In the aftermath of Monday night’s mass shooting, The Rock on Farm Lane has been painted four times by students and community members to express messages about gun violence and remember the lives lost.
The most recent design was created by Detroit based artist and owner of Hidden Gate LLC Anthony Lee, who put his plans for the day on hold to come to East Lansing.
“(Michigan State) reached out to me and within that time it got painted twice. When they told me to do it, there were already flowers out here,” Lee said. “The last thing I saw was a ‘How (Many) More’ and then they called me and I was originally gonna pass it on to someone else because I had to leave out of town and bring my wife back to her hometown, drive like 15 hours, but we both agreed it was important to come out so we made time for it.”
Lee’s artwork marked the third time The Rock was painted on Wednesday. MSU requested Lee make the background white with a green Spartan head logo and green text reading words “Always a Spartan.” It was Lee’s idea to add the names of the victims.
“I insisted that we put the names up there at least, so it’s more direct,” Lee said. “Don’t make it subtle. You don’t have time for subtlety right now.”
In honor of the students who lost their lives and the students who painted The Rock before him, Lee emphasized the importance of including the names.
“I didn’t even wanna paint over their image, their image was sweet too,” Lee said. “It’s respect to them, but most importantly respect in directly to the people who were wronged.”
Lee has no direct ties to the Michigan State community, other than friends and clients in the community, but felt it was important to come to help serve the community in any way he could once he received word that the university requested his services.
“It feels good that I can serve the community and that I’m recognized enough to be sought after for impactful, meaningful work – and that’s what I work for,” Lee said. “I love for art to serve the community more than just pretty pictures, but I hate to come for this reason. I take no joy in doing this.”
