A Cappella public art, Jacksonville, Florida

A Cappella public art, Jacksonville, Florida waterfront

June 3, 2026

Design: The Urban Conga

Location: Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Photos: Christopher Brickman

A Cappella is an interactive public artwork that celebrates the individuality and interconnectedness of the many musical voices that have emerged from Jacksonville, Florida, across generations. Located within the new Jacksonville Riverfront Music Garden along the St. Johns River, adjacent to the Jacksonville Symphony, the installation serves as both a tribute to the city’s rich musical heritage and an invitation for visitors to become part of its ongoing story.

Situated within a musical note embedded in the landscape, the flowing form of the artwork draws inspiration from the structure of a symphony. The installation is organized into four distinct sections inspired by the four movements of a symphony, each shaped by a unique tempo, emotion, and theme. Centered on the ideas of motivation, home, love, and freedom, these movements create a sequence of experiences that collectively portray Jacksonville as a living symphony composed of many voices, perspectives, and eras. While each section offers its own atmosphere, they remain connected through a shared narrative that reflects the city’s cultural identity.

Inspired by the lyricism and storytelling found throughout Jacksonville’s musical history, A Cappella transforms song lyrics into an open-ended, interactive experience. Visitors are invited not only to reflect on the city’s musical legacy, but also to actively participate in it by creating new verses of their own.

Developed through extensive community engagement, the project draws from a collection of 84 songs by more than 60 Jacksonville artists spanning the 1920s through the 2020s. Residents helped identify songs and lyrics that resonate with the history, character, and identity of Jacksonville, resulting in a diverse collection of voices and musical styles connected by shared themes that transcend time. The work is also set up to accommodate new artists to be added over time.

Selected lyrics were deconstructed into individual words and short verses that can be rearranged and recombined into countless new compositions. Through the playful act of remixing words from different artists, genres, and decades, visitors can discover unexpected connections while creating their own lyrical expressions. The installation highlights how ideas explored in music across generations continue to resonate today, revealing both the diversity and continuity of Jacksonville’s cultural landscape.

The visual design further expands upon the project’s open-ended approach to play and discovery. Dichroic and reflective panels invite visitors to engage with shifting light, color, shadow, and reflections throughout the day.

Integrated seating areas encourage gathering, conversation, and observation, while a central circular bench serves as a communal focal point, explaining the relationship between the four movements of a symphony and the four sections of the artwork. Together, these elements create opportunities for learning, reflection, and shared experience.

By combining music, play, storytelling, and public participation, A Cappella creates a dynamic environment that honors Jacksonville’s musical identity while empowering new voices, interpretations, and connections to emerge for generations to come.

A Cappella public art, Jacksonville, Florida waterfront – Landscape Design Information

Designers: The Urban Conga – https://www.theurbanconga.com/

Project Title: A CAPPELLA

Clients: City of Jacksonville & Jacksonville Downtown Investment Authority

Designer / Creator: The Urban Conga
Firm leads: Ryan Swanson & Maeghann Coleman

Social: @theurbanconga
Year Installed: May 2026
Location: Riverfront Music Garden, 300 Water St, Jacksonville, FL 32202
Project Size: 437 sq ft

About The Urban Conga
The Urban Conga, an award-winning multidisciplinary design studio led by Ryan Swanson and Maeghann Coleman, AIA, NOMA based in Brooklyn, New York, whose work explores how play can act as a catalyst for community interaction and social activity within the public realm.

Working across the intersections of architecture, urban design, public art, and social practice, the studio focuses on creating inclusive, multiscale spatial opportunities that transform overlooked or underutilized spaces into stimulating environments that encourage curiosity, interaction, and free-choice learning.

Central to the studio’s practice is the utilization of play methodologies as a critical tool implemented not just in the work itself, but within the community-driven design process in which the work is created. The studio examines how participatory design and open-ended spatial systems can help cultivate more empathetic, responsive, and socially resilient environments.

Their work worldwide often blurs disciplinary boundaries, combining elements of landscape design, public installation, architecture, education, and performance to create experiences that invite people to actively shape and reinterpret space together. The resulting work encourages spontaneous interaction and shared authorship, turning everyday environments into platforms for collective exchange and exploration.