Riverside Arts Market - Jacksonville, FL

NOW SHOWING - Click below to watch RAM-TV - Your weekly under-the-bridge video.

B-Boy Battle Breakdance Competition was at RAM - Aug. 14, 2010. Find more shows on RAM-TV .

Over 400 attended the 4th Movies Under the Bridge - Sponsorship sought for more!

Last Saturday night over 400 people gathered to watch the final in a series of four free "Movies Under the Bridge". The feature film was Beverly Hills Chihuahua (in honor of National Dog Day). The audience was treated to a pod of dolpins playing in the river, a cool breeze, and spectacular views of the river and city skyline. They enjoyed not only the movie but the musical entertainment before the film, Miss Marie's Kids, a group of teenage singing sensations. The family-friendly series was the first weekly nighttime scheduled program at the RAM site, and, with the enthusiastic response, it was just the first of many more to come.
The movies were sponsored by JaxParks, Jacksonville Orthopaedic Institute, the Riverside Arts Market, Jacksonville Special Events, and Cinemania.

Next Saturday September 4th
Stacy & Kenneth's Wedding at RAM

A real live wedding and everyone is invited!

RAM has had many "firsts", but this one just may take the cake (wedding cake, that is.)
Next Saturday at noon on the River Stage, the first-ever wedding will take place at RAM.
Kenneth Brooks proposed to Stacy McLeod at RAM. The lovely couple loves RAM so much, they decided to get married there!

And they want you to be part of the festivities. So come on down and enjoy one of the greatest spectacals ever presented at RAM. Love is in the air!

Click here to see your wedding invitation.

Riverside Trolley Begins RAM Saturday Service on September 6th

Starting September 11th, the Riverside Trolley will begin service to RAM on Saturdays, and the route will include FSCJ Kent campus, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, and the Shoppes of Avondale. The trolley will run every 70 minutes on Saturdays to provide visitors to the Riverside Art Market another transportation option. The fare is $1.00. Click here for the new September 6, new Riverside Trolley schedule.

RAM Is So Cool that We Offer
this Weather Guarantee

RAM's splendid waterfront location under the shade of the bridge, coupled with the breeze coming off the river, results in a remarkable cooling effect -- RAM has natural air-conditioning!

In fact, we guarantee that RAM is at least 10-degrees cooler than any other outdoor fun spot in Jacksonville all summer long, or your money back!

So phooey on all of you "too-hot-to-go-outside" TV weather persons who forecast hot and steamy weekends -- spend your Saturdays outdoors but in the natural air-conditioning at the market.

RAM is the coolest place in town!

New RAM Display at Jax Airport

Harriet, Brandy and Wayne stand in front of the new display cases they installed in the baggage area at the airport. Over 6,800 people a day are exposed to the colorful images of RAM, on display through the end of the year. Check it out next time you're at the airport..

RAM Factoids for 2009:

RAM sold/gave away over 2,000 pineapples in one day.

RAM had a dog parade, a national break-dance championship, giant puppets, a man escaping from 2 straight jackets and chains while hanging upside down from an 18-foot tower, the Guinness Book of Records juggler, two state-champion magicians, two fire boats shooting water cannons in the river, a bag piper, a barbershop quartet, a body-painted man in a loin cloth playing a didgeridoo, an alligator exhibit, a dancing gorilla, a sitar concert, three full orchestras, zombies dancing on stage, several gravity defying acrobats, 31 clowns in one day, a human volcano, the entire cast of the musical “Hair”, a 7-foot-tall masked magician, 2 human statues, over 20 belly dancers, over 60 dancing children, 4 hula hoopers, a human pretzel, a Viking ship, an Improv troupe, 10 celebrity chefs feeding over 1,000 people free food, a 9-foot-tall stilt-walking beauty queen, 38 different free Children’s Creativity programs, 2 puppet shows, a bubble party, 4 balloon artists, a hip-hop popper, a lacrosse demonstration, H1N1 flu shots provided, an 80-year-old fire truck, a fencing demonstration, a hybrid car test drive, a free health-screening clinic, several live television broadcasts, a Halloween costume competition, a weekly bicycle valet, pedicab service, and a backpack collection drive.

Just a few more reasons why RAM is
"Under the Bridge and Over the Top!"

Pumpkin Chunkin Is Coming to RAM
October 30th

Click here for rules
& details

Located beneath the sheltering expanse of the Fuller Warren Bridge structure, this huge weekend market has over one football field’s covered area and features the work of 160 artists, accompanied by musical entertainment, street performers, food vendors, and a fresh produce market. RAM also provides a dependable and highly affordable marketplace for artists to sell their artwork, in a delightful environment that serves as an inexpensive weekend storefront for their creative efforts.

Exciting New
RAM Art Gallery
to Open on October 9

Dozens of Jacksonville's finest artists will be participating in this innovative art salon with the Riverside Arts Market.

Click here to check it out!

Tune in to First Coast News to hear the announcement on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

Teri Coutu Is the New RAM Director!

Teri Coutu took over the reins as Director of RAM on August 16th.

Teri comes to RAM from leadership positions in the field of health education and wellness, where she focused on branding, media and stakeholder relations, strategic planning, and community partnerships for the Northeast Florida Area Health Education Center and the American Cancer Society. She replaces interim Director and market founder Dr. Wayne Wood, who will remain very much involved with RAM as a volunteer and a member of the RAM Steering Committee.

"Teri is a uniquely qualified individual who brings a perfect array of talents to the RAM Director's job,” said Dr. Wood. “Her roots in the arts community are deep. She has extraordinary business management skills, and she has had rich experience working with nonprofit groups and volunteers. Teri is articulate, bright, creative, and a hard worker. In addition to all of that, she is one of the all-time favorite musicians to perform on RAM's River Stage!”

“RAP received over 75 applications for the Director’s position, but Teri really stood out because of her extensive experience in nonprofit management and her love for the arts,” said Carmen Godwin, Executive Director of Riverside Avondale Preservation, the nonprofit community benefit organization that founded and organizes the weekly market. “We’re all so excited to have Teri come on board. She already has a lot of great ideas about the future of the Riverside Arts Market and how to reach out to new audiences. She is also just a friendly soul who makes you feel comfortable the moment you meet her."

“It is exciting to be a part of such a new and vibrant organization with unlimited potential,” said Coutu. “The Riverside Arts Market is such a vital asset in the community—it is THE place in Jacksonville that entertains, educates, inspires, and encourages the community to come together and enjoy Saturdays by the river! As the Director, I am looking forward to utilizing my business and nonprofit management experience, while promoting music and the arts, which have always been my passion. The dedication of the market's staff, Steering Committee and volunteers really impresses me, and I am honored to be able to work with so many quality people to brainstorm, plan, organize, and implement activities that will further enrich the market and our community.”

2009 Year-End Report for RAM

Clear here to see the Video Highlights of RAM for 2009

RAM has had a spectacular first year. Since its Grand Opening on Saturday, April 4, 2009, the Riverside Arts Market has become one of Jacksonville's most popular free weekend family outings. RAM is a Jacksonville phenomenon and has had a major impact on the city:

» It took 16 years of planning
» For something that did not even exist a year ago, it has made a major change in Jacksonville.
» Economic impact = several million dollars. (The market has had over $1 million in on-site sales, and add to this the salaries, purchase cost of artists' and vendor's raw materials, hotel rooms, sales tax, advertising, printing, stimulus of local businesses, etc., and the three-fold recycling of money in the local economy, RAM has had well over $4 million in local economic impact.
» Over 700 different artists have exhibited at RAM.
»   Nearly a half million visitors have attended RAM. (38 weeks x 15,000 avg. per week. RAM is the largest drawing event in the city.)
» The average price of item sold at RAM is $30 to $50, but some artists have sold work in the thousands of dollars
» RAM has over 150 volunteers that have participated at RAM. 30 of those are semi-regular weekly participants. (38 weeks x 12 volunteers per week x 4 hour shifts per week = 1, 824 volunteer hours). Plus RAM’s steering committee “RAMROD” has put in well over 8,000 hours, pushing RAM volunteers into over 10,000 hours.
» Over 250 different entertainers have performed at RAM.
» Over 100 non-profit organizations have received free exposure at RAM.
» RAM has become one of the top twenty community markets in the U.S. in its first year, and RAM was recognized in USA Today as Top 10 River City Destinations.
» RAM is the largest weekly free outdoor arts and entertainment venue in Florida.
» RAM has become one of the most spectacular public spaces in Jacksonville, if not Florida. RAM has a devoted following of weekly local visitors, and out-of-town visitors have begun choosing RAM as a destination for their vacations (not just a stop on the way to Disney).
» In a harsh economic environment, RAM has provided:
    ° free entertainment for thousands of people, close to home.
    ° employment and income for hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
    ° low-cost storefronts for local entrepreneurs to start, grow, and promote their businesses.
» Exposure at RAM has stimulated hundreds of business opportunities outside of RAM for its artists, vendors, entertainers, and staff members.
» RAM has promoted environmental friendly public activities, including biking and walking to shop, shortened driving distances for shopping and entertainment, recycling, home-grown produce, etc.
» RAM’s success has spun off a growing number of other local markets.
» RAM has stimulated the arts; it has stimulated awareness of the importance to buy hand-made locally-produced products; it has promoted riverfront activities.
» RAM has had dozens of newspaper and magazine articles, hundreds of blog and social media impressions, several national media attentions, and a documentary film.
» RAM has over 1,000 free parking spaces available.