The Kindness Rocks Project is a viral phenomenon that swept through the nation nearly a decade ago when people began writing hopeful, inspiring messages and painting images on rocks for people to find. Movements sprang up across many states and cities.

Ariel Files, who previously taught at Jim Hill but will now be teaching at Central Campus, was one of the founders of Minot’s own Kindness Rocks Project movement.

“It was just me and a couple of friends who had seen ‘Kindness Rocks’ from other cities, other states and we decided, ‘Hey we need to do something like that here in Minot. We’ve got a big enough art community. People will love it,'” Files said.

Files quickly became one of the moderators for the “Minot Rocks-The Kindness Rock Project” social media page and is now the page administrator.

Ariel Files, left, facilitator of Minot’s Kindness Rocks Project, hosts a free rock painting booth at the Arts in the City events downtown. Justice Zammert, right, paints a rock that will contribute to a community art project.

On Thursdays of this month, Files will host a free rock painting booth downtown during Arts in the City events. The booth has rocks, paints and paintbrushes available for use, free of cost, thanks to Files, who wants people to participate in spreading creativity and joy by painting rocks and hiding them or donating them to a current community art project.

The finale of the 2024 season of Arts in the City: Thursdays Downtown will be on Aug. 29.

“I have three kids of my own. We love to do art together. That’s one of the things that we do as a family so it was just something new that we could do. Like, ‘Let’s paint some rocks together and hide them.’ And they would love searching for them. So we would hide some and then they would try and find some too,” Files said.

When people find rocks hidden throughout the community, they are faced with a couple choices.

“The whole point is that if you find someone’s rock and it calls to you and you want to keep it, then please keep it. But if you feel so inclined and want to rehide it for somebody else, you can hide it for somebody else to find and that might brighten their day,” Files said.

These rocks have been painted by area residents as part of Minot’s Kindness Rocks Project that Ariel Files helps facilitate.

Files knows of some locals who collect all the Minot rocks they find.

“One of the things that we find really fun is when we find some rocks from other cities or other states that make their way to Minot,” Files said.

When people find painted kindness rocks, there will sometimes be cities or states written on the back of the rocks. People can then take to social media and find the Kindness Rocks group that corresponds to that city or state and post their find there and where they found it.

Many Minot residents have posted their various kindness rocks discoveries on the social media page Files manages.

“They think it’s so neat, especially kids who have painted rocks. They get to see their rock was found and see their art and see how happy it makes someone,” Files said. “I find it really fun to watch what people find and see how far the rocks travel.”

Audin Rhodes/MDN Ariel Files, facilitator of Minot’s Kindness Rocks Project, has partnered with the Minot Area Council of the Arts to create a community art project made up of painted rocks.

Many of the kindness rocks are hidden in Minot parks and other public places.

“In the wintertime, I like to hide them around the mall near the planters and on the seats,” Files said. “I’ve hid them in the library. I’ve hid them in the mall. I’ve hid them in all kinds of stores. I even come downtown if it’s a nicer winter day.”

Files said she asks local businesses for permission before hiding rocks there. A local craft store was thrilled when Files asked if she could hide some kindness rocks there.

Files said good painting rocks typically have to be flat, round and smooth to make the ideal canvas, and she finds potential kindness rocks all over in her backyard, in parks and at lakes.

“First I wash them with dish soap. Then I spray a base coat on them with an outdoor, acrylic spray paint designed to hold up with the weather. That gives it a kind of primer so the colors show up a little better,” Files said.

“You don’t have to be a big artist to paint a rock and hide it,” Files said. Any design can be painted on the kindness rocks, even if it’s just a plain, solid color.

“It’s fun to see how many people think, ‘Oh, I’m not an artist, I can’t do this.’ And I’ve always been a firm believer that no matter what, all you have to do is practice. If you want to get better at something, just practice and practice. And it’s not ‘practice makes perfect.’ I hate that phrase. It’s ‘practice makes progress’ because no matter what, nobody’s perfect. Nobody in this world is perfect,” Files said.

Currently, Files is collaborating with the Minot Area Council of the Arts to create a Kindness Rocks Project rock snake.

Files will be taking the rocks home that have been painted by Minot residents during the Arts in the City events downtown and at other local events. She will then seal them before taking the rocks to the Pollinator Garden in front of the Carnegie Center to form the rock snake.

“It’s a community project and all of these rocks were done by different people on different days,” Files said.

The length of the rock snake will depend on how many painted rocks Files receives from Minot residents for the project. Files said people can add to the rock snake even after Arts in the City has wrapped up for the year.

“If you see the rock snake and you’re like, ‘Hey, I painted a rock. I’m going to drop one off here.’ You can still add to it. We can still continue to grow it,” Files said. “We hope it keeps growing. We want it as long as humanly possible.”

Files has painted a large rock the color green for the head of the snake.

“I did a metallic overcoat and then used glow in the dark paint for the eyes,” she said.

Files hopes to make the snake’s body two to three rocks wide so the rocks will look like the snake’s scales as it weaves through the Pollinator Garden. Files said people can take rocks from the snake if a particular rock calls out to them as well add rocks.

“Even if people paint a rock at home and they want to bring it and just donate it, that’s also great. You don’t have to paint it down here if you feel uncomfortable having people watch you paint. Everybody has their comfort levels,” Files said. “Whatever it is that you can do, I love it. I’ll take it. Makes me happy, makes the community happy. It’s just doing something together because we need to be doing things together.”