If you're walking along 11th Ave in Mount Pleasant, you might literally stumble on what is probably Vancouver's smallest art gallery.
The Stump on 11th Gallery is the creation of Felicia Fraser, a local artist. The idea came about organically, she says, evolving out of doing art with her kids.
"I've got a couple kids, a couple little boys, so I'm always trying to get them to paint and do art, so painting art is a typical activity," she says.
Last year, Fraser and her kids painted rocks; the boys liked her Studio Ghibli and Star Wars pieces in particular. She thought it'd be fun to display them to passersby, and put them out for the public to see (this version can be spotted on Google Streetview). But each time the painted rocks were put out, they were taken. She kept going, but decided to change things a bit.
"Eventually I thought if people were going to take rocks, let's make it a thing," Fraser tells Vancouver Is Awesome.
Instead of just telling people not to take the little pieces of art, Fraser took a page out of the little libraries movement.
"I wanted people to get involved, I thought if you want to take them, you should add them as well," she says. "If I can get people to make art, that brings me joy."
She put the brick out in April, dubbing the stump the Stump on 11th Gallery and starting an Instagram account for it. The sign encourages people to paint their own rocks and then trade with the ones already on the stump.
It's taken off, she says, with dozens of new rocks over the past couple of months. Few, if any, of Fraser's originals are there anymore, but the stump is crowded with brightly coloured rocks, and occasionally eggshells, which the artist says were unique and cool.
"I try to capture them all (on Instagram)," she says. "Sometimes they'll stay there or sometimes they'll get traded or taken."
She hasn't met any of the other rock artists, except a neighbour who says he'd join in. On social media she's had some contact with others.
A highlight for her is when people come across the little gallery. Her husband works from home and they have multiple windows looking out to the boulevard where the stump sits. He'll call to her when people stop by.
"I think the best part of it is just watching people interact with it," she says. "There's people all day long looking at it and loving it."
Some do a double-take as they stroll past, others stop and look at each piece.
Fraser herself hasn't painted a new rock in months; she's focused on her own art and her boys aren't very artsy. However, others have joined in on the idea, beyond her gallery, on a nearby street.
"A group of kids started their own little gallery with a stump with a bunch of rocks," she says.
While she doesn't plan on adding to the gallery herself anytime soon, Fraser is happy to see it grow and evolve. If you want to add or trade at the gallery, it can be found at West 11th and Manitoba streets. She has an important tip for anyone planning on doing so.
"They need to seal their rocks," she says. "I want it to keep going, and I want people to seal their rocks properly."
