Rocking a sense of community
An everyday rock can become so much more: a strawberry, a mouse, a superhero or an inspirational message for a stranger. All it takes is a paintbrush and some creativity from members of the Homewood Rocks Facebook group.
Kris Black, a 26-year Homewood resident and nurse at Brookwood Medical Center, started the Homewood Rocks group in early October. The idea is simple: paint and hide rocks in public places around the community. If you find a rock, take a picture and either hide it again or take it home and paint a new rock to replace it.
The project was born from Black’s trip to Texas in September for the University of Alabama game against the University of Southern California. Family members living in nearby Mansfield, Texas, told Black and her family about a group that painted and hid rocks throughout the city. Black was instantly taken with the idea and painted 20 rocks of her own to take back to Birmingham.
“It was so fun. It was like an Easter egg hunt or something,” Black said.
Black enlisted her sister, Kendall Hornady, a fellow Homewood resident and preschool teacher at Hall-Kent Elementary, to help paint nearly 50 rocks. On an October day, the pair hid rocks in Patriot, Central and Overton parks and the Lakeshore Trail, then started the Facebook group to let people know.
Within two weeks, the group grew to about 600 online members.
When they place rocks, Black and Hornady post pictures with clues about their location. They said it seems like some are almost immediately found, and pictures begin appearing on the Facebook page of the rocks’ next location.
“It’s funny. When you put a rock out, it won’t be long before somebody has found it,” Hornady said.
There are now roughly 85 rocks Black and Hornady have hidden around the city. Black said she may not have much artistic talent, but she enjoys seeing what each rock can become.
“You look at a rock and you go, ‘Oh, that would make a great piece of candy corn, … a Spider-Man head or an M&M or whatever,” Black said. “Some of them, like mine, look like a child painted them. Hers [Hornady’s rocks] look a little bit better than mine.”
Black said they use primer and acrylic paint to create the designs, before spraying the rocks with a clear coat to protect them from the outdoors. It’s easy to get carried away.
“You paint one and think, ‘Oh, I’ll just paint one more. Let me do one more.’ And she [Hornady] has ended up doing 10 at a time,” Black said.
But Black and Hornady don’t want Homewood Rocks to be all about their own creations. A few residents already have started creating rocks of their own to hide, and the sisters are encouraging more people to do just that.
“It just kind of took off. We’d like to get some more people painting,” Black said.
So far, they’ve heard from children and adults adding their rocks to the city. Some of the designs are universally recognizable, like rainbows, fruit, holidays, monsters and Alabama and Auburn logos. Others choose to paint meaningful Bible verses or phrases. And a few have been Homewood-specific, like the Witches’ Ride and the Christmas Wishing Tree.
The rocks also have been showing up outside of the parks and trail, Hornady said. She has seen a student hide a rock at Hall-Kent, and others have appeared at local businesses. As long as the rocks aren’t hidden in dangerous places or on private property without permission, Black and Hornady said, any place in Homewood is fair game.
Black said she has heard from parents that their kids are excited to get outside and look for new rocks every day, and the parents enjoy the hunt as well. It’s a “good, wholesome” activity, Black said, that bonds not only families but also everyone in the Homewood Rocks group.
So if you see a rock around Homewood that’s just a little more colorful than average, be sure to follow the rules painted on the back: “Replace or re-hide. You decide.”
Learn more about Homewood Rocks by finding the group on Facebook.