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.”

Credit: Placentia Chalk Art

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.

Chaney had an Easter-themed picture (a chick or an egg or a bunny, he isn’t quite sure anymore) and thought, “You know, let me take some of this chalk and see if I can draw this on a wall inside of my yard.” It turned out well enough, but Chaney, always the perfectionist, felt he could do better.

This time, he tried drawing an outline of the wall first and using it as a grid on which to sketch the image. He recalls the moment he stepped back to appraise his work with delight. “It worked perfectly. I mean, it just came out phenomenal, my second one ever. I was like, ‘Wow I like this! This is great!’ Eventually I got a little cocky. Thought I should try this on the outside of the wall.” So he did, and a tradition was born.

Credit: Placentia Chalk Art

            More than twenty years have passed since that first day Chaney set chalk to wall, and his murals are now a consistent part of the Placentia community’s ecosystem. Word spreads quickly whenever a new mural goes up, neighbors letting each other know on their daily walks and in Facebook groups.

            One Facebook user, Michelle Cadieux Tibbs, commented on a community post: “This wall is such a precious piece of the heritage of our little city.” On a separate post, user Amy Lui commented: “Thank you for blessing our little city with your talents.” Yet another grateful comment was posted by Cynthia Hamilton: “You’re wonderful Mr. Chaney and a blessing to our town.”

Chaney’s murals bring the city together through a shared love of art and community. Year after year, families take first day of school pictures in front of a back-to-school-themed mural. The city comes together for an annual Super Bowl Pool, where families claim a square and winners receive gift cards donated by local businesses. Some of those local businesses have commissioned Chaney to create one-of-a-kind pieces for their customers to enjoy.

One year, he created a mural of Cupid and covered the two walls beside it in empty hearts. His children then posted a picture of the mural, inviting the community to fill the hearts in with their initials. “And they came,” he recalls, “Oh man, did they come.” So many couples and families came by that, within two hours, all the hearts had filled up and people had started drawing their own. “Eight walls later, we had all these special messages on there. I thought that was so touching.”

            If you spend enough time in town, you are sure to hear someone mention “the Placentia Chalk Guy” with a smile on their face. Chaney describes his contribution to the community as “just another family in the neighborhood doing something neighborly,” a very humble description of the local phenomenon his murals have become. “It’s a little something for our history.”

Placentia is a small city. “We don’t even have any malls, you know? Nobody even knew Placentia was up here. It’s just a tiny community,” Chaney says. And, though it may be true that the city doesn’t have many “claims to fame,” as he puts it, it’s a community that he’s proud to be a part of, a community where neighbors come together for parades, to support local businesses, and—thanks to Dan Chaney—to marvel at chalk murals.