'The Story Needed To Be Told Again': Local Artist Recreates Iconic Woodstock Bus Ahead Of Event's 50th Anniversary
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Woodstock may be canceled, but the celebration goes on at the New York site of the landmark gathering -- and the replica of an iconic Baltimore bus will be there.
A recreation of the Volkswagen van by local artist Bob Hieronymus will make you think it's 1969 all over again.
Now-famous images of tens of thousands of young people covering the hills of Max Yasgur's farm include one of two people perched on a brightly painted 1962 Volkswagen Van.
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Fifty years later, its exact duplicate is here, painted by five young artists and Hieronymus, the man who made the original.
Hieronymous painted the bus for his friend Bob Grimm. Most of the work was done in Druid Hill Park.
"Which is my favorite park," Hieronymous said. "I love that park."
Called "The Light Blue," it made the trip to Woodstock, then to Hieronymus' commune before disappearing in 1972.
The anniversary was the perfect occasion to re-create it, exactly, to spread the message.
"The story needed to be told again," Hieronymous said. "Balance is the key."
The bus isn't just pretty, every image has a meaning, every symbol a philosophy that Hieronymus is happy to share.
Recognized around the world, now a restored outside, a rebuilt inside, it's ready to make the trip to Bethel Woods where Woodstock has become a historical marker.
Before it makes that journey, the bus will be on display at American Visionary Art Museum's Dame Anita Roddick Love Barn. A free send-off event is scheduled for Monday. More details are available on the museum's website.
A documentary chronicling the bus's story is also set to premiere Monday on CuriosityStream.