I
t is a kick watching human behavior flourish—without
any grand planning—seeing an idea become a healing
movement.
After the tragedy on the last day of the Gilroy Garlic
Festival, a feeling of shock and helplessness took over many. A
few local community members decided to put their respective
talents to work to deal with the shock and help rejuvenate the
community. So, a simple idea became a huge healing moment
for a lot of people.
It all started on the first day of school in August. Brad
Chaboya, an art teacher at Gilroy High School, brought 500
rocks to class, he talked about the shooting, about healing and
about doing something. The students started painting rocks
with hopeful-helpful messages and distributing them around
town. Carol Peters, a former art teacher, helped out and took
the project to Christopher High School. Soon several groups
asked about doing some rocks. Jill Vanni stepped up, orga-
nizing the groups, making sure they had supplies and rocks.
Mike Sanchez got wind of the project and offered to set up a
Facebook page, GilroyRocks.
After the start at the high school, the project gained a lot of
momentum, Carol, Brad, and the rest of the crew along with
a few volunteers were organizing several rock paint parties a
week. Other groups picked up the message and hosted paint
parties on their own. Part of the plan was to paint a rock and
leave it somewhere, hopping that others would find it and
put it in a new spot. The Facebook page was inundated with
posts from people who found a rock and passed it on. Some
of the participants talked about a “painter’s high.” Painting
and hiding the rock gave them an opportunity to express their
feelings. It gave a sense of healing by doing something.
For a while during August and September it seemed like
there were GilroyRocks paint parties everywhere. There was
a large turnout at the National Night Out downtown on
October 1, 2019. Jill organized a paint party in the courtyard
at the Piazza Building. Fifth Street Coffee organized another
one. A group from the Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church heard
about the movement, connected with Gilroy Presbyterian and
actually came down to Gilroy to paint, distribute and offer
support.
It is unknown for sure how many rocks have been painted
and distributed but Brad Chaboya knows he had over 800
rocks to start with. Many of the rocks were donated by South
County Rockery in Gilroy and U-Save Rockery in Morgan Hill.
It will be interesting, a few years down the road, when
a kid finds a painted rock and asks what this was all about
about…”an idea that helped heal a community.”
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
“Painting and spreading
rocks all over Gilroy
as our artists’ vision of
community connection
and healing .To find a
little bit of bright color, a
word of encouragement,
knowing we are here
feeling the same thing.”
From the GilroyRocks
Facebook Page
WINTER 2020
gmhtoday.com
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