Public Art: Obelisk Art 450
2015 is the city of St. Augustine’s 450th anniversary, and in commemoration, Compassionate St. Augustine, with a grant from the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, has created an extensive international public art project. 25 white obelisks modeled on the Monumento a la Constitucion on St. Augustine’s Plaza de la Constitucion have been transformed into unique artworks throughout the city in Saint Augustine’s first public art project, similar to Jacksonville’s manatee public art project or the cow project in Chicago.
Artist Heather Blanton and Xavier 'Javi' Brunet, Milltop Tavern Courtyard - Castillo de San Marcos, Credit © Inspired by Hope Photography
The Compassionate St. Augustine site tells us,
“Artists were encouraged to imaginatively interpret the sites' story lines and the four foundational values to the monument originally dedicated in 1813: Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights and Compassion.”
See the original obelisk, Monumento a la Constitucion on St. Augustine’s Plaza de la Constitucion, below.
Credit © compassionstaugustine.org
Display sites were selected for their historical significance related to compassion.
“It could either be where something particularly compassionate happened or also where something horrendous happened so this would be a part of the healing,”
Caren Goldman says on St.Augustine.com. This art extravaganza has two main branches, one with artworks created by 25 renowned artists, curated by artist and art organizer Cabeth Cornelius from Jacksonville, FL. The other aspect of the project was the creation of smaller obelisks by 443 local school children. Below you can view two more adult created obelisks and a video on the children’s art experience. Before making the obelisks the elementary school programs (public, private, and charter) participated in a curriculum on compassion. Almost 9,000 children were exposed to the project in some way. Caren Goldman says her favorite part of this pubic art project
“would have to be the success of the project...When you talk about legacy, these students are going to go on and have a different worldview of what compassion is and one that they could not have had any other way.”
The newest version of the children's project, Compassion Through the Eyes of Children 2: Celebrating Our Differences Together, is now underway. Like the ealier children's project it includes a curriculum focusing on history, art, culture, and emotional intelligence as well as a 3D experiential art project. Participants include youth aged 7-18 who are socio-economically challenged and/or physically or mentally challenged as well as student leaders in the St. Johns Country School disctrict. The incorporation of children into these projects is, according to Goldman,
“not only to raise their emotional intelligence but to raise the community’s emotional intelligence too.”
Artist Hiromi Moneyhun, Oldest Wooden School House, Credit © Inspired by Hope Photography
Artist Lucy Clark, Florida School for the Deaf & the Blind, Credit © Inspired by Hope Photography
Compassion Through The Eyes of Children: Obelisk Art 450 from CycleHere Media on Vimeo.
St. Augustine and Aviles, Spain are the first Compassionate Sister Cities in the world. After Compassionate St. Augustine developed Obelisk Art 450,
“Aviles’ mayor and city council followed suit and initiated a temporary obelisk art exhibit in conjunction with ours, during La Nocha Blanca of April 2015, to celebrate the two sister cities' remarkable shared history” (www.compassionstaugustine.org).
The collaboration further involved an artist exchange between the countries, making this compassionate public art project internationally unique. The King and Queen of Spain came to St. Augustine to celebrate its 450th anniversary. One of the children's obelisks was presented as the city's official gift to the royal couple. Goldman says,
“These really beautiful obelisks are a symbol of the history of compassion in this community and beyond that...The symbol stays alive in our psyche; it’s a reminder of the potentiality of compassion to transform first our lives and the lives of people and the world around us...Hopefully other compassionate cities will take on similar projects of their own.”
Prison Outreach: Compassion In Action
There is a new action component of Compassionate St. Augustine with a focus on dialogue, education, and action, called Compassion in Action. The foundational activities of this group are monthly meetings that offer community members opportunities for education, conversation, and action relating to prison reform. This project was started after members of Compassionate St. Augustine studied the book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander.
Credit © newjimcrow.com
The Compassionate St. Augustine site tells us that this text inspired them to ask questions such as,
“If I had made a mistake that got me in jail, how would I want to be treated? If I had a son or daughter in prison, how would I want them to be treated? Would I fear for my son or daughter’s safety? If was a little kid and my mom or dad was in prison, what would help me keep in close contact?”
The site also explains that:
“this is an action group. Every program, participants can take several actions to help our criminal justice system be more compassionate, and contribute to a reduction in crime.”
They are focusing on learning about and responding compassionately to issues such as mandatory minimum sentences, abuse in prisons, and successful re-entry into society for individuals released from prison.
This group is also inspired by the work of artist and activist Wendy Tatter, whose son is in a Florida prison.
Credit © compassionstaugustine.org
On November 9, Wendy Tatter spoke at a meeting with about 50 participants called, 10 Things You Need to Know if Your Loved One is Sent to Prison. This meeting focused on gathering signatures for Florida’s “Second Chance” constitutional amendment on the 2016 ballot which would restore voting rights to citizens formerly convicted of felonies, once they have completed time served and parole.
Warren Clark, artist and member of the Compassionate St. Augustine Advisory Board, initiated the Compassion In Action/Prison Reform initiative. He was also chosen by a professional arts panel to be one of the OA450 artists who transformed an obelisk (below).
Artist Warren Clark, Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archeological Park, Credit © Inspired by Hope Photography
Clark shares that through the prison reform project, he has learned that,
“Florida is one of only three states that does not restore voting rights to felons once time is served and all parole and fines are paid. Instead it requires a difficult and costly process which severely limits the number of persons with restored voting rights... Some 2,000,000 Floridians cannot vote because of this.”
If you are interested in learning more about these projects, you can follow the Compassion in Action initiative on the Compassion in Action page of the Compassionate St. Augustine site, and while you are there, explore the maps and images of the Obelisk Art 450 Tour of Compassion.
-Julia Travers, 2015
