In 1994, Thomas Glover envisioned creating a sculpture garden for the community. Alongside his wife, Marianne Lerbs, he collaborated with artists Harold Locke, Gary Terbugge, Deborah Olivieri, and Alvin Felch to bring this vision to life. Together, they created a collection of stone and metal works originally intended as a donation to the City of St. Augustine.
While the artists first planned for eighteen pieces, the final collection includes fifteen monumental sculptures. When the City was unable to identify a suitable location for the installation, the artists began exploring other options.
In 2009, the City of St. Augustine Beach offered space at Lakeside Park for the sculpture garden. By 2010, the collection—representing a modern embodiment of the city’s rich history—was fully installed for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Today, the St. Augustine Sculpture Garden at Lakeside Park sits adjacent to the St. Augustine Beach Police Department and City Hall along A1A South. This remarkable collection, appraised at over $750,000, is a valuable gift to the community and serves as a cultural landmark in this historic area.
The park is free and open to the public—everyone is invited to visit, explore, and admire these unique works of art.
In 1994, St. Augustine based sculptor, Thomas Glover White, first had a vision of a sculpture garden in his community. The public art in St. Augustine focused primarily on historical sculptures but Glover White envisioned sculptures that were contemporary and inspired by the environment and the varied peoples who have inhabited his home.
"A group of 21st century art works with historic inspiration from all directions. "(Marianne Lerbs (ArbusMagazine, 2011)) each piece was generously donated by the artists involved. This speaks volumes of the artists but also of Glover White's lifelong passion for creating. His perseverance, and partnership with Renaissance woman, Marianne Lerbs, which allowed the sculptures and inevitably the sculpture garden to come to life."
"Artists never have anything extra. [The garden was] put together from nothing... All of it was a labor of love," Lerbs says (ArbusMagazine, 2011)."
Glover White passed away from a brain tumor less than a year after the sculpture garden was dedicated in June of 2011. In a world full of art for artsake, this sculpture garden will continue to stand as a love letter written over fifteen years by true artists and delivered for our community.