It always looks scary before it looks awesome.”

Kada Groalen

The weight of replacing the 26-year-old mural that has welcomed visitors downtown for a generation was not lost on muralists Dena Young and Kada Groalen.
The final design that passersby can see taking shape for its July soft opening was arrived at through rounds of discussions on Hastings’ history, culture, and iconography.
Young and Groalen started with “three wildly different directions,” said Young, and worked with Randy Stenger, owner of the Quarry Taphouse, and Dave Youngren, one of the original muralists, to incorporate historical icons like the LeDuc Mansion and old Hastings bridge as well as cultural icons like hockey skates and buffalo into the design.
While both muralists are from the area, neither are from Hastings, so truly capturing the feel of the community was important. This was done in part, with community input.
“We aren’t going to be the ones looking at it every day,” quipped Young.
The brightly colored mural not only showcases the city of Hastings, it also hides three easter eggs, subtler references to Hastings and the previous mural.
Sharp-eyed viewers might spot the outline of a particular gummy figure and his horse within the mural, notably less conspicuous than icons like city hall and the Vermillion Falls.
Young describes this style as “layers of subtly.” Beneath the bright colors and literally larger-than-life icons, lay smaller details that viewers might not spot on first glance.
As to the other easter eggs, the muralists would not say.
While it is fairly uncommon for two muralists to collaborate on murals, both Young and Groalen are grateful for the other’s company: “Both Dena and I thrive on a breadth of styles,” said Groalen.
Both muralists are mothers and joked about making sure the other was taking enough breaks and drinking enough water through the hot summer days of painting.
To that point, one of the biggest hurdles to the Hastings mural has been the daily rains that have continued throughout June. While muralists are able to paint in light rain, heavy rain can keep paint wet and cause it to drip.
Young and Groalen have worked to paint top-to-bottom to counteract this threat.
Young has been a professional muralist for the last three years working on residential, small business and community murals. She completed her first mural in 2013 for $500 and unlimited frozen yogurt.
“I never thought it was a career, I didn’t even think that was an option,” said Young.
The Hastings mural is the largest she has worked on to date.
Groalen has been painting murals for the last 25 years, starting with a mural she painted for an Italian restaurant where she was waiting tables one summer when she was home from college.
While waiting tables, Groalen would speak with customers about the mural and then write her name on the back of customer’s checks. That grassroots networking, starting with baby’s rooms and residents’ kitchens, launched Groalen’s 25-year career.
These days, Groalen’s reputation proceeds her, with young muralists coming to her for advice. What Groalen tells them is simple: “say yes to everything.” Groalen cites her early days as a muralist as teaching her about different substrates, mediums and styles.
“I never burnt a bridge, and I always said yes,” said Groalen.
Outdoor murals—in Minnesota of all places—have to contend with weather from blizzards to sweltering summer heat, which can leech color and crack paint. The before-and-after photos of the previous Hastings mural are a testament to the gradual changes that creep into murals over the years.
Due to the rise in paint quality, this new mural’s lifespan is expected to be measured not in decades but in lifetimes, according to the muralists.
As to when, exactly, the mural will be finished is not yet finalized, but Groalen advises patience: “It always looks scary before it looks awesome.”