St. Augustine artist talks art, activism and understanding in new series “Where We Stand”

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — What do we gain by slipping into someone else’s shoes and walking around for a while? When put into motion, this empathy-rooted idiom can lead to deeper conversations and more meaningful connections that can bridge the gap between someone feeling alone and someone feeling heard and understood.

St. Augustine photographer Lenny Foster offers people more than just art in his upcoming exhibition “Where We Stand” in honor of Black History Month, he’s gifting fresh perspectives.

Shortly after moving to St. Augustine’s historic Lincolnville neighborhood, Foster said he began exploring its rich civil rights heritage and came across ACCORD’s Freedom Trail.

ACCORD, which stands for Anniversary to Commemorate the Civil Rights Demonstrations, is a non-profit organization that works to commemorate the heroes of the civil rights movement of St. Augustine.

“I started riding my bike in the evenings and I saw the Freedom Trail markers that explained what happened and where. It was a great discovery for me,” Foster explained. “I decided for my own education I would ride around and find these locations and then I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’ll place shoes at these locations depicting people who were there and tell their stories’”.

There are currently 31 sites along the self-guided tour including the 1964 Monson Motor Lodge pool incident—when civil rights demonstrators jumped into a segregated pool at the hotel because the manager refused to let Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his guests enter the Monson Restaurant.

In one image titled “Walking With Dr. King”, empty shoes march down Washington Street toward the Plaza de Constitutión. Dr. King made several trips to St. Augustine to support the movement to end discrimination in the country’s oldest city and gain national support for the passing of the Civil Rights Act.

There were several peaceful marches and protests in the summer of 1964, many of which were met with violent opposition. Some of the violence was captured by news cameras and the public outcry that followed helped pressure Congress and President Johnson to take action to pass the Civil Rights Bill on July 2, 1964.

“(People) are becoming educated as to what happened here and are moved to learn what African American people as a whole have gone through here; to learn why we laugh, why we sing, why we pray, why we march, why we kneel — and why we celebrate,” Foster said.

In 2010, former Freedom Rider-turned-politician John Lewis served as keynote speaker at ACCORD’s fourth annual Freedom Trail Luncheon “Honoring True American Heroes” at the Casa Monica Hotel in downtown St. Augustine. The event was held on the 46th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act.

In the photo “Giant Steps” Foster honors the immeasurable steps taken by Lewis, during his visit to St. Augustine and throughout his lifetime.

Foster says these images are not about him, but the countless people whose names will never be known. “I always ask the people who are depicted, most long gone, ‘What do you want me to see?’ ‘What do you want me to learn?’ ‘What do you want me to say?’ ‘What do you want me to share?’”

“Where We Stand” is a meditation on art, activism, and a search for understanding.

The St. Johns Cultural Council selected Foster’s work for display at the St. Johns County Administration Building, Rotunda Gallery, from Feb. 15 until Apr. 22.

A reception is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 15, with a formal opening on Feb. 16 from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

For more on Foster’s art visit https://www.galleryonefortyfour.com/.

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Where We Stand In one image titled “Walking With Dr. King”, empty shoes march down Washington Street toward the Plaza de Constitutión. Dr. King made several trips to St. Augustine to support the movement to end discrimination in the country’s oldest city and gain national support for the passing of the Civil Rights Act. (Lenny Foster)

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