The institution long known as the Polk Museum of Art has two new benefactors and a new name: The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art (The AGB) at Florida Southern College.
The 58-year-old museum’s name change resulted from a “transformational gift” from the Nicholas and Ashley Barnett Foundation at the GiveWell Community Foundation, according to a statement from Florida Southern College, the museum’s parent organization. The amount of the gift was not disclosed.
Why it’s important: Alex Rich, the museum’s executive director, said the Barnetts’ gift is “about survival” through an endowment that assures the sustainability of the museum far into the future.
“It keeps the museum being able to grow and do more,” he said after the gift was announced Saturday night at a dinner in the main gallery for around 100 supporters. “This means that we get the opportunity to serve those who come through the museum for free every single day of the week, to learn through art and arts educational programs, and for us to be here for generations to come. It is the biggest moment in our history since the founding of this museum and to tie that in with our expansion ahead is very exciting.”
Previous identities: The new name, which takes effect immediately, is the fifth since the organization was founded in 1966 as The Youth Museum of Imperial Polk County. Subsequent renamings were Polk Public Museum (1969), Polk Museum of Art (1983) and Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College (2017).
Nicholas Barnett, the 32-year-old grandson of Publix Super Markets founder George Jenkins, said he surprised his 33-year-old wife with the honor as “a meaningful way to recognize her dedication to the arts and their impact on our community.”
Who is Ashley Gibson Barnett?: On Instagram, she describes herself as “Fashion Forward Mom. Philanthropist. Entrepreneur. Creative.” Just last month, she was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
Ashley Gibson Barnett said she became involved in the arts while growing up in Zephyrhills, encouraged by her mother, an educator and school administrator.
“I played instruments; I danced competitively. We did a lot of visual arts and I got into photography and then actually worked as a travel photographer and won some photography awards,” she said
She is owner of Barnett Creative LLC and is a member of the Florida Southern College Board of Trustees, the Polk Museum of Art Board of Directors, the Florida Chamber Foundation, and the Friends of Bonnet Springs Park Advisory Board.
Florida Southern background: Like her husband, she is a graduate of Florida Southern College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in economics. She also earned a master’s degree in law and a juris doctor from Emory University.
Florida Southern College President Anne Kerr recalled Saturday night that Ashley Gibson Barnett was student body president at the college. She had “God-given leadership ability” and was the kind of student who sought deeper meaning, Kerr said.
Some of the family’s recent philanthropy includes the Ashley Gibson Barnett & Nick Barnett MBA Outdoor Classroom at Florida Southern College and the Nick and Ashley Gibson Barnett Center for Collaboration at Pace Center for Girls.
The endowment: In the nonprofit world, endowments are typically investments whose proceeds provide perpetual support to an organization’s mission. The Barnett endowment will “support world-class exhibitions, operations, community art and educational programs, expanding the museum’s engagement, accessibility, and influence,” FSC said in a press release.
Rich echoed that after Saturday night’s ceremony: “It will help support operations, programs, exhibitions. It’ll help us to retain and recruit new staff. It’ll help us to be sustainable and for us to be a museum that will be here for as long as we are all here.”
The museum has an annual operational budget of $1.6M, not including costs of exhibitions, Rich told The Ledger earlier this year.
The museum: The nonprofit institution that has rebranded itself as The AGB is the largest visual arts organization in Polk County and has established a larger statewide and regional reputation with recent exhibits featuring the works of artists such as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Auguste Rodin, and Edgar Degas.
Key moments
1966: The Youth Museum of Imperial Polk County is founded as an all-volunteer project by the Junior Welfare League of Lakeland. Its home: a leased former church on Walnut Street.
1968: First professional director hired.
1969: Name changes to Polk Public Museum.
1970: Board of Trustees secure a vacant former Publix store on Palmetto Street.
1982: Ken Rollins becomes director.
1983: Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Name changes to Polk Museum of Art.
1988: Current building on Palmetto Street, which was designed by architect Ernie Straughn, is dedicated.
1996: Dan Stetson becomes director.
2010: Museum affiliates with the Smithsonian Institution.
2012: Claire Orologas becomes director.
2015: Museum removes admission fees.
2017: Museum affiliates with Florida Southern College.
2019: Alex Rich becomes director.
2022: Museum announces a $6 million, 10,000-square-foot expansion that will triple the gallery space and add classrooms and art labs.
2024: Name changes to The Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art (The AGB) at Florida Southern College.
Jenkins family and the museum: Several speakers at Saturday night’s event noted that Publix founder George Jenkins was instrumental in securing for the museum its first permanent home. The George Jenkins Gallery at the museum hosts artwork by Polk County students year round.
“As one of the founders of the museum, I believe this gift brings full circle Mr. George Jenkin’s donation of the property in 1966 for our museum location,” Sarah McKay, Florida Southern College and Polk Museum trustee emerita, said in a prepared statement. “To have it now named by his grandson for his beloved wife is a true testament to creating a legacy of support for the arts in our community.”
The museum is the latest in many buildings, parks and other institutions in Lakeland named for members of the Jenkins and Barnett families.
Last year Nick joined brother Wesley Barnett and father Barney Barnett when they were recognized for their gifts to Florida Polytechnic University of more than $10 million as the university named its second academic building the Barnett Applied Research Center.
The Barnett family also provided the seed funding for the 168-acre Bonnet Springs Park.
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