Children’s art workshop spruces up painted rock garden at Breckenridge Fine Arts Center
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
A group of kids and a few helpful adults worked last week to refurbish the painted rock garden that was created four years ago at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center.
Kendra Mayfield, left, gives some pointers to the kids in one of the rock painting workshops at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
The rock garden, located just outside the front door of the BFAC, was started by the former BFAC director, the late Shalon Wilson. This year, Wilson’s mother, Ruth Taylor worked with Rhonda Crawford, BFAC director, to plan the children’s workshops to update the display. Unfortunately, Taylor and her workshop co-host, Leslie Blackerby, weren’t able to teach the class. But, Kendra Mayfield, Alva Carey and Lin Sims came to the rescue and helped the kids with their rock-painting project.
“The goal was that they revamp the garden, but also that they take some (rocks) to start leaving around, too,” Crawford said. “So we’re just kind of trying to bring back that tender, loving feeling.”
Back in 2021, the world, including Breckenridge, was still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilson brought Lorraine Wilson of Abilene to town to teach Breckenridge about a craft that was popular at the time — rock painting.
The local project joined a world-wide project called Kindness Rocks — a phrase with two meanings. The rocks often feature words or phrases of kindness and are called kindness rocks. The phrase also can be interpreted with the definition of “rocks” to mean something is very good, impressive or “cool,” meaning that being kind is very good.
The trend, which started in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in 2015, was more than just a project of painting rocks. The people who paint the rocks often leave them in public places for others to find. Some rock painters include instructions on one side of the painted rocks, encouraging whoever finds the rocks to take pictures and post it on specific Facebook pages and groups, such as Big Country Rocks.
Alva Carey, standing, helps with the rock painting workshop at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center last week. Click here to see more photos from the event. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
But, there really are no rules about rock painting, except to spread a little happiness with brightly colored rocks. If someone finds a painted rock in a public place, they are usually encouraged to take it with them if they want to. If they have a painted rock to share, they may leave it in the same spot or somewhere else, but that is not required. Some rock painters enjoy hiding rocks in out-of-the-way places as a surprise for someone. Shalon Wilson acknowledged that concept with the sign she posted at the BFAC’s rock garden, proclaiming, “Kindness Rocks: Keep Give Hide.”
Mayfield refurbished the sign for this year’s rock painting workshop.
Participants in the workshop worked on two kinds of painted rocks: flower rocks and the more typical painted rocks with various designs. The flower rocks are painted solid colors and then arranged in the rock garden in the shape of a daisy. The other rocks are in all sorts of sizes and shapes and feature designs ranging from lady bugs and strawberries to Dr Pepper cans and hamburgers. There are polka dots, stripes, crosses and smiley faces.
“We wanted to spruce up that little corner and sort of make a little tribute to (Shalon Wilson), and we turned it into a rock camp so the little kids could have fun and paint some things,” Mayfield said. “We did the group project, which was the flowers, which are meant to stay, and then I’ve asked each kid to make some rocks to keep here and then some rocks that they can bring home.”
Click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s photo gallery from a couple of the classes last week.
Some of the participants in the rock painting workshop at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, look over the various rocks that were later placed in front of the BFAC. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Some of the participants in the rock painting workshop pose with the “Kindness Rocks” sign and some of their freshly painted rocks in the garden. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Kendra Mayfield, who taught the recent rock painting workshop at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, painted a special rock in memory of Shalon Wilson, the former BFAC director who started the painted rock garden in 2021. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Kids attending the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center’s rock painting workshop last week worked on their individual designs on Wednesday. The day before, they worked on a group project, creating rock flowers for the garden. Click here to see more photos from the event. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
