Lawrence artist builds Pope Leo's portrait from 9,000-plus tile shards in Peru

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A Lawrence, Kansas, artist traveled to Peru to build a portrait of Pope Leo out of more than 9,000 pieces of tile — a project he says is rooted in one message of love.

Earthwork artist Stan Herd spent 13 days in Peru creating the mosaic, hoping his artwork will reach the pontiff himself.

"Well, we decided to do mosaic tile. I've never done a piece like that," Herd said.

Herd described the process as a difficult undertaking, but he wasn't working alone. University students stepped in to help, and the project grew into a community effort, according to him.

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The piece used about 9,350 tile shards, he says.

"The whole idea was to take these big, beautiful square tiles, bust them into parts, and then reposition them into the shape of the face, utilizing all of the beautiful colors," Herd said.

The work is meant to honor the Pope as he visits one of the countries he calls home.

Herd and his team were in Chiclayo, Peru, when Pope Leo landed on Friday morning, watching his plane set down on the tarmac right at sunrise.

This summer, Herd made headlines for his Algerian flag artwork in Lawrence during the World Cup. Now, he wants to continue spreading his message of love.

Take a look at how Herd created his earthwork to honor the Algerian men's national team:

"I saw in Cardinal Robert Prevost — who became Pope Leo — a man with compassion, with empathy, with intellect, and, most importantly, with humility," Herd said.

Herd says he is not a religious man and grew up as a Southern Baptist.

"I'm trying to promote humanity. I'm trying to promote love and peace and treating people with respect and dignity," Herd said.

We showed Herd's work to Father Luke Doyle, a priest in Lawrence who has met the pope in person over a decade ago. Doyle serves as director and chaplain at St. Lawrence Catholic Center.

"Oh, beautiful. Yeah. Wow. That's impressive," Doyle said. "It's a great gesture of kindness and generosity and of love for a man who is the spiritual father of over a billion people in the world."

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"Personally, I'm very happy to hear that people who are not Catholic, perhaps not even Christian or religious, are able to see and experience the face in many ways of the Catholic Church as being a man who cares about loving everyone, respecting the dignity of every human being, treating everyone with compassion and with great generosity," Doyle said.

When asked whether he hoped the pope would see his work, Herd said he had no expectations about meeting the pontiff on this trip. "But I do believe there's very little doubt that he'll see it," Herd said.

Marc Havener/Resonate Pictures

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