When I first arrived to Jacksonville I met Sean Collins (On Twitter @JaxBeard) at an AIGA Cocktails and Creatives event. In the flurry of business cards and shaken hands his introduction stood out to me especially.
“You should come out to Steamworks,” he said, “Every last Tuesday the Beardsmith Society gets together and—talks about having beards.”
Naïve little newcomer to the beach life me, I decided this was probably the coolest club/society/organization I’ve heard of in a long time. I attended my first meeting and found the crowd great and the beard competition (complete with beard and moustache naming) even better. Founder Sean Collins and I crossed paths again when we both gave Pecha Kucha speeches at MOCA Jax—me presenting my off-kilter comics and he promoting the lesser-known but passionately observed hobby of the beard.
Most recently I had the honor of participating in the Beards and Brushes Art Show here in Jacksonville. Facial hair artworks of every shape and form graced the walls of the Bogda Gallery, just as varied as the beards, just as vibrant as their creators.
If you would like to hang with the Beardsmith Society, check out their new website at www.jaxbeard.com and don’t worry, if you don’t have facial hair, they provide it for you.
