photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Lisa Grossman sketches an outline as she works on a watercolor painting of City Hall and Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.

Lawrence artists of all kinds gathered Sunday for a workshop and one last up-close glimpse at an ancient boulder used as a gathering place and prayer rock by the Kanza people before the Native American tribe was removed from the territory.

The 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder is located at Robinson Park, 4 W. Sixth St., between where the two sides of the Kansas River Bridge meet Sixth Street. The Kanza people call the boulder Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, which is pronounced “EE(n) ZHOO-jay wah-HO-bay” and literally means “sacred red rock.”

The rock is scheduled to be removed from the park in August and on Monday a fence will be erected around the boulder to prepare for the move to Allegawaho Heritage Memorial Park in Council Grove, Kansas, said Sydney Pursel, workshop organizer and curator for public practice at the Spencer Museum. The workshop was organized by Pursel and David Loewenstein.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Artists gather for a workshop to create works inspired by Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.

“It’s finally happening. I’ve been working on this project since I started at the Spencer a year and a half ago. So it’s going to be very emotional when we have those public and private ceremonies with Kaw Nation and to see it physically move,” Pursel said.

Artists in attendance included painters, photographers, a poet, and a stone carver.

Karl Ramberg was carving a bowl from cottonwood limestone at the workshop Sunday.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Karl Ramberg carves a stone bowl inspired by Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.

“The (prayer) stone has always been something I’ve noticed. I’m so pleased that it’s going to have this new story. I thought a bowl has always symbolized to me as both giving and receiving and so that’s why I thought it might be appropriate,” said Ramberg, who recently used the same type of stone when carving grotesques in 2022 for Dyche Hall, home to the KU Natural History Museum, as reported by the Journal-World..

Painting with watercolor at the workshop was Lisa Grossman. Grossman said she usually paints with oil but was using watercolor to better capture images of the stone in the moment.

“I was interested in this angle, you know, the shape of City Hall behind it is pretty cool. It’s uncanny. They’re almost the same color,” Grossman said.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Lisa Grossman sketches an outline as she works on a watercolor painting of City Hall and Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.

She said she is an “avid paddler” and a board member with Friends of the Kaw, an advocacy group for the Kansas River. She said she has participated in a couple of river kayaking trips to view the area of the Kansas River where the stone originally sat at the confluence of the Kansas River and Shunganunga Creek in Tecumseh, Kansas, before being moved to Lawrence in 1929. Grossman brought maps of the river to share with other artists and was working to incorporate those maps into her painting.

Taking poetic inspiration from the boulder was songwriter Joseph Unger who said he recently renewed his resolve to participate in local activism after the city attempted to close Prairie Park Nature Center in 2022 and that he is “overwhelmed” by the process of the stone being returned to the Kanza people.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Poet and songwriter Joseph Unger, center, speaks at an artists workshop for Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.

“The spirit of motion comes to a halt to tell the truth of time. For without time we are death, and in death the spirit moves to the peace of Sacred Red Rock. For those who have lived under its shadow and shared its breath of life, there will forever be that bond and connection of oneness. The Sacred Rock that has for these years provided the heart for a fragmented family,” Unger wrote at the workshop.

Works that were started at the workshop will be placed in an exhibit in 2024-2025, sometime after the boulder is moved. Pursel said. Any artist who has created a work inspired by the stone is encouraged to contact the Sacred Red Rock Project at www.sacredredrock.com for consideration to be included in the exhibition.

Artists weren’t the only ones paying their respects Sunday. A man stopped by the boulder during the workshop and climbed the pedestal the rock sits on and gave the stone a big hug and bowed his head in prayer before leaving.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

A man hugs and prays with Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.

The fence going up around the rock Monday will be in place to protect the stone as it is prepared to be moved. A public ceremony will be held on Aug 29 in nearby Watson Park, Pursel said, adding that there will be multiple ceremonies that will be held between now and the time the boulder is moved including private ceremonies with members of the Kanza tribe.

“I think it’s a really momentous occasion and I’m very excited. The Kaw Nation is excited to have it (the stone) on their lands as well. I hope that even after Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe moves we can collectively as people in this community reimagine what would happen at this park,” Pursel said.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Iⁿ’zhúje’waxóbe, a sacred prayer rock of the Kanza people, is pictured on July 23, 2023, at Robinson Park.