Many say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Except, anyone who stumbles upon the two-and-a-half-story mural on Fairbank’s 2nd Street North at VanDaele Insurance would surely pause to take in the beautiful piece crafted by the hands and precise work of Dan Hatala of Hatala Illustration. Hatala was contacted by Rochelle Kane with the Fairbank Mural Project to work on a piece as a part of Fairbank’s Main Street renovation project as fundraising for the project two years prior came to a close.
The project received a $3,500 grant from the Max and Helen Guernsey Foundation back in May that helped move the start date closer and raised around $1,700 through donations and giveaways. “They didn’t have anything in mind,” he said of the brainstorming session. “I said I really like to do random, Midwestern, wholesome pieces.
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It’s really nice when you can work two things together like that.” A lift was also donated by Rick Woods with Modern Building Products. The mural officially started in June and was completed in July and depicts a little girl in overalls catching fireflies in a jar.
Murals fell into place for the Waverly native only within the last decade, but the work Hatala has sprinkled around Iowa’s towns says more than words about his talent. “I just like the feel-good kind of images,” he said. “I’m not into politics and stuff like that.
I like doing things involving kids, and these murals are going in small towns.” He gets some of his inspiration from things he experienced as a child, like catching fireflies or blowing bubbles. For other murals he considers the town’s history or the places where they are painted.
His work has brought him all over northeast Iowa, with his most recent projects located in Denver, Traer, Sumner, Delhi, Fredericksburg, and his hometown of Waverly. His projects keep him mainly around the Midwest, and he’s only traveled as far as central Nebraska. Hatala never thought he’d end up in the art business a couple decades ago.
It wasn’t until his high school art teacher pushed him to pursue his craft that he started to take it seriously. “I went to Hawkeye Tech in Waterloo for a couple years, and then I started at an advertising agency in Waverly for a number of years, then went to an illustration studio in Waterloo that was a nationally-accredited place,” he explained. “In ‘96 I left there and started on my own doing illustration work.
” From then on, it’s murals when the weather cooperates and in winter it’s creating paintings for jigsaw puzzle companies or commissioned work. “I try to do three puzzles every year for that,” Hatala said. “When COVID hit, everybody stayed home, puzzle sales were great—almost three times a normal year.
” Hatala’s portfolio features another painting series that focuses on childhood dreams. “There’s usually a kid in a pedal car, pedal tractor,” he said of the art. “That’s followed me for 10 or 15 years.
” Hatala said he’s found his favorites within his mural series, and each new one usually gets into the top-five list as they come. He added that Fairbank’s is his favorite followed by Fredericksburg’s and Traer’s mural of a farmer with his dog. “The murals have been the most enjoyable thing for me to do,” he said.
“I really felt like ‘Ok, this is what I’m meant to do.’ It’s somewhat of a legacy that will stay for a number of years.” Hatala was an artist for the U.
S. Air Force a while back. They would send him around to different bases to capture the work being done there.
It wasn’t a paid position, but he was provided housing and the joy of giving back to those who give their all. “Every year they’d fly you to Andrews Air Force base in Washington, D.C.
, and they had a big turnover,” Hatala said. “While I was there, one of the Air Force paintings, we did a tour of the Pentagon and I saw it hanging on the wall in the Pentagon. It really touched me.
” “That one was my happiest moment,” he said..
