One of the most popular places in New York City is the John Lennon memorial garden in Central Park. Strawberry Fields is a 2.5-acre section of Central Park at Central Park West between 71st and 74th Streets that honors the late Beatle, singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist John Lennon.
To keep with the park’s original, winding layout, tall elm trees, shrubs, flowers, and rocks decorate the perimeter of Strawberry Fields. This section of Central Park has been set aside as a peaceful retreat.
On the 9th of October 1985, the 45th anniversary of John Lennon’s birth, Strawberry Fields reopened to the public. On this date, and again on the following day, which marks the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, admirers from all over the world come to Strawberry Fields to pay their respects to the enduring memory of the Fab Four.
A group of artisans in the Italian city of Naples created the now-iconic black-and-white Imagine mosaic. The name “Imagine” was taken from another well-known song by John Lennon, and it represents a wish for a world free of war, violence, and hatred.
The more than 120 countries that have supported Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace by their flower plantings and financial contributions are recognized on a bronze plaque.
Strawberry Fields Dakota Building
The Dakota Apartments, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono formerly called home, are located directly across the park from this spot. John Lennon was killed and shot to death on this street as he entered his residence on December 8, 1980.
This spot in Central Park was so special to the couple that on March 26, 1981, City Council Member Henry J. Stern named it Strawberry Fields in their honor. The area, whose teardrop form was inspired by the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” was re-landscaped by the Central Park Conservancy with the help of landscape architect Bruce Kelley and a $1 million grant from Yoko Ono.
A memorial service for John Lennon was quickly organized after his death and this section of the park is located directly across from the Dakota building, where the couple once called home. Ono began planning a memorial here, soliciting contributions of plants and stones from nations around the world to create a garden dedicated to world peace.
Ono’s decision to design a memorial in an uncommon style was influenced by her background as a conceptual artist and the knowledge that Lennon would have disliked the idea of a monument as a tribute.
Ono worked with the Central Park Conservancy and its staff, which included landscape architect Bruce Kelly, to develop a design that incorporated some of these donations in order to repair a rundown section of Central Park.
Kelly’s goal was to have the memorial blend in with the Park’s scenery so that it wouldn’t detract from the peaceful atmosphere that visitors seek.
A path winds through Strawberry Fields’ modest woodland and two small meadows surrounded by trees and plants. The natural setting is the primary attraction, but the city of Naples, Italy, donated a more formal design element in the form of a mosaic set into the pavement with the word Imagine at its center.
Since there are benches all around, it serves as a focal point for the many visitors who come to pay their respects to Lennon. A plaque set into a cliff wall honors the countries that helped fund the project.
Strawberry Fields was formally unveiled on Lennon’s 45th birthday, October 9, 1985. Instead of the typical static monuments found in cemeteries, Strawberry Fields provided a living, breathing space that was always changing and growing in honor of those who were honored there.
Strawberry Fields is only one of many musician tributes scattered around Central Park. Duke Ellington, Victor Herbert, and Beethoven are a few more.
John Lennon, a British rock singer and peace activist, is honored with a memorial at Strawberry Fields (1940–1980). Many people visit the memorial, which spans five acres and features the Imagine mosaic near the West 72nd Street entrance, to pay their respects to Lennon.
LOCATION
West Side between 71st and 74th, New York
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