Hours before a group of German exchange students arrive in Alexandria, Ind., to paint the world’s largest ball of paint, creator Mike Carmichael, 67, carefully brushes a German flag on the side of the ball to surprise them. Behind him hangs a sign with flags from 63 countries depicting the different nationality of visitors to the ball.
Carmichael, along with visitors, has been painting layers of paint on the ball for almost 50 years. The ball is so large it has its own building and parking lot. As of November 2024, it has more than 29,500 layers of paint and weighs nearly 11,000 pounds.
Carmichael started his first ball of paint while living and going to school at the Indiana Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Home in Knightstown, Ind. While messing around with a classmate, a baseball fell in a can of paint. He, along with other classmates, continued to paint layers of paint on the ball. In two years, they had put around 1,000 layers on it. The ball was eventually displayed at a museum in town.