The Rock, the oft-painted boulder in tiny George Washington Park at the corner of Washtenaw and Hill, is one of Ann Arbor’s best-known landmarks. But since 2008, a creatively reused silver maple stump nearby at Baldwin and Washtenaw has been drawing its share of attention. It’s carved in the shape of an enormous hand with its palm and open fingers tilted skyward. The initials of the student housing co-op, BE, are carved into its wrist, which is also adorned with a worn macrame bracelet.

“Sometimes people get their pictures taken [seated] on it,” says Black Elk resident Dean Fogarasi. “But we don’t encourage it–we don’t know how sound it is.”

He and other current residents are a little unclear about the origins of the “big hand.” One postulates that Art Fair artists who stayed there gratis had the sculpture created as a gesture of thanks. Fogarasi interjects that he thinks that it was not Art Fair folk but “some people who were filming an art house documentary.”

Close, but not quite. Juniper Beaty, a former co-op resident, says that the film wasn’t a documentary but a movie titled Art House. “Two gentlemen approached us in the summer of 2008 who were making plans to do a film,” Beaty recalls. “They said, ‘Your house is awesome, and we want to film this movie at your house,’ and we said, ‘Sweet, let’s do it.'”

The film–about a man trying to figure out his life while house sitting for his brother–stars Greta Gerwig, Chris Beier, and famed Ann Arborite Iggy Pop (though Iggy shot his scenes on a set in Miami). Beatty describes the overall tone as “artists versus suits.” The co-op’s appeal was its creative, artsy appearance–there are murals throughout the house, including a purple peacock over a fireplace.

Art House was written and co-directed by Victor Fanucchi, a writer, filmmaker, and teacher at the U-M’s Screen Arts & Culture department. To assist with the production he brought in one of his former students, Debashis Mazumder, an Ann Arbor native now living in Florida. The two knew about Black Elk because they had once been to a party there.

Fanucchi and Mazumder came up with the idea of turning the dead tree into a sculpture. They wanted to enhance the house’s artistic look for their film, and also to show appreciation to their hosts, who also took parts as extras. Fanucchi recalls that they also decorated the front yard with a whirlygig-type metal sculpture and an old armchair filled with plants. The chair is gone, but the metal sculpture currently shelters one of two small pines; caution tape guards the other during remodeling of the house’s foundation and exterior.

Beatty recalls that co-op members provided sketches of proposed designs for the tree sculpture, and the hand won the vote. “I really loved the choice they made,” Fanucchi says. “We couldn’t have come up with a better one for the movie.”

Neither Mazumder or Fanucchi could remember the name of the artist–but Mazumder does recall his comment when they handed him his $1,000 payment: “If this check bounces, I’m gonna come back and cut the hand off.”

Pawing through the weeds at the sculpture’s base revealed a plaque with the name and phone number of Michigan chainsaw artist “Dr.” Emil Szkipala. (Szkipala also created the Rip Van Winkle statue in front of Van Winkle Mattress Company on N. Main.) While Szkipala remembers the project, the artist doesn’t remember who employed him–a sign that the check did indeed clear.

The film was released in 2010 at the Nashville Film Festival. “It didn’t go super far,” admits Mazumder, “but made its rounds at a handful of film festivals in the U.S. and Europe.”

The big hand continues to receive thumbs-up reviews and elicits fond memories of those who worked on Art House. Fanucchi says he drives by it “all the time” and doing so “always brings back the movie.” Beatty, who lives near Ann Arbor, also sees it frequently, and Mazumder looks forward to visits to Ann Arbor and the co-op.

“There’s the Rock and other similar landmarks,” he says, “but it makes me feel especially good to visit something I helped facilitate.”