Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, Ph.D., Director and CEO of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, is our 2024 READ to Heal Award Honoree. The READ to Heal Award recognizes someone who embodies the importance of healing in all forms – intellectually, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Healing brings our community together and unites us in support and respect for one another, and the READ to Heal Award honoree personifies the intersection of healing and literacy.
Dr. Brownlee relocated to Jacksonville in 2020 and has since served as the George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. She previously served as the director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art for nearly 20 years and is currently one of only seven African American general art museum directors in the country.
Dr. Brownlee grew up in a reading family and developed a love for reading early in life. An avid reader to this day, Dr. Brownlee is also an accomplished author, and she has received several academic, professional, and scholarly awards. She has curated and co-curated many exhibitions and is widely recognized for her leadership and influential publications.
As Dr. Brownlee shared with Jeremy, our fictional Jeremy’s Journey storyteller, for her book, she is humbled and honored to receive the READ to Heal Award from READ USA. “It is truly a privilege to lead the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. The Museum is increasingly leaning into its role as a community hub for well-being, wellness, and healing. I represent an extraordinary team that is committed to ensuring that the Cummer is a resource that brings communities together in Jacksonville and beyond. Our team is also focused on growing the Cummer into a nationally recognized institution.”
Under Dr. Brownlee’s leadership, the Cummer Museum has embraced collaborative partnerships to promote hope and healing, including a partnership with Jacksonville Arts & Music School (JAMS). JAMS students wrote a book about friendship, trust, and collaboration set in the Cummer Gardens. “Excerpts from The Book of Lost Magic were made into a story walk,” Dr. Brownlee shared. The two-part project is dedicated to the legacy of sculptor Augusta Savage, a native of the First Coast. “It was awesome to see a group of young readers working together and becoming writers.”
Dr. Brownlee also shared, “The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens loved partnering with READ USA to create a series of Read Alouds about the meaningful connection between visual and written narratives to students.” She has also inspired by READ USA’s efforts to close the literacy gap in our community, stating, “We’ve got to make sure that by third grade, our children are reading on grade level. It’s critical, and as a parent who is new to this city, I’m so excited that READ USA is working toward that goal.”
We are just as excited to celebrate you and your embrace of art and literacy as mechanisms to improve well-being, wellness, and healing in our community, Dr. Brownlee! We are thrilled to honor you at Peace in the Pages this year and thank you for all you do for our community’s youth!
You can read more about Dr. Brownlee by ordering her Jeremy’s Journey book for $20/copy here.