by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
After Riverside transformed from artsy with a peppering of danger, to artsy with unaffordable real estate, the young and creative types normally attracted to the area were diverted to Springfield and Murray Hill, although Springfield got most of the press. Which is fine by Murray Hill. Their property values are climbing at a steady pace, even if slowed by the current real estate market, and the culture of Murray Hill is finally becoming its own entity.
There has always been The Dreamette, easily Murray Hill’s top landmark, and there is the down home cuisine of Dave’s Diner, if you’re into that sort of thing, but with the addition of Moon River and Aurathai, Murray Hill is really starting to pick up. That’s not to mention the safe but active nightlife that is provided by the Murray Hill Theatre. Almost as if continuing on the family-friendly concept of the Murray Hill Theatre, comes Slacker’s Museum.
Slacker’s was started by, possibly Jacksonville’s youngest entrepreneur, Joy Lee. At nineteen Lee opened the ice cream shop in the Jacksonville Landing. When the Häagen Dazs closed up shop, they still owed the Landing money, and so they left their equipment. Equipment that the Landing allowed Lee to purchase when she first came to them with her idea to take over the ice cream shop. With almost no money and little more than a makeshift business plan, Lee started a business that turned a healthy enough of a profit to pay off all of that equipment in a month and a half.
“I took it as a lottery ticket from God,” says Lee of her success.
Owning that ice cream shop enabled Lee to focus the time she needed on school, pursuing her degree in Art Education, hiring people to run the operation while she was attending classes. All she had to do was call in the orders and pay the bills. As time waned on, she found herself wanting to do more than just the ice cream shop.
“I wanted to start a coffeehouse and I drove all over Jacksonville looking for the right place. Then I found this building and bought it.”
A coffeehouse was her initial concept, but she knew she had to make it something more to draw people in. So she decided to incorporate her first love: Art. Unlike most galleries in town, you won’t see a lot of contemporary art on the walls of the Slacker’s Museum. As an Art Education major, she has an unusual affinity for classical paintings and she displays her personal collection, which she has spent the last year building.
“I shopped around in Jacksonville galleries, but figured I would get plenty of local artists that want to display their stuff, so I went further out and looked in other parts of the state for other kinds of work.”
Lee says she looks forward displaying more abstract expressionism, which is far more popular with people these days, as the local art community participates in her establishment, but for now, the classical pieces are more unusual than one might expect. So the remaining question: why call it a museum instead of a gallery?
“When you see an art gallery you think expensive or exclusive. A museum can consist of anything. Bead work, paintings, or any type of art.”
The other thing that Lee approaches with a reverence nearing art, is her tea. Slacker’s, of course, has ice cream and coffee, and even baked goods that Lee makes herself (the banana nut muffins were incredible), but her true pride rests in their fine teas. Lee sells loose leaf teas, instead of bag filtered teas. Tea houses are common up north, but you don’t see many of them in the South, and Lee went out of her way to make sure she was selling the finest teas of any coffeehouse in Jacksonville.
“In the South there is less knowledge about tea, so I wanted to teach people about something new. My family drinks tea all day long.”
Slacker’s loose leaf tea tastes like no other tea I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried tea all over the country. She recommended a Toasted Rice Green Tea and it was delicious. Forget Liptons or Twillings, this tea is made with filtered water and as soon as the leaves hit that water, the color just explodes into the glass, much like a watercolor, except tastier.
Check out Slacker’s Museum at 1022 Edgewood Avenue South, just East of Post Street or call them at 389-0008 for more details. They are open late to accommodate the Murray Hill Theatre patrons and open early to catch the coffee traffic. Try one of their teas or let them make you a Chai tea latte. Even if you’ve had one at Starbucks or Panera, you’ve never had one like this.
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