Martha Ferguson is, without question, one of St. Augustine’s pre-eminent, plein air artists. Her paintings have received wide exhibition and can, in fact, be found in private collections throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
But this summer, the award-winning artist achieved something unique among her contemporaries: She produced several works of art while visiting Spain as part of the centennial commemoration for the longstanding relationship between Aviles, the hometown of Don Pedro Menendez, and St. Augustine, the city he founded here in 1565.
Following a call to artists earlier this year, Ferguson was selected to accompany a local delegation to Aviles, which was led by Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, in August. Her inclusion was in keeping with one of the primary goals of the arrangement between the cities, an artistic exchange.
“It was just amazing,” Ferguson said. “It was just a wonderful, unique opportunity.”
The delegation took several local dignitaries to Spain where the relationship began in 1924.
That year, 20 people traveled to Aviles to deliver Menendez’s remains to the church of San Antonio de Padua. It was the first time a city from the United States sent a delegation abroad. In 1967, St. Augustine’s commission approved a resolution to confirm its dedication to goodwill and understanding between the cities.
In 2000, Aviles Mayor Santiago Rodriguez Vega and St. Augustine Mayor Len Weeks officially signed the sister-city agreement. They agreed upon exchanges in numerous disciplines, of which art was one.
The 100th anniversary continued into September as St. Augustine hosted a delegation from Aviles. The visit included free concerts, a street festival, re-enactments and solemn ceremonies.
As Ferguson was a guest in Aviles, an artist from that city, Samuel Fernández Armas, visited St. Johns County.
“He called me his American mother,” Ferguson said, laughing.
Both artists have works currently being exhibited in the Rotunda Gallery of the St. Johns County Administration Building, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine. The exhibit, titled “Under The Same Sky,” will continue through the end of October.
Ferguson, who had previously worked as a travel agent, had never been to Spain previously. Architecture features strongly in her work, and she found the architecture of Aviles similar in some ways to that of St. Augustine but quite different in others.
While visiting Aviles, Madrid and Barcelona, Ferguson produced several works, including plein art pieces created in the actual city streets.
“The Spanish people were so nice and kind,” she said. “I got serenaded by one gentleman!”
Though Ferguson’s paintings of the Nation’s Oldest City tend toward morning scenes, two very striking paintings done in Spain feature nighttime settings. “Evening Calm in the Bayfront” depicts sailboats in the moonlight with the city in the background. One can almost feel the undulating waves’ swells and dips.
The other is a typical night scene at an outdoor café.
“We went out to eat at about a quarter of 8,” Ferguson recalled. “We were starving. And they said, ‘Oh, we don’t open until 8.’ They don’t even get started until 9 or 10 o’clock. We found ourselves eating at 1 o’clock in the morning! But it was fun.”
The Grand Bohemian Gallery, 49 King St., St. Augustine, is featuring several of Ferguson’s works from Aviles through the end of October. During the exhibit opening on Oct. 4-5, the artist did a live demonstration, painting a street scene as visitors looked on.