An emerging group rocks Sarasota

The tables were set.

A pile of paper plates sat on two picnic tables draped with plastic covers. Monika White and Jules Farnsworth sat chatting by the pond in the middle of the Palmer Reserve subdivision, but the pair didn’t come for a picnic.

They were there to paint — rocks, specifically.

Farnsworth is the founder of Sarasota Rocks. She, along with the group’s more than 400 members, paint and hide rocks throughout the Sarasota area and beyond. The group also searches for their painted creations, posting their finds on the group’s Facebook page, Sarasota Rocks.

“I love doing art stuff with my kids. I always have,” Farnsworth said. “It’s kind of outside and you are enjoying getting out of

the house and the kids love it, even the older kids.”

She began the group after seeing a news story about a similar group in Lakeland. The premise seemed simple — paint rocks, hide rocks and post photos of the found rocks on social media.

It was a formula Farnsworth was excited to replicate. She bought rocks from a dollar store and used leftover paint. After teaming up with a friend to make the Facebook page, Sarasota Rocks was born in November 2016.

“Little kids love it because they get to create these little things,” Farnsworth said. “It’s cheap and it’s fun.”

Sarasota Rocks deviates slightly from Lakeland’s model. Lakeland leans on a community of artists to decorate its rock offerings. Sarasota’s group relies primarily on families with children to give their rocks some local flair.

The designs aren’t always sophisticated. Sometimes it’s swatches of colors chaotically combining — the sure handiwork of a smaller pair of hands. Others boast more complex designs.

“I always paint beach scenes,” Farnsworth said. “They are always the ones that have been posted.”

Each rock is unique, but the back of each bears a call to action — post photos of the find on the group’s Facebook page.

“They are such treasures. When they put them out there, they want to see them back,” she said.

Farnsworth said Sarasota Rocks was one of the first groups like it in the area, but it’s certainly not alone. Similar groups have formed in Sarasota, Bradenton and North Port, which has caused some confusion as to where people should post their treasures.

Sarasota Rocks is experimenting with gluing scan codes on the back the rocks that lead people directly to the group’s page. It’s the type of strategy Farnsworth anticipates using more often as her group, and groups like it, continue to swell.

“It’s growing very quickly (even) in the last week,” Farnsworth said. “It’s summer time and we have people doing stuff with kids during the day.”

The group is still young and Farnsworth said she, along with other members, are still learning as they grow. She wants to expand her artist base to engage students and host rock-painting days at Sarasota elementary schools.

For that, though, Sarasota Rocks will need money to buy supplies to suit class sizes. Farnsworth is planning a fundraiser this summer to raise money to expand the group.

For now, Farnsworth and her cadre of dedicated rock painters and finders are content to gather in parks, leaving each place a little prettier than they found it.

Where her group goes from there is anyone’s guess.

“There are no rules,” Farnsworth said. “We are just going with whatever someone starts.”