UNDER THE SAME SKY
AVILÉS & ST. AUGUSTINE, 1924-2024
the St. Johns Cultural Council & St. Augustine Art Association
present an Art in Public Spaces Exhibition
Cover Image: Morning Stroll in Avilés, Spain by Martha Ferguson
Back Cover Image: A Glimpse of History by Linda Sperruzzi
UNDER THE SAME SKY
AVILÉS & ST. AUGUSTINE, 1924-2024
In 2024, the Sister Cities of Avilés, Spain, and St. Augustine, Florida, commemorated the 100th
anniversary of their relationship with events in both countries, including delegation visits to
Avilés and St. Augustine.
A St. Augustine delegation visited Avilés in August 2024 to meet with Spanish officials. Part of
that experience included a cultural exchange between St. Augustine artist Martha Ferguson and
Avilés artist Samuel Fernández Armas. For the first time ever, the artists participating in the
cultural exchange were also part of the official delegation.
Under the Same Sky is co-presented by the St. Johns Cultural Council and the St. Augustine Art
Association. This exhibition features works by Ferguson, Armas, and 15 local artists selected to
participate in a plein air painting event held during the Aviles Street Festival on September 8,
2024.
ST. JOHNS CULTURAL COUNCIL
The St. Johns Cultural Council is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit and the designated local arts agency for St. Johns
County, Florida. The Cultural Council is committed to supporting individual artists and cultural
organizations and to ensuring that the lives of St. Johns County's residents and visitors are enriched
through a variety of arts, culture, history, and heritage experiences.
Learn more about the Cultural Council at StJohnsCulture.com, or visit us at The Waterworks, 184 San
Marco Avenue, St. Augustine.
ST. AUGUSTINE ART ASSOCIATION
Since 1924, the St. Augustine Art Association has promoted excellence in the arts. Located in the
Historic District of the nation’s oldest city, the Association produces monthly juried exhibits of works by
emerging and professional artists and the annual Plein Air Paint Out. The art gallery houses a collection
of Lost Colony art and provides a gathering place for workshops, lectures, children’s programs, concerts,
and special events.
To purchase artwork displayed in this exhibition, visit the Art Association website at STAAA.org or email
Info@STAAA.org. Patrons may collect purchased works after November 1, 2024.
On August 28th, the Spanish fleet spotted land and named it after the saint whose feast day they
celebrated – St. Augustine of Hippo.
Menéndez and his crew returned and landed ashore on September 8th to claim the land for Spain and
officially founded the city of St. Augustine.
Located in the Asturias region on Spain’s northern coast,
Avilés was granted rights as a city from a charter issued
by King Alfonso VI in 1085, and its port would play an
important role in Spain’s economy.
During the Middle Ages, Avilés had a monopoly on the
distribution of salt – the primary method of food
preservation – and the wealth accrued is evident in the
city’s architecture. Merchants and nobles came to Avilés
and built impressive villas and palaces in medieval,
Romanesque, Gothic, and baroque styles still seen today.
In 1564, King Philip II of Spain commissioned Don Pedro
Menéndez de Avilés to conquer Florida and eliminate the
French Huguenot presence at Fort Caroline in present-
day Jacksonville.
AVILÉS, SPAIN
Home of St. Augustine’s Founder, Don Pedro Menéndez
Originally named “The Street of the Royal Hospital,” Aviles Street is America’s oldest platted street. Its
existence is recorded on Baptista Boazio’s map (above), created in 1589, depicting Sir Francis Drake’s
1586 attack on St. Augustine. Archaeologists have uncovered pottery shards in the area dating from the
1660s. Visitors will find some of St. Augustine’s oldest historical sites along the street, including the
Ximenez-Fatio House.
AVILES STREET
America’s Oldest Street
The street was renamed
Aviles in 1924 in honor of
Pedro Menéndez’s
birthplace.
St. Augustine’s original arts
district was founded here in
the 1930s when the
Hamblin Hardware
warehouse at 11 Aviles
Street was transformed
into studio and gallery
spaces. Today, the building
houses four galleries
representing local artists.
In 1924, nine representatives from Florida (including
several from St. Augustine) traveled by ocean liner to
Avilés in the Kingdom of Spain as part of an official
American delegation following the signing of the Treaty
of Paris and the end of the Spanish-American War.
Governor Cary Hardee appointed Colonel W.A.
MacWilliams, Judge Obe P. Goode, Senator A.M. Taylor,
Frederick S. Vaill, Frank Nix, Edward G. Vail, Robert Scott,
John B. Stetson Jr., and Angel La Madrid Cuesta as
delegates.
To strengthen the bond between the cities, St. Augustine
was invited to attend the ceremony to rebury Pedro
Menéndez de Avilés — St. Augustine’s founder — and
received his outer coffin as a gift and tangible link
between the two cities.
1924: St. Augustine Delegation Visits Avilés
The outer coffin was shipped to St. Augustine and is on view at the Mission Nombre de Dios, where Menéndez
and his crew landed in 1565.
The 1924 visit sparked decades of gift-giving between the Sister Cities. In 1967, St. Augustine signed a
resolution to support a relationship with Avilés to create goodwill and understanding. The bond between the
Sister Cities continues to flourish with official visits and cultural exchanges.
Spain’s gifts can be enjoyed by all as public art, like the Pedro Menéndez de Avilés replica statue at City Hall, the
Fuente de Los Caños de San Francisco at the St. Augustine Visitor Information Center, and the Pedro Menéndez
de Avilés ceramic mural just past the Aviles Street archway.
2024: Sister Cities 100th Anniversary
In August 2024, a delegation led by St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline traveled to Avilés to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the 1924 visit. For the first time in the history of the Sister Cities relationship, visual
artists selected for a cultural exchange participated in the official activities of the delegation. These activities
included a wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Pedro Menéndez in Parque del Muelle; a vintage motorcade
procession around the city of Avilés; and the gifting of Somewhere on a Corner in Avilés, Spain, a painting created
by St. Augustine artist Martha Ferguson.
The delegation to Avilés also visited a monument with special connections to St. Augustine, gifted to Spain in
honor of the 200th anniversary of the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
When the Constitution came into effect, St. Augustine was a Spanish colony governed by a royal decree requiring
all towns throughout the empire to construct memorial tablets celebrating the newly formed government. St.
Augustine officials constructed an obelisk monument to display the tablet. The monument was completed in 1813,
but by 1814 the Spanish Monarchy was reinstated. The news reached St. Augustine in 1815, and the local
government agreed to remove the tablet but keep the coquina obelisk, which still stands in the Plaza de la
Constitución.
Spain celebrated the anniversary of the Spanish Constitution in 2012. That year, construction of an exact molded
replica of St. Augustine's Constitution Obelisk began. The replica was presented as a gift to Spain in 2015 during
the 450th Commemoration of the founding of St. Augustine.
mgfergusonfineart.com
MARTHA FERGUSON
S o m e w h e r e o n a C o r n e r i n A v i l é s , S p a i n , o i l
Martha Ferguson is a national award-winning plein air
artist from St. Augustine, Florida. Painting primarily in
oil, she considers herself a modern impressionist.
Martha has a BA in Fine Art from Flagler College and
studied at the Art Student League in New York City.
“From the quaint streets of St Augustine to the
golden landscapes of old Florida, I am inspired every
day to paint. In awe of the beauty of north Florida, I
am fortunate to share my vision through art while
documenting precious moments in time.”
Ferguson has participated in several prestigious invitational paint-outs and juried art
shows. She is represented by the Grand Bohemian Art Gallery and Butterfield Garage
Art Gallery, both located in St. Augustine.
Martha’s paintings in this exhibition were painted en plein air in Avilés, Spain during the
St. Augustine delegation’s visit. Morning Stroll in Aviles is the featured image on the
front of this catalog. Somewhere on a Corner in Avilés, Spain was gifted to Avilés as
part of the cultural exchange.
S p a n i s h L a y e r s
S o m e w h e r e o n a B a r s t o o l i n S p a i n