Untitled Document

The Big Picture: Eric Waugh is painting his field of dreams.

By Bernard Mendelman The Suburban Wednesday, September 10, 1997

Eric Waugh, a Montreal artist, wants to produce the world’s largest painting. A replica of Hero, his 30”x40” canvas, will be more than 80,000 square feet when completed. Five trucks will transport it to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where it will be unveiled on June 20, 1998, AIDS Compassion Day. The painting will be the focal point of a three-hour musical and artistic televised fundraising event (hopefully hosted by Rosie O’Donnell), that will benefit children’s AIDS summer camp programs in Canada and in the U.S. The significance of the 80,000 square-foot figure is that it is estimated by the year 2000, more than 80,000 children will be orphaned as a result of AIDS. Hero will be sandwiched into three football fields. The original painting is an abstract interpretation of an adult figure comforting a small child. Eric believes, “the child with the disease is the real hero because he is the courageous one.” Waugh’s aim is to get the painting into the Guinness Book of Records.

Recently, at the McGill Field House, a team directed by Waugh laid out more than 10,000 square feet which had already been finished. Waugh, with the use of a power sprayer, starts 16 panels at the same time on a 400-square-foot easel. At the end, he estimates he will have used 300 gallons of paint. The Montreal studio, the canvas, the paint and the velcro stitching have all been donated by sponsors. The giant painting will be divided into 3200 equal canvases. Each will be numbered and signed. From the sale of these, plus posters, Waugh is looking to raise over 5 million dollars. “Art is a quiet medium,” says Eric, “but I intend to make this real loud!”

Eric was born in Montreal in 1963. Married eight years, he has three boys, aged five months, four and six years old. Self taught, he has sold over 5,000 original paintings worldwide. The idea for this project came to him in 1995 when he saw an inspiring CBS television documentary, Angelie’s Secret, about a young girl infected with AIDS. Waugh is not benefiting financially from this project. “I’m doing this to help these kids.”



News Main Articles Television and Radio appearances	The Big Picture: Eric Waugh is painting his field of dreams. By Bernard Mendelman The Suburban Wednesday, September 10, 1997 Eric Waugh, a Montreal artist, wants to produce the world’s largest painting. A replica of Hero, his 30”x40” canvas, will be more than 80,000 square feet when completed. Five trucks will transport it to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where it will be unveiled on June 20, 1998, AIDS Compassion Day. The painting will be the focal point of a three-hour musical and artistic televised fundraising event (hopefully hosted by Rosie O’Donnell), that will benefit children’s AIDS summer camp programs in Canada and in the U.S. The significance of the 80,000 square-foot figure is that it is estimated by the year 2000, more than 80,000 children will be orphaned as a result of AIDS. Hero will be sandwiched into three football fields. The original painting is an abstract interpretation of an adult figure comforting a small child. Eric believes, “the child with the disease is the real hero because he is the courageous one.” Waugh’s aim is to get the painting into the Guinness Book of Records. Recently, at the McGill Field House, a team directed by Waugh laid out more than 10,000 square feet which had already been finished. Waugh, with the use of a power sprayer, starts 16 panels at the same time on a 400-square-foot easel. At the end, he estimates he will have used 300 gallons of paint. The Montreal studio, the canvas, the paint and the velcro stitching have all been donated by sponsors. The giant painting will be divided into 3200 equal canvases. Each will be numbered and signed. From the sale of these, plus posters, Waugh is looking to raise over 5 million dollars. “Art is a quiet medium,” says Eric, “but I intend to make this real loud!” Eric was born in Montreal in 1963. Married eight years, he has three boys, aged five months, four and six years old. Self taught, he has sold over 5,000 original paintings worldwide. The idea for this project came to him in 1995 when he saw an inspiring CBS television documentary, Angelie’s Secret, about a young girl infected with AIDS. Waugh is not benefiting financially from this project. “I’m doing this to help these kids.”