The Freedom Rock (established in 1999) is a
large (approx. 60+ ton) boulder located in rural Iowa that is repainted
every year with a different Thank You for our
nations Veterans to honor their service to our country. The artist, Ray "Bubba" Sorensen II, was inspired by the movie Saving Private Ryan, as well as, wanting to give Veterans a
unique recognition on Memorial Day.
Sorensen paints The Freedom Rock on his own with the tremendous
support of family and friends. Sorensen is not commissioned to paint
the rock but is able to do so
each year with the generous help of donations.
While painting murals across the country Sorensen had the idea
of spreading the message of The Freedom Rock to other small communities
across Iowa. The idea in part came
from the 99 county tours that both Sen. Grassley and journalist Kyle
Munson took part in, and so the Freedom Rock Tour was born.
For the next few summers Sorensen and his family will travel the
state of Iowa to put a (smaller and unique to their area) Freedom Rock
in each county. As the Iowa Freedom Rock
Tour is about to conclude in the fall of 2020, Bubba has started the
50 State Freedom Rock Tour and is now booking across the country.
During the winter months Sorensen can be found painting indoor murals (or in warm climates outdoor murals). He was also recently elected as an Iowa Legislator and works for House District 20 at the State Capitol from January through the end of session in May (usually).
