Sidewalk portrait of pop icon Prince an instant hit in social media

Facebook screengrab

A creative and breathtaking sidewalk art honoring the late music icon Prince starred in social media over the past few days, spanning 11,000 likes and more than a thousand likes and shares on The Prince Museum’s Facebook page.

Cincinnati and Ohio-based artists Mark Hanavan and Paul Loehle created the chalk art portrait on May 6 in Middletown, Ohio, United States.

Aside from the two artists, students of Hamilton high school and other volunteers helped in decorating the street masterpiece, a portrait based on the 1993 triple album of Prince’s greatest singles, “The Hits/B-Sides.”

“We were going to do a picture of Trump and Hillary, but when the news came through about Prince, I said we have to do a Prince image now,” Hanavan, a university teacher, mentioned to the Journal News.

Many of Prince’s die-hard fans who sighted the artwork were moved by the artists’ inspiration and wept as they reminisced their idol’s legacy.

Jamie Murphy, co-owner of The Canal House Bar & Grille which sponsored the art activity, articulated in an interview with local media, “It is absolutely spectacular and created this very exciting energy…This has gone Internet viral.”

Prince died in Minnesota on April 21. Gianna Francesca Catolico

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