Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens: Visiting in 2026

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens at 829 Riverside Avenue is open Tuesday through Sunday and closed every Monday, with a late night until 8 p.m. on Thursdays.

The weekly schedule on the museum's visit page reads as follows (Cummer Museum, plan a visit). Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the Cummer Museum visit, admission, parking and exhibition pages and two City of Jacksonville park pages.

The museum also closes on Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The Cummer Gardens close at museum closing time or at dusk, whichever is sooner, and also close during inclement weather. The Cummer Shop keeps museum hours (Cummer Museum, hours and admission), while the Cummer Café closes one hour before the museum does (Cummer Café).

Two notes for planning. The museum's home page still carries a banner pointing to its 2025 hours (Cummer Museum home page), and the visit page's daily banner read open today from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with free admission from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., which does not match the Thursday 8 p.m. close in the weekly table. The weekly table on the visit page and the frequently asked questions page agree with each other (Cummer Museum FAQ), and the table above reproduces that posted weekly schedule.

General admission at the Cummer Museum is $20 for adults and $18 for students, seniors 65 and older, military and educators, while members and children 5 and under get in free.

General admission includes all galleries, special exhibitions and the gardens (Cummer Museum, hours and admission). The museum's own pages differ on the student age band: one admission table on the visit page lists students as ages 6 to 17 and a second table on the same page lists ages 6 to 18 (Cummer Museum visit page). Tickets cannot be bought in advance; the FAQ says admission is paid at the front desk on arrival (Cummer Museum FAQ).

The admission page lists these free admission opportunities: the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., except for ticketed events; the third Thursday of each month from 4 to 8 p.m.; the first full weekend of each month for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch cardholders; every day for SNAP EBT and WIC cardholders; and Memorial Day through Labor Day for active-duty military personnel and their families through Blue Star Museums (Cummer Museum, free admission days). The same page also still shows older lists with different terms, including a first Saturday window of 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., free second and third Tuesdays from 4 to 9 p.m., a fourth Friday from 4 to 9 p.m., and free Wednesdays for military families described as running throughout 2024. Because those lists conflict, a visitor counting on a free evening is best served by checking the museum calendar for the specific date.

Since September 1, 2026, all Cummer Museum lots use paid ParkMobile parking, with a $10 flat rate on Saturdays and $2 for the first two hours on weekdays and Sundays.

The museum lots sit across Riverside Avenue from the entrance and at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Post Street, and accessible parking is in the Riverside Avenue lot and at the Art Connections entrance between the museum and the Red Cross building (Cummer Museum, parking and directions). From I-95 southbound, the posted route is exit 352-352A to Forest Street, then right onto Riverside Avenue; from I-95 northbound, exit 351A to Park Street, left onto Riverside Park Place and right onto Riverside Avenue.

The parking FAQ updated in September 2026 sets the rates (Cummer Museum paid parking FAQ). On weekdays and Sundays, from 30 minutes before opening to 30 minutes after closing, parking costs $2.00 for the first 2 hours and then $1.00 per hour; overnight, from 30 minutes after closing until 30 minutes before the next opening, it costs $3.00 per hour. On Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the flat rate is $10.00, and a visitor with paid Saturday admission receives a validation code at the front desk for 50% off. Members park free, reciprocal members do not, and a replacement member hanging permit costs $30. Electric vehicles connected at one of the museum's charging stations park free. Parking cannot be bought ahead. Payment is through the ParkMobile app, a QR code on the ParkMobile signs, or a text of Park to 77223 for a payment link, and drivers without a smartphone can call ParkMobile at 877-727-9967. ParkMobile adds a small tax and service fee.

Fall 2026 at the Cummer Museum centers on its 65th anniversary, with a new acquisitions show on view from October 2, 2026, and a Tiffany lamp exhibition opening October 22, 2026.

All dates come from the museum's exhibitions listing (Cummer Museum, current and upcoming exhibitions). Tiffany or Ti-phony? features 45 lamps from the collection of The Neustadt, and the 65th anniversary show pairs recent purchases and gifts with promised works. Several 2026 shows have already closed, including Moment in Time, a set of 115 photographs from the Bank of America Collection that ended September 6, 2026, and Art in Bloom, which ended September 13, 2026.

The home page calendar lists a Fall Garden Concert with The Billie Monarch Band and opening weekend activities for the Tiffany show on Saturday, October 24, 2026, and the Sapphire Soiree, a black-tie gala for the 65th anniversary, on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. (Cummer Museum calendar).

The Cummer Gardens on the St. Johns River include an Olmsted Garden, an English Garden, an Italian Garden and a Sculpture Garden, and they are part of general admission.

The museum's gardens page describes rare horticultural specimens under mature live oak trees, along with reflecting pools, fountains, arbors, antique ornaments and sculptures, and it names the Italian Garden's two long reflecting pools framing a ficus-covered gloriette (Cummer Museum Gardens). The Tours page offers a Cummer Gardens Tour as one of three guided adult tour choices (Cummer Museum tours).

Outside food and drinks are not permitted in the gardens, and the museum has no picnic area for groups (Cummer Museum FAQ). Food bought at the Cummer Café can be eaten in the café, on the patio or carried out into the gardens, reservations are recommended through Resy, and the café sells weekly Friday Night Picnics in the gardens (Cummer Café). Picnic orders close at midnight the day before, pickup is in the café from 5 to 7 p.m., and seating in the gardens is limited, so the FAQ suggests a blanket for the grass.

For a group lunch the FAQ points to two city parks within walking distance, Memorial Park and Riverside Park. The City lists Memorial Park at 1620 Riverside Avenue, between Riverside Avenue and the St. Johns River, with benches, car parking and wheelchair access, and says it was designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm and dedicated on Christmas Day, 1924 (City of Jacksonville, Memorial Park). Riverside Park, at 753 Park St, has picnic tables, a playground, a dog park and car parking, and the City calls it its second-oldest park (City of Jacksonville, Riverside Park).

Guided adult group tours at the Cummer Museum cost $25 per person with a 10-person minimum, and free drop-in docent tours run on Wednesdays from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m.

Adult guided tours run Tuesday through Friday at 11 a.m., noon or 1 p.m. by reservation, with limited weekend tours; the choices are a Highlights Tour of five to six permanent collection works plus the Tudor Room and gardens, a Cummer Gardens Tour, and a Featured Exhibition Tour. Outside-led tours are not permitted, and self-guided groups complete an online form and pay on arrival. Drop-in Highlights Tours are free with admission on Wednesdays and on the second Saturday of each month, both from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. (Cummer Museum, tour information).

School tours run Tuesday through Friday at 10 or 11:15 a.m. from October through May and cost $12 per student, with a 10-student minimum, free teachers and chaperones, and a $50 non-refundable deposit, and groups pay after the visit from a final invoice that reflects actual attendance (Cummer Museum, school tours). The FAQ asks for 2 adult chaperones per 15 students (Cummer Museum FAQ). The FAQ says funds are available for free tours and transportation for Title I and select schools and community organizations in Duval and surrounding counties. The two pages differ on school tour times and length: the Tours page lists 10 or 11:15 a.m. from October through May and says guided in-person tours are 60 minutes (Cummer Museum, school tours), while the FAQ says tours begin at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and last 75 minutes (Cummer Museum FAQ).

The Cummer Museum allows service animals, offers modified tours and adaptive art resources, and has an Art Connections area with hands-on activities for all ages.

The accessibility page lists adaptive art resources, the Women of Vision program, the Arts for All Festival and modified tours, and states that service animals are allowed (Cummer Museum accessibility). Accessible parking spaces are in the Riverside Avenue lot and at the Art Connections entrance (Cummer Museum, parking and directions). The whole museum is open to children, and the Art Connections area offers hands-on engagement activities for all ages (Cummer Museum FAQ).

Visitor Experience answers at 904.899.6007 (Cummer Museum FAQ), and membership questions go to 904-899-6012 or [email protected] (Cummer Museum, membership). Members get free admission and free parking, invitations to member previews, member pricing on programs, 10% off at the Cummer Shop and Cummer Café, and reciprocal admission at more than 200 Southeastern Reciprocal Museums. The visit page sends questions to [email protected] (Cummer Museum visit page).