Dr. Bob
"Light" the Woodstock Bus was a Volkswagen 1963 Model Year Kombi. Painted on commission by Bob Hieronimus in 1968, it went to Woodstock without him in 1969.
Robert Richard Hieronimus (born 1943) is an educator, artist, author, activist and has been an acknowledged pioneer in the "New Paradigm" movement since 1971.
Dr. Bob fits the definition of a "visionary artist" in that he did not attend art school. His B.S. degree is in teaching from Towson State Teacher’s College (now Towson University) and he taught art for two years to grade school children. In the late 1960s Hieronimus traveled with Elektra Records and recording artists such as Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, and Janis Joplin to design posters and album covers and share info on esoterica. In 1969 he co-founded AUM, the first state-approved school of esoteric studies in the country which granted certificates in the occult sciences, mystic arts and religious metaphysics. PBS documented his leadership and contributions in 1971 with the feature, "The Artist of Savitria" produced by Maryland Public Television and seen nationwide.He continued his study of ancient cultures and symbolism independently, with a particular emphasis on the founding of America. In 1981, Hieronimus was awarded a Ph.D. from Saybrook Graduate School for his doctoral thesis, "An Historic Analysis of the Reverse of the American Great Seal and Its Relationship to the Ideology of Humanistic Psychology."
Murals
Dr. Bob has a long career as a muralist and painter. His occult and symbolic murals include the 2,700-square-foot (250 m2) prophetic "Apocalypse" completed during 1968-69 at the Johns Hopkins University, which led to Hieronimus being called "one of this country's best muralists". The "Historic Views of Baltimore 1752-1857" mural was completed in 1976 and is housed in the War Memorial Building Baltimore, Maryland. Art historian and critic Alan Barnet noted, "Hieronimus has a talent for winning the cooperation of the establishment while he lives and works in the counter-culture."
The Light Bus
Dr. Bob: "I painted the “Light” bus that went to Woodstock without me. It’s interesting with hindsight to observe how harmonically the symbols I painted on this bus matched with the theme that emerged from this powerful event. The “Light” bus was owned by my friend, Bob Grimm, who commissioned the painting on it so he would have something eye-catching and meaningful in which to drive himself, with his fellow musicians and their gear, to their performances. He named it after his band, “Light,” and it was with friends and fellow bandmates that he drove it up to Woodstock the following year."
Learn more about Dr. Bob, and his Woodstock Bus here.