Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga news
Some may have noticed the caterpillar that is steadily growing outside of the Prattville Chamber of Commerce. What started as a Facebook idea by mom of three Sarah Luke Guyon, has turned into a community art project that is growing fast.
The caterpillar in question is made of painted rocks that are connected together on the sidewalk. The Rockapillar is out of the way but bringing bright colors, art and even more creativity to historic downtown Prattville.
“I fell in love with the idea and thought that it would be something awesome for a community to get together and work on, and it’s something pretty easy for kids to do and a great way to get the family together,” Guyon said.
The Prattville Rockapillar is not the only rock painting and finding group that is operating locally. There’s also the Kindness Rocks Prattville, which is where individuals hide, trade and exchange different painted rocks throughout the community.
Another group is called Rocks for Alec in Wetumpka. This group brings awareness to distracted driving, one rock at a time, to help keep Alec’s memory alive.
“I just thought it was really interesting and I know that there’s different rock hiding pages and stuff on Facebook. But my kids and I love to hide rocks around town and we do it pretty frequently. Whenever I hide rocks, I put my business name on there and then I put the ‘Rocks for Alec’ because I like to support their cause,” Guyon said.
Guyon’s love for rocks started as a child while her brother started collecting and polishing them himself. While she has always loved rocks, the painting and hiding of rocks started about eight years ago for Guyon and instilled the tradition with her family about three years ago.
“I thought that it was something that would get the community together and something that we could all work on and display our art. I checked it two days ago, and it was up to about 40 or 50 rocks. Which is pretty awesome because when we put it out originally we started with just 10,” Guyon said.
All updates can be found on The Rockapillar Prattville Facebook page. Trades are also welcome to the Rockapillar, as long as an art rock is replaced, Guyon stated.
“When you’re a kid, you pick up a cool rock and you’re like, ‘oh man, look at my cool rock’ and then put it in your pocket. I still do that, but now I look for rocks that would be cool to paint. I wanted to make a few for the AICC food center and the Pregnancy Center to bring awareness,” Guyon said.
