50-Foot Mural of John Lennon Takes Over Central Park Bandshell

CENTRAL PARK, NY — Pedestrians and bikers crossing through Central Park stopped in their tracks to take in an unusual sight Wednesday. For eight hours, a colorful 50-foot portrait of John Lennon occupied the space in front of the park's Naumburg Bandshell.

The 2,500-square-foot painting of Lennon playing the guitar was created and unveiled by Canadian artist Eric Waugh. The painting was a replication of a smaller work Waugh had created the year before, and is called "Imagine Again," the artist told Patch

Waugh was inspired to create a large-scale replication of the portrait when he felt he was in a rut.

"I was going through a depression from what I was hearing on the news," Waugh told Patch. "Anything from politics, to the police shootings to what happened in Dallas. There were just so many things going on at one time and it really got me down."

Waugh said that he started looking through old pictures on Facebook when he found an image of his painting of Lennon. He said he re-shared it with a simple message: "Come on everybody, more peace, more love, let's imagine again."

The painting, which depicts Lennon playing a red guitar and a psychedelic backdrop of flowers and peace signs, took Waugh about 10-days to create, he said. The painting was done in sections on housewrap with Valspar paint and was mainly painted with a brush, Waugh said.

"It was a real workout, I was basically crouched down and this was basically all done with a brush" he told Patch. "I did a couple sections with a roller, but mainly a brush."

Waugh created the mural at a large facility in Austin, Texas belonging to a company called Casa Marco Fine Arts, he said. After completing the painting Waugh rolled it up, put it in his car and drove it from Austin to New York, he said. The drive, which should have taken about 28 hours ended up taking 50 due to harsh weather conditions.

"I guarded that painting like I was a secret service agent," Waugh told Patch. "I had my four-way flashers on the whole drive."

Here's a time-lapse video of Waugh creating the painting:

Waugh said that he received great feedback about the painting from spectators Wednesday and met several fans while hanging out around the installation. Waugh said that he hopes to display the work again in the future and has considered locations such as the United Nations and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

"The goal was for me to inspire people, that was really it. I can't save the world but if I get a whole bunch of other people inspired and they can do a little something to make the world a little better that's awesome," Waugh told Patch. "My idea was to inspire people and bring a little peace and love and kindness to this world that desperately, desperately needs it."

Photos: Patch