Sister Cities of St. Augustine
November 1, 2024 - February 2, 2025
Sister Cities of St. Augustine Exhibit
November 1 – December 29 (In-Gallery & Online)
The St. Augustine Art Association & Sister Cities of St. Augustine are celebrating 100 years of a relationship between Aviles, Spain and St. Augustine, Florida, and the STAAA’s 100th Anniversary Year! This two-month multi-media exhibits brings two artists and longtime friends, photographer Nardo Villaboy, and painter/sculptor Favila, from Spain to St. Augustine.
The Sister Cities of St. Augustine Exhibit is on display both in-gallery (Tuesdays through Sundays, 12:00 – 4:00pm) and online at any time: November 1 – December 29, 2024.
Gallery is closed November 28 & December 23 – 26.
Amado Favila González Hevia
Painter and sculptor born in Grado, Asturias in 1954. Son of sculptor Amado González Fernández, who started him, from a very young age, in drawing and painting.
1966 – He moved to Avilés, where he would continue to live and study drawing. He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts and at the Academy of Maestro Vicente Santarúa.
1975 – He entered the Faculty of Fine Arts of San Carlos in Valencia, finishing his studies in 1980.
1991 – He was commissioned by the Oviedo City Council to create mural paintings of the bullring. And, by commission of the bishopric, he created the mural decoration of the altar dome mayor of the Criso de las Cadenas chapel.
1995 – He made the image of Santa Eulalia de Mérida, also commissioned by the City Council of Oviedo, which is located on the street that bears the same name.
1996 – He installed the sculptural group titled “Vendedoras del Fontán” in the Daoíz y Velarde square in Oviedo.
1997 – He was commissioned by the Avilés City Council to make the sculpture titled “La Monstrua”, based on a painting by the painter Juan Carreño Miranda, who settled in Avilés on the same street that the sculpture is placed.
1998 – He created two sculptural groups for the Canary Islands, one located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and another in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
1999 – He made two sculptural groups, commissioned by the Avilés City Council. “Livestock Dealer” was created and located in the remodeled Carbayedo park. The other sculptural group represented Marta and María, and was located in a central place in Avilés.
2002 – As teacher at the Avilés School of Arts and Crafts, he received the medal of gold.
2003 – He installed the sculpture of the Count of Campomanes in Oviedo, commissioned by the Oviedo City Council. From February 4 to April 19, the Cajastur Palacio de Revillagigedo Cultural Center in Gijón hosted the retrospective exhibition, “Favila: Four Decades of Painting”
2009 – The Grado City Council, in prior approval by the Governing Board, offered Favila his own street name-sake in the El Palmeral urbanization, in the capital of the county.
2010 – He received the “Adelantado de Avilés” award, given to him by the Brotherhood of El Bollo from Avilés “for his renowned artistic career in promoting traditions and hallmarks of the Avilesian town.”
2015 – He received the assignment to create a painting and a statue of Pedro Menéndez by Don Felipe VI, King of Spain. This artwork was given by the King of Spain to the governer of Florida, Rick Scott.
Nardo Villaboy
Born in Avilés, Spain in 1954. He is a professional photographer, and has contributed widely to the newspapers La Nueva España, La Voz de Asturias and El País, as well as to Interviu magazine, EFE, and Nova Press news agencies. During 1992, he worked on the photographic reports for the International Catalogue of ALSA Company in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom, among other public and private entities.
He is author and photographer of the following books:
Asturias Desde la Noche (1988); Gran Encyclopedia de Murcia (1992); Gijón, Litoral, Ciudad y Concejo (1994); Asturias Desde el Aire (1994); El Orense Perdurable (2000); León, Retrato de la Luz (2004); León al Vuelo (2004); Madrid Desde el Aire (2005); Arousa y el Mar; Morrazo, Miradas Aéreas; Vigo y su Ría; Orense, Paisajes y Ciudades y Monumentos; y Pontevedra, Ciudads y Monumentos (2004). These five books were ordered by the newspaper El Faro de Vigo; Vigo Sorprendente (2005); Castilla – La Mancha la Luz del Quijote (2005); Madrid y su Comunidad Aéreo (2005); Luces y Sombras de la Comunidad Valenciana (2006); Puertas Amigas (2006); Nocturnas. Galicia Iluminada (2008).
He is author, photographer and editor of the following books:
Avilés Desde el Aire (1996); La Otra Luz de Canarias (1997); Oviedo, Noche y Luz (1988); Oviedo Desde el Aire (1999); Los 78 Ayuntamientos Asturianos (2000); Los Estadios de Fútbol Profesional Español (2000); Avilés, San Agustín de la Florida (2001), translated into English as St. Augustine, Florida; Avilés, Spain; Madrid, Plena de Luz (2002) translated into English as Madrid Full of Light; Arte en la Tierra (2004); Esculturas de Oviedo (2005); La Magia de Oviedo (2006); Arte en las Puertas (2007); Ciudades de España Desde el Aire (2007); Asturias Desde el Aire, Una Ventana al Paraíso (2008); Bodegas de La Rioja Desde el Aire (2012); España Desde el Aire (2019); St. Augustine, Avilés a 90 Year History of Two Sister Cities (2015).
He is the researcher and editor of the following books:
Avilés en el Pasado (1993); Cudillero en el Recuerdo (1988); Sobrevivir al Infierno, Memories of a Victim of Nazism (2002); Avilés en el Pasado II (2008); Avilés en el Pasado III (2015); He is the photographer/responsible for the photography of the books: Asturias, Between Mountain and Sea (2016); St. Augustine-Aviles A 90 Year History of Two Sister Cities (2016).
He has also exhibited his work several times in Avilés, Oviedo, Gijón, León, Zamora, Vigo, Orense, Pontevedra, Coruña, Albacete, Toledo, Guadalajara, Santander, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Murcia, Madrid and St. Augustine, Florida (USA).
He and painter Favila exhibited the “Tegesta” collection in Miami.
Programs & Exhibits of the St. Augustine Art Association are funded in part by grants from the the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council, the St. Johns County Cultural Council, and the Community Foundation of Northeast Florida.
