Mural of Johnny Cash, June Carter’s engagement nearing completion

A mural marking the moment music icon Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter is nearing completion in London.

Painted on a Dundas Street wall of Budweiser Gardens, it interprets a famous photograph. The photo was taken in the London Gardens on February 22, 1968.

That evening, after many previous proposals on stage from Cash, June Carter said, “Yes.”

The new mural, by acclaimed Montreal artist Kevin Ledo, mirrors the photo, albeit with a splash of color.

“I often paint portraits with some sort of abstract element in them. It was a challenge to paint the man in black with some color. But I believe I’ve found a way to do it,” Ledo told CTV News London.

The courtship and marriage between Cash and Carter is portrayed in ‘Walk the Line’. The film also briefly references the proposal.

At its 2005 London premiere, many on the show remembered the moment now immortalized on the stone in the Bud.

Mural artist Kevin Ledo is seen in London, Ont. on July 11, 2023. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

Fast forward to 2023, and it’s clear most Londoners welcome the addition.

One of them is Dave Morris, a music lover. However, he claims that the mural is in the wrong place.

“I think it should be out in the gardens. That’s where it happened. This is not where it happened,” he said.

But Andrew Gunn disagrees. His company, along with multiple city agencies, commissioned the work.

“Budweiser Gardens is sort of a successor to the old London Gardens, so we thought this was the right place for it. I also kind of liked that it was across the street from the courthouse. As we know, Johnny Cash had occasional trouble with the law later in life,” he said.

The cost of the mural, and whether or not taxpayers paid for it, has not been disclosed.

The moment Johnny Cash proposed to June Carter is captured onstage at the London Gardens in London, Ont. on February 22, 1968 (SOURCE: JuneCarterCash.com)Gunn argued, however, that it will bring economic benefits as more such murals entice tourists to visit.

“Whether they are walking tours, cycling tours, electric scooter tours, whatever. These are things we’ve seen in other communities,” he said.

But with multiple ties to London, a stop on a walking tour may be just the beginning.

Cash’s manager in the 1960s and into the 1970s, Saul Holiff, called the Forest City his home.

And the former Canada Trust Bank, headquartered in Forest City, once called its ATMs “Johnny Cash Money Machines,” and television ads featured the man in black.

Cash’s latest link to London, ‘The Johnny & June Mural’, is expected to wrap up on Thursday.