An Adair County man and his wife have started a non-profit organization as a way to fold the end of the Freedom Rock®Tour into the next chapter. In 1999 Ray “Bubba” Sorensen painted his first mural on a large 90-ton boulder east of Highway 25 and south of I-80, in Adair County. He has repainted it every year since, for the past 22 years.

Sorensen is not commissioned for his work on the original Freedom Rock®. Instead, he does it as a tribute to men and women in the military both past and present. In 2008, Sorensen and his wife Maria, opened a mural and photography business in Greenfield They also created the Iowa & 50 State Freedom Rock® Tour(s) in 2013.

Ray “Bubba” Sorensen, his wife Maria & their children (Photo submitted)

Since then, the couple, along with their two young children, have been traveling the state (and country) placing a Freedom Rock® in all of Iowa’s 99 counties and six other states. With the tour getting closer to completion, Ray and Maria decided the next step would be to create the not-for-profit foundation, which will exist to continue the mission of the original Freedom Rock,® and the Freedom Rock® Tour. It will also assist in creating new murals and memorials as well.

The Foundation will help communities whose own Freedom Rocks may have rock chips or flakes, over time, or even vandalism. Maria Sorensen says “There’s already be a car crash into a Freedom Rock®. We just wanted something in place that will help these communities maintain any upkeep they may have. They supported us when we first announced the tour and now, we want to support them.”

As the Foundation grows the foundation will look to create new Veteran themed murals and memorials, assist schools/classes to work with the Sorensen’s in creating murals in their space, and fixing Veteran’s headstones and memorials. The Sorensen’s have some ambitious goals for the Freedom Rock® Foundation, including to eventually have a physical location for people to visit and for the Sorensen’s to operate out of.

The new Studio/Museum would feature artifacts from the Freedom Rock®Tour, original artworks and a place to watch them work on new pieces and projects. “We welcome anyone who wants to join us in supporting The Freedom Rock® Foundation and we look forward to growing this project,” Sorensen said.

Donations can be made online at: https://www.freedomrock.foundation. Or may be sent to:The Freedom Rock® Foundation, P.O. Box 97 Greenfield, IA 50849