BOULDER, Colo. — To one artist in Boulder, the town's heart lies with the creek that runs through the town. Honoring those lost in the King Soopers shooting, he's created 10 balance rock pillars standing tall on that creek.
Each rock structure signifying the 10 lives no longer able to call Boulder home.
Michael Grab said the river is the canvas for much of his art, and rock balancing is something he does every day.
“Rock balancing is just something I’ve always done for the past 13 years and it's pretty much a daily practice for me,” he said, as he stared at his latest work. “This seemed like the most natural thing for me to do. It was kind of like a calling like I had to do this.”
It took Grab about two days to finish the piece. On Saturday, he kept watch making sure none of the structures fell and had conversations with those that visited.
“Feeling almost like an empathy that I felt towards the families and just imagining what these people experienced,” Grab said.
While some people stopped to take photos, others thanked Grab for providing a space to heal. He shared a video of the installation on Thursday, and the Facebook post had more than 19,000 reactions online.
Grab hopes the structure can provide some kind of cleansing for those experiencing grief.
“Even though it was this really dark kind of circumstance, there’s still this kind of beauty in the world and part of this installation is kind of highlighting that fact."
To find the piece, you can message Grab on his Facebook page for GPS coordinates or take a walk along the Boulder Creek path to spot it in the water. Grab plans to dismantle the sculpture in the coming days.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Boulder King Soopers shooting
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