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"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. |
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| 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.
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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.
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| The rock in the snow: February, 2017. |
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| The only time the paint doesn't show! |
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| 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
How interesting! I love how it has evolved.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting, Mae. I love that Victorian.
ReplyDelete...Mae, you are fast, it's hard to beat you! Neat rock and love the 'Rainbow People's Party' house. Check out my rock:
ReplyDeletehttp://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-i-390-rock.html
That's an unusual spot for a mural - great to see something so different
ReplyDeleteOh, I love that rock, what a fabulous tradition! Wonderful mural!
ReplyDeleteLove the story of the Rock and the Rainbow house is very pretty too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating Mae.
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!
ReplyDeleteIt is now a community project.
ReplyDeleteI love that! We have dedicated graffiti practice places around Canberra, usually underneath overpasses and sometimes the artwork is so creative and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI guess winter weather curbs the activity of the artists a little!
ReplyDelete