Rocky Dobey started making art after moving from Northern Manitoba to Toronto in the early 1970s. While working as a shoeshine boy, he began xeroxing his drawings and posting them on walls and buildings all over downtown Toronto. From there, he progressed to installing metal plaques, copper sculptures and billboard-sized paintings on abandoned buildings. Rocky created and installed thousands of pieces, all anonymously, beginning in 1971. In 1986, he began producing posters (under his own name) for political events and social justice groups for everything from the 50th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War to Prisoner’s Justice, G20 and Occupy. He began his public work as an artist in the mid-1990’s, making copper sculptures and developing his craft as a printmaker.