Outdoor public art has long been a defining feature of city landscapes, sometimes transcending mere decoration to become a powerful means of expression and connection. Whether in the form of vibrant murals, towering sculptures, or interactive installations, public art invites communities to engage with their environment in fresh and meaningful ways. It has the ability to reflect the cultural identity of a place, provoke thought, and inspire dialogue among diverse audiences. As cities and towns grow and evolve, outdoor public art continues to shape the aesthetic and emotional fabric of public spaces, fostering a sense of belonging while challenging viewers to see the world from new perspectives.
And, it’s something I seek out when I travel as it’s really fun and free to explore and photograph. Below is a list of public art pieces, in town and on Anastasia Island, for you to enjoy.
Sculptures Around Town
“Ex Nihilo, Fragment No. 8”
Artist: Frederick Hart
About: From the Washington National Cathedral Collection, this cast bronze sculpture is considered one of the most important religious commissions in the 20th century. Completed in 1982, Ex Nihilo is Hart’s depiction of man’s birth featuring half-formed male and female figures emerging from the void.
Location: Lightner Museum courtyard
“Father Pedro Camps and the Minorcans of St. Augustine”
Artist: Josef Viladomat
About: The three-quarter-life size bronze sits on a four-foot coquina base. The figures gather around a large cross where Father Pedro Camps raises his hand, blessing the group; a mother cradles a baby; and an old man looks over the mother’s shoulder while kneeling and extending his right hand as if asking for alms.
Location: The west courtyard at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
“Fuente de Los Caños of San Francisco”
About: The masks that decorate the fountain were gifted to the City of St. Augustine by Spanish sister city, Avilés, Spain—birthplace of St. Augustine’s founder, Pedro Menéndez. The masks are reproductions of the faces that serve as water spouts for the municipal fountain (caños) in the San Francisco neighborhood of Aviles. The reproduction was gifted in 2005.
Location: A water featured tucked between the Visitor Information Center and Huguenot Cemetery
The Great Cross
About: Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales landed on the Timucuan Indian village the day before Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles arrived who founded St. Augustine. Father Lopez greeted him when he arrived and is recognized as the first priest who held the first Mass and founded the first mission in what would become St. Augustine and the United States. The 208-foot tall cross commemorates this.
Location: Mission Nombre de Dios
“Heavenly Bodies”
Artist: Enzo Torcoletti
About: The stone and steel abstract sculpture consists of a granite base supporting two vertical white marble slabs, shaped like opposite halves of a female torso. In the space between the marble slabs, there is a small reflective steel sphere. Viewed as a unit, the elements resemble a woman.
Location: A sunken garden in front of the St. Augustine Art Association
“Henry Morrison Flagler”
About: The bronze sculpture of Henry Flagler stands at the entrance to the former Hotel Ponce de Leon, now Flagler College. The sculpture was most likely cast in Rome in 1902 and was erected by the National Railways Historical Society.
Location: Flagler College
“Juan Ponce de Leon”
Artist: C. Bupert
About: A 14-foot white granite pedestal, carved with wreaths and garland, supports the bronze sculpture which is a replica of the original bronze in San Juan, Puerto Rico. St. Augustine sculptor, Adrian Pillars, carved the elaborate pedestal while Dr. Andrew Anderson gifted it to the city in 1923.
Location: In the center of Ponce de Leon Circle
“Let Freedom Ring Chime Project”
Artist: Joe Segal
About: The “Chimes Project,” a major interactive and multi-media art initiative, was designed in partnership with Compassionate St. Augustine; the grassroots organization, Keep Riberia Pointe Green; and the City of St. Augustine. It pays tribute to the city’s Black history, as well as the roles freedom, human rights, democracy, tolerance, civility, and compassion have played in our local civil rights story.
Location: Freedom Park
“Medici Lions – Fiel and Firme”
About: The Bridge of Lions is named for the pair of stone lions at its base on the west end. The Carrara marble Medici statues, named “Firm” and “Faithful,” were created as copies of statues in Florence, Italy. The Bridge of Lions is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Location: Bridge of Lions
Photo courtesy of Shehzad Khan Niazi Photography.
Old Spanish Trail Marker
About: This trail marker represents the zero milestone for the Old Spanish Trail auto highway. Conceptualized in Mobile, Alabama in 1915, this trail would take motorists from St. Augustine to San Diego. Since the popularity of road trips was on the rise, the intention was to encourage tourism along the route.
Location: Visitor Information Center
Photo courtesy of Jason Perrone and Biz 360 Tours.
Pedro Menéndez de Aviles
About: Pedro Menéndez de Aviles is the Ancient City’s founder. A sculpture of him stands in front of the Lightner Museum and the city’s municipal offices. The people of Avilés, Spain gifted the sculpture to the City of St. Augustine in 1972 — it’s an exact replica of the one that stands near his tomb in his ancestral city of Avilés, Spain.
Location: Lightner Museum
“Queen Isabella on Horseback”
Artist: Anna Hyatt Huntington
About: A sculpture of Queen Isabella of Castile sits at the center of the Hispanic Garden on St. George Street. It was donated by Anna Hyatt Huntington—the first woman to have a public sculpture on display in New York outside of Central Park. The Hispanic Garden was completed for St. Augustine’s 400th anniversary.
Location: Hispanic Garden
Sentinel
Artist: Enzo Torcoletti
About: Born and Raised in Italy, Torcoletti moved to St. Augustine to teach at Flagler College. His work explores the human form with abstract figures. Dr. Walter Scott gifted the Sentinel to the college in 2007, the year Torcoletti retired.
Location: Next to Kenan Hall at Flagler College
“Signal from Shore: The Timucuan”
Artist: Richard Weaver
About: Underneath the statue, Native American artifacts from across the Southeast were discovered in 2014. Inspired by the discovery, the sculpture pays homage to the Native Americans and their sacrifices and labors.
Location: In front of the St. Augustine Art Association
Lakeside Park Sculpture Garden
“All Nations Totem”
Artist: Harold Locket and Bobby C. Billy
About: The focal point in the Lakeside Park sculpture garden, the totem is a representation of St. Augustine’s heritage, weaving the story of the Ancient City with the negativity toward Native Americans in Florida. It offers peace and balance to a complicated history.
Location: Sculpture Garden in Lakeside Park
“American Beach” (aka “Bird Beach Bath”)
Artist: Thomas Glover
About: The double-entendre title is fun with “bird” a pet name for the bathing ladies in the piece while also addressing the literal bird bath that sits on top of one of the bather’s heads. The piece connects visitors to art, nature, and history as the sculpture was inspired by Native American drawings of bathers.
Location: Sculpture Garden in Lakeside Park
“Españolas”
Artist: Marianne Lerbs
About: This sculpture includes two figures that represent the first European women to live in Florida. Both have hourglass figures that mimic giant wine glasses.
Location: Sculpture Garden in Lakeside Park
“Flowering”
Artist: Alvin Felch
About: According to Felch, the sculpture’s title comes from reaching your own potential, and from the English translation of Florida. In 1513, Ponce de Leon named his new land, Florida, because of the spring blossoms—they inspired him to pay tribute to Spain’s “feast of flowers.”
Location: Sculpture Garden in Lakeside Park
Sinornis
Artist: Gary Tebrugge
About: The sculpture—part bird, part dinosaur—is just like the mythical Sinornis—a part ancient creature, part modern bird. Consider it part past, part present just like St. Augustine is. Tebrugge, a welder by trade, used his craftsmanship to creatively deliver this piece which resembles the Anhinga, a bird that that lives in Lakeside Park.
Location: Sculpture Garden in Lakeside Park
Spirits of Timucua
Artist: Thomas Glover and Deborah Olivieri
About: This sculpture, a collaboration between sculptor (Glover) and tattoo artist (Olivieri) honors the Timucua culture. Tattooing was a status symbol for the Timucua people—the more tattoos, the higher the status in the tribe.
Location: Sculpture Garden in Lakeside Park
Obelisk 450
“Pillar of Freedom”
Artist: Jim Benedict
About: To commemorate St. Augustine’s 450th year, this pillar represents freedom and our town’s commitment to learning from the triumphant and tragic events of all those years of history.
Location: Fort Mose
“Point of View”
Artist: Dustin Harewood
About: This obelisk celebrating St. Augustine’s 450th year represents four people/groups who would have had different perspectives about Florida’s colonization: King Philip II, the Conquistadors, the Timucua Indians, and the early Black community.
Location: St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church
“Untitled”
Artist: Donald Martin
About: The obelisk is a metaphor for people who struggle to get themselves out of a “pool of prejudice” to create a more just and equitable future.
Location: Historic downtown across from the bay next to what was once the Travelodge where, in June of 1964, a group of civil rights activists attempted to integrate the “whites only” pool. In response, motel management poured acid into the pool. The incident is believed to have been a significant factor in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act a few weeks later.
Monuments
Andrew Young Crossing
Artist: Jeremy Marquis (now CEO of Marquis Latimer + Halback, Inc.) designed this piece in collaboration with Andrew Young.
About: The Andrew Young Crossing Monument is a 25-foot stretch of coquina concrete that depicts eleven bronze footprints walking through five granite bands, each topped with a bronze word that characterizes the civil rights movement. Walking northeast through the monument, visitors will see the words: FREEDOM, NON-VIOLENCE, EQUALITY, JUSTICE.
Location: Plaza de la Constitución
Constitution Obelisk
Artist: Constructed under direction of Don Fernando de la Maza Arredondo
About: Constructed in 1813, the 25 foot obelisk was built from local coquina recycled from other building projects. There is a tabled on it announcing the 1812 constitution which is how the Plaza de la Constitución, the oldest public park in the country, got its name.
Location: Plaza de la Constitución
St. Augustine First World War Memorial
Artist: Charles Adrian Pillars
About: Serving as the base of the American flag pole, the memorial showcases significant dates and portraits of the city’s history while honoring those who fought in the war. Dr. Andrew Anderson, a local philanthropist, donated the piece to the city in 1923.
Location: Anderson Circle across from the Bridge of Lions in historic downtown
St. Augustine WWII Monument
About: The St. Augustine Pilot Club presented the monument in 1946 to memorialize the St. Johns County residents who gave their lives during World War II.
Location: Plaza de la Constitución
St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Monument
Artists: Brian R. Owens and Enzo Torcoletti
About: Honoring local residents who engaged in peaceful protests to advance civil rights in St. Augustine, the monument represent an approximate demographic profile of the foot soldiers. The St. Augustine Foot Soldiers Remembrance Project commissioned the piece and unveiled it in 2011. Owens designed the sculpture while Torcoletti designed the stone base.
Location: Plaza de la Constitución
Waves of Change
About: The St. Johns Cultural Council unveiled Waves of Change in the summer of 2024. The permanent exhibit showcases St. Augustine Beach’s history from the construction of beach hotel to the wade-ins that helped fuel the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Waves of Change will be part of the St. Johns County Black Heritage Trail that is currently under development.
Location: Art Studio of St. Augustine Beach
Mosaics
“Flagler College Mosaic”
Artists: Callie Cheyney, Flagler students, and Delta Fountains
About: The mosaic depicts the historic Hotel Ponce de Leon and was a student project designed by Callie Cheney. She collaborated with 16 other graphic arts students to install the tiles. The piece celebrates the positive impact the college has had on the city.
Location: Hanke Hall at Flagler College
St. Augustine Visitor Information Center Mosaic
Artists: Wendy Mandel McDaniel and Jan Tomlinson Master
About: St. Augustine residents for more than 20 years, McDaniel and Master created this mosaic map of of the city circa 1700. Historically and naturally significant iconography great the millions of visitors who enter the Visitor Information Center each year.
Location: Visitor Information Center
Murals
“Crave”
Artist: Future Friends Co.
About: The interior and exterior murals showcase fresh fruits, vegetables, Florida foliage, and coastal flora making eating healthy fun—and colorful!
Location: Crave – Downtown
The Flamingos and Greetings from St. Augustine
Artist: Future Friends Co.
About: The Local offers an iconic Florida motel experience and commissioned Future Friends Co. to design the murals that surround the pool. The retro Florida iconography gives visitors a nostalgic, local, must-see pink public art experience!
Location: The Local
“Greetings from St. Augustine, Florida”
Artist: Future Friends Co.
About: A love note to the City of St. Augustine showcasing local landmarks, the mural is a gift from Fried Chicken Kitchen, who brightened up the walls where they parked their food truck with vintage postcards. There’s even a memento from the truck in the piece—a rooster weathervane perched above the window on the wall.
Location: 1510 N.Ponce de Leon Blvd., St. Augustine, Florida 32084
“Love is the Answer”
Artist: Christie Chandler
About: In 2016, Rochelle’s owners, Tom and Karen Rochelle, wanted to create a bold work to share with the community. Together with Christie, they arrived at a shared vision that became the Love Mural. Christie completed the 16×30-foot mural in 12 days, putting in 70 hours to bring the vision to life.
Location: Rochelle’s Boutique
“The Mermaid”
Artist: Danny Lee Hammon and John West
About: The tattoo artists created this mural as a nod to the owner’s wife, Sara, who brings feminine energy into the space by sharing it with her own business, Whiskini Bikinis.
Location: Electric Chair Tattoo
Pedro Menéndez de Aviles
Artist: Ramon Rodiguez and the City of Aviles
About: The City of Aviles presented this mural to the City of St. Augustine in 2022 to celebrate their Sisters Cities relationship. The mural incorporates titles crafted by 33 artists including Ceramic Group of Asturias members as well as students and teachers from the Municipal Ceramics School of Aviles.
Location: On Aviles Street just past the arch at the King Street entrance.
Sarbez
Artist: Ryan Kunsch
About: Sarbez owner, Ryan Kunsch, painted this mural on the outside of his grilled grilled cheese, arcade, live music community gathering spot. He wanted the place to attract artists and the best way to do that is through visible, funky art that can be seen from the main drag as you drive by.
Location: Sarbez
Untitled
Artist: Brook Page
About: A bold and colorful mural honoring the area’s native flora and fauna as well as St. Augustine Beach’s surf culture.
Location: St. Johns County Ocean Pier
We thank St. Johns Cultural Council for their research on these public art pieces.
