FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jacksonville, Fla. (June 3, 2025) – Travis Joyal has been named the communications director at Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP), a position that has not previously been part of the organization’s internal staffing structure. The role fills a need that RAP executive director Shannon Blankinship identified as imperative as the nonprofit expands its focus on preservation, arts & culture, placemaking, and support for neighborhood merchant districts and small businesses.
Joyal’s responsibilities will focus on both RAP and the Riverside Arts Market (RAM), the weekly arts and farmers market that RAP began in 2009 and continues to operate today. His work scope will center around formalizing and directing the marketing efforts of RAP and RAM by way of developing a strategic communications plan that includes internal and external communications, public relations, media strategy and outreach, member and partner relations, strategic planning, content creation, story development, and advertising.
He joins RAP with a career that expands over 20 years, all in Kansas City, MO, including time at agencies both as a partner and owner. His experience
includes management of various marketing strategies and tactics for clients such as Kansas City Restaurant Week, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Disney On Ice, Crown Center, UnitedHealthcare, Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, and the Kansas City Originals. He has been an Avondale resident since 2020 and spent the last five years in smaller, consulting roles.
About Riverside Avondale Preservation
The purpose and mission of Riverside Avondale Preservation, Inc., colloquially known as RAP, is to preserve, enhance, and celebrate the historic fabric, arts, culture, local businesses, and public spaces of the Riverside and Avondale neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Fla. The weekly Riverside Arts Market, under the administration of RAP, is hosted every Saturday under the canopy of the Fuller Warren Bridge from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine.
###
