Next year marks Placentia’s 100th anniversary. Local artist Dan Chaney’s chalk murals are one of the many ways the little city lives up to its motto: “A pleasant place to live.”
Heading down Bastanchury Road in Placentia, you might spot a large, colorful chalk mural depicting the nativity, recreating Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” or a capturing a scene from “The Simpsons.” If you’re lucky, you might also spot the artist himself, crouched low, hands covered in chalk, determinedly working on his next masterpiece. If you do see Dan Chaney, don’t be afraid to say hello.
“It’s a community thing for me,” he says, “Whenever I’m out there, sitting on the ground and scratching chalk, I like the honks. I throw my hand up and wave backwards. And I like the ones that stop and just wanna chat a little bit. They want to get to know their neighbor, you know? To me that’s the whole purpose: to build a neighborhood.”
It all started one Easter, when Chaney’s wife Shari put packs of colorful sidewalk chalk in her children’s Easter baskets. Little did she know that she had set into motion what would become a beloved city-wide tradition…