Processing Through Paint: Memorializing Boston on 'The Rock'

A group of friends plans to pay tribute to those impacted by the Boston Marathon bombing while processing it themselves by painting 'The Rock' near the Hudson line.

“Why would you do something for boston? Why would you do something for Massachusetts? It’s us,” said Bruce Caissie who manages a Facebook page devoted to the paintings that appear on the local icon. “We are all affected by it.”

Over the years, "the rock' has transcended a place for graffitti and become a place to process, he said. When someone important in their lives dies, "the rock" often becomes a place for people to find peace with the loss.

“You are sitting there thinking about the person and how their life has affected yours. It’s just a special moment,” said Caissie who has painted the rock a number of times after the death of loved ones. “It becomes a celebration of the fact we are doing something."

Cassie will not be alone as he paints. He will be joined by Halie Lopez, Sandy Moineau, Janice Swanson Crossman and Jessica Coppolino. The actual painting is usually only done by a few people, with the others being there to offer support. The paintings always have a farther reaching impact than the painters and those passing by, said Cassie.

“It is such an iconic symbol of the Marlborough landscape,” he said of the site he created a Facebook page for in 2010 and is viewed by people from around the world. “You’re not only sharing the moment with people who have painted the rock or live in Marlborough."

The Facebook page documents 'the rock' on a daily basis, recording the memorials that appear. It is such an iconic piece of Marlborough, that the process is understood by local officials, said Cassie.

The painting on Sunday will begin at noon for the memorial of the Boston Marathon bombing.

“It may finish in Boston but it affects the whole area,” Cassie said of the marathon.