The Chimes Project: Commemorating Civil Rights history through public art

By Katie Garwood | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Led by Compassionate St. Augustine, The Chimes Project at Robert B. Hayling Freedom Park is a commemoration to St. Augustine’s Civil Rights history. The public art exhibit features interactive chimes, and a bench, crafted by sculptor Joe Segal, called “Toward.” The bench is inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quote “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Flagler College assistant art professor Leslie Robison and her students worked with the incarcerated boys at the St. Johns Youth Academy to create tiles for Segal’s bench. Robison’s students helped the boys design the tiles, as well as complete their drawings.

The project was dedicated April 4 at the site at Hayling Freedom Park. Speakers at the dedication included St. Augustine Mayor, Nancy Shaver, Compassionate St. Augustine Executive Director, Caren Goldman, and Keep Riberia Pointe Green’s, Cash McVay, among others.