Sunday, January 13, 2019

The Rock

"The Rock" is a large limestone boulder at the intersection of two major streets in Ann Arbor. It was originally
placed in this small traffic median in 1932, the 200th birthday of George Washington, as a memorial to him.

At some unrecorded date in the 1950s, people started to PAINT THE ROCK.
By now the paint is inches thick, and new designs and messages appear all the time -- as much as several times a week. In the two photo above, taken a few days apart, you can see how earlier messages were painted over.

Messages range from birthday wishes to fraternity and sorority issues
to political statements. Go Michigan! messages are also frequent.
Essentially, the rock is a mural that changes all the time. Therefore, I'm sharing this with the weekly blog event "Mural Monday," hosted by blogger Sami in Perth, Australia. Bloggers from around the world post images of murals they've seen in far-flung places including Australia, France, England, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, the Philippines, Hong Kong, many states in the US, Canada, Iceland, and more.


In the past, efforts were made to stop people from painting the rock, but now it's entirely tolerated and even expected. So it's no longer necessary to paint it in the dark of night.

The rock in the snow: February, 2017. 
The only time the paint doesn't show!
A photo of the rock in its original form, dated 1932.
Source: The Bentley Historical Library.

This beautifully-painted house faces the rock. In the 1970s it was the headquarters of the "Rainbow People's Party."
For a more detailed history of the Ann Arbor custom of painting the rock, see this article:

The Rock by Grace Shackman

10 comments:

Pamela said...

How interesting! I love how it has evolved.

Debra Eliotseats said...

So interesting, Mae. I love that Victorian.

Tom said...

...Mae, you are fast, it's hard to beat you! Neat rock and love the 'Rainbow People's Party' house. Check out my rock:

http://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-i-390-rock.html

Debbie at Travel with Intent said...

That's an unusual spot for a mural - great to see something so different

Iris Flavia said...

Oh, I love that rock, what a fabulous tradition! Wonderful mural!

Sami said...

Love the story of the Rock and the Rainbow house is very pretty too.
Thanks for participating Mae.

Jeanie said...

These are great pix. Wish we'd seen the rock on our way out! I love the house, too. MSU has a rock -- I wouldn't want to know how think the paint is -- probably goes back to the lead paint days!

RedPat said...

It is now a community project.

Jen Rose said...

I love that! We have dedicated graffiti practice places around Canberra, usually underneath overpasses and sometimes the artwork is so creative and interesting.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

I guess winter weather curbs the activity of the artists a little!