memorial Art Museum & Gardens
Memorial Art Museum & Gardens
Ormond Beach Memorial Art Museum and Gardens
78 E Granada Blvd
Ormond Beach, FL 32176-6534
Ormond Beach, FL 32176-6534
AT A GLANCE: Ormond Beach Memorial Art Museum and
Gardens
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Date of visit
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Saturday, January 207
2018
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Parking
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Limited free street
parking.
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Amount of time needed
to peruse exhibits:
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No more than 30
minutes for the Museum and another 30 minutes at most for the Gardens (“Visit for an hour…”)
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Amount of time needed
for gift shop
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15 – 20 minutes
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The “must have”
souvenir
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An artistically twisted and swirly pen
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Online shopping
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No. If you see it and like it, buy it.
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Kid friendly shopping
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No.
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Kid friendly
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Yes
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Dress code
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Come as you are, but
please dress tastefully.
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Be sure to…..
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Make your own mandala.
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Nearby/other establishments
to visit
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Walkability, general
downtown area / amount of traffic
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The Museum is located
directly facing S. Halifax Dr., which is a busy thoroughfare in Ormond
Beach. It’s walkable, in the purest
sense. However, common sense tells us
to weigh our options before walking anywhere.
Sadly, Florida ranks in the top five states for highest car and
pedestrian incidents.
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Safety, in terms of
type and number of crimes committed in general area
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Generally safe. Lock your car, place your valuables out of
sight, and be aware of your surroundings.
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/1913_Florida_East_Coast_Railway_advert.jpg/250px-1913_Florida_East_Coast_Railway_advert.jpg
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This week’s visit takes us to Ormond Beach, located immediately north of Daytona Beach. This is the fifth town that we’ve visited that benefitted directly from Henry Flagler and the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). Our other visits were to (from north to south):
New
Smyrna Beach:
Sebastian:
Vero
Beach:
Ft.
Pierce:
Delray
Beach:
Add
Ormond Beach to the list of Flagler / FEC towns. Like so many of those visits, the Ormond
Beach Art Museum and Gardens (OBAM) is a small and unassuming space. It isn’t a destination museum, but one of a
part of many things to do in Ormond Beach.
Refer to the map below and this website, Ormond Beach: Florida's Sparkling City by the Sea to appreciate the diversity of Ormond
Beach.
Ormond
Beach Art Museums and Garden (OBAM) mission statement:
“Our mission is to serve the greater
community of Ormond Beach and its visitors by offering exhibitions of Florida,
regional, national and international artists; to advance the appreciation and
awareness of the arts through classes, lectures and demonstrations, and to
develop programs utilizing the Emmons cottage and Memorial gardens.”
I realize that this mission statement reads like
many other establishments the Meet Me in the Gift Shop visited, so I like how
they boiled it down into this statement:
“Come for an hour. Leave inspired”
In
my research, visitor demographics are valuable data to have. Knowing the shopping behavior of this group
should, for the most part, guide merchandise selection. The OBAM is a small museum, and draws its
audience typically from local folks of Ormond Beach. We learn from scrutinizing census data that
this is a 65+ year old female (US census data).
The
next step is determining if differences exist between this typical Ormond Beach
resident has different preference from the average visitor, in general. Again from my research, I constructed a basic
comparison of shopping behaviors dependent on gender. Basically, females go for symbolic goods,
branded merchandise, items that display what is unique about them (the
shopper), and are impulse buyers. They
also view shopping as an enjoyable activity.
Men, on the other hand, don’t.
With
this in mind, let’s take another look at their slogan “Come for an hour, leave
inspired” lives up to the job. The OBAM and its gift shop remind me of the Foosaner Art Museum. and
its gift shop. Both are small museums
with a minimal amount of space for multiple exhibits. When we visited, the OBAM had a lively and
colorful exhibit of mandalas.
What is a mandala?
A mandala is a complex
abstract design that is usually circular in form. In fact, "mandala"
is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". Mandalas generally have one
identifiable center point, from which emanates an array of symbols, shapes and
forms.
Mandalas can contain both
geometric and organic forms. They can also contain recognizable images that
carry meaning for the person who is creating it.
In essence, mandalas
represent the connection between our inner worlds and outer reality. Designing
your own mandalas can be both inspirational and therapeutic.
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| Visitors could design their own mandala, using the template above. This activity is great for children. |
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| Bob takes advantage of the mandala play-station |
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| His completed work. |
Without
stepping foot into the gift shop, I hoped I’d see colorful trinkets, artsy
notebooks, and books about mandalas. I
also wish to see spectacular and outstanding statement jewelry. I was both happy and disappointed in the gift
shop. The bright colors of the sea
glasses necklaces were extraordinary.
Everything else was run-of-the-mill stuff. Regrettably absent of exclusive items, the
majority of the gift shop consisted of those same sea glass necklaces. They’re nice to look at, but are readily
available online. What I thought was
puzzling was a magnet designed to look like a checkered flag, in a nod to
nearby Daytona Beach. It was cute, but
was does that have to do with this museum?
The other perplexing display is located nearby, and consists of
decorative small boxes. Just boxes. Maybe they were for paperclips or safety
pins, but I’m not sure.
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| Sea glass and sea shell jewelry |
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| While I applaud the marketing for upcoming Valentine's Day, I found little that was unique. |
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| Finally, unique artsy tiles! |
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| This jewelry is similar to that of the first photo. Most is easily found online elsewhere. |
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| These were the things behind the glass counter. I had been expecting more. |
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| More beaded necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. |
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| Pedestrian bracelets... |
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| ...and earrings. |
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| I thought the checkered flag magnets were a cute item, but they support the community of Daytona Beach, not Ormond Beach. |
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| Jewelry |
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| Colorful trinkets |
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| Pretty notecards |
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| Blank leather-bound notebooks |
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| This is the "must have" souvenir: twisty / swirly artistics pens. |
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| Boxes. Empty boxes. |
I’ve
noticed a disconnect with smaller museums in stocking its gift store. It’s usually treated as another exhibit,
welcoming visitors to gaze and move on.
I argue that the gift shop shouldn’t look just another display. Merchandising and display are the two areas
of concern that should be addressed before anything else.
Despite
my findings, The OBAM is a mall museum with large community impact. They have memorials dedicated to veterans of
WWII and the Vietnam War that will stop you in your tracks. The Gardens are wonderful to stroll about or
to let young children stretch their legs and run around a bit.
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| Please don't drink the water |
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| Sit for a bit and enjoy this serene and peaceful waterfall |
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| This pound attracts birds, insects and amphibians |
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| A seating area near the waterfall |
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| Why would a botanical garden showcase stumps? Because it's where a nasty invasive species, Brazilian Pepper, grew. The Gardens were educating us on being stewards of our surrounds. |
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| The author, in a pensive mood |
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| A Garden memorial to Vietnam soldiers... |
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| ...and it's inscription |
All
in all, I enjoyed my visit to OBAM. It’s
a wonderful way to kill an hour before or after lunch. It’s gracious courteous and respectful. If I had the chance to chat with Henry
Flagler, I’d thank him for these wonderful Oceanside towns that bring snapshots
of beauty into their communities. Ormond
Beach is another color in the Flagler tapestry.
Final
note: Admission to the OBAM is free, but
cool people donate to these free museums, so slip them $5.00. This will make the lady at the admission desk
smile.
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| This is actually the back door to the Museum, sited so it faces S. Halifax Dr. It's all right to enter here, but the admission desk is at the other side of the Museum. |
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| S. Halifax Dr., steps away from the back entrance to OMAM. Florida doesn't have the best attentive drivers, so PLEASE use caution in this area. |
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