A mural depicting the legendary moment when Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter is nearly finished.
Painted on the north wall of Budweiser Gardens, the mural depicts a photo of the famous engagement at London Gardens.
During the concert on Feb. 22, 1968, Cash stopped the concert to propose to Carter in front of a crowd of 7,000, saying he wouldn’t sing another song until he got an answer.
The mural is being painted by Kevin Ledo, a mural artist based out of Montreal, whose work includes murals of Canadian legends such as Alex Trebek in Sudbury, Ont., and Leonard Cohen in Montreal.
“It’s an honour to be attached to the history of a great moment,” Ledo said.
“I’ve always been a fan of Johnny Cash, so when I was asked to paint (him) I was super excited.”
Ledo adds that while he wanted to keep the “Man in Black” in black for the most part, he wanted to have the colours around the two overlap like spotlights on a stage would.
“So when one colour overlaps another, it actually gets lighter, and if they’re all on top of each other, then it turns white.”
Throughout the process, Ledo has been assisted by Dave Todaro, another artist from Montreal.
Andrew Gunn, whose company specializes in private sector funding for community projects, says Ledo’s use of realism and colour will bring a “splash of colour” to Dundas Street.
“It’s really important to make the effort to go and see what artists have done in the past (in person) and make sure the style is the right fit,” Gunn says.
“We had seen the one of Leonard Cohen and the one of Rosa Parks in Detroit and just thought (Ledo) was the right person.”
Ledo and Gunn have worked together before to paint a mural in St. Thomas of MLB player and St. Thomas native Jack Graney earlier this year.
“He’s excellent to work with … and now there’s this (mural) here, so he’s really leaving his mark on southern Ontario.”
Natalie Wakabayashi, director of culture and entertainment at Tourism London, says the mural got its start when Cash’s official Instagram posted a photo of the proposal.
“They posted it on February 22, 2022. Andrew Gunn and I called each other immediately, we both saw it and thought this has to be a mural somewhere,” she says.
Gunn and Wakabayashi felt Budweiser Gardens was the right site for the mural, with the old arena falling out of use in recent years.
“Budweiser Gardens serves the same meeting place and community connecting hub that London Gardens did so many years ago.”
Wakabayashi adds that the mural will be a perfect background for concerts and events hosted at Dundas Place.
“I think also gives a little bit more incentive to want to place things here when you look down the street, now there’s this really striking colour and artistic beautification that’s put on the building.”
Weather permitting, the mural is expected to be completed by Thursday.
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