{"id":774899,"date":"2026-05-05T12:40:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/774899\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:40:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:40:42","slug":"artist-with-lebanon-county-roots-paints-america250-liberty-bell-for-hershey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/774899\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist with Lebanon County roots paints America250 Liberty Bell for Hershey"},"content":{"rendered":"

An artist with a Lebanon County lineage stretching back to before the origins of the United States is part of a select group chosen to decorate a very familiar symbol commemorating the country\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Hawk Krall, 48, illustrated a fiberglass replica of the Liberty Bell \u2013 one of two representing Dauphin County \u2013 that now sits outside Hershey\u2019s Chocolate World. It\u2019s part of the Bells Across PA project sponsored by America250PA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Krall said he was chosen for the bell project because of another local art piece he\u2019d done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The America250PA bell painted by Hawk Krall outside Hershey\u2019s Chocolate World. (Provided photos)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hershey people saw my work at Tr\u00f6egs (Independent Brewing) \u2013 they saw the mural, I think, specifically \u2013 and they (said), we have this project that we\u2019re doing with America250, which is the bell \u2013 would you like to do a Hershey thing,\u201d Krall said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

It was that mural, coupled with Krall\u2019s extensive family history in the area, that led to his selection, he said. The bell project has other personal significance for him as well.<\/p>\n

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\t\tHawk Krall\u2019s permanent mural in the Walking Tour path at Troegs Independent Brewing. (Kira Schlechter)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always went to Hersheypark growing up with my grandparents,\u201d he said. \u201cBoth my parents are amusement park enthusiasts. My father is one of the roller coaster people, he\u2019s in the American Coaster Enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was a cool thing \u2013 this is fun, this is a little different. Most of what I do is Philadelphia-based, or at least had been when I was in the city, so it was cool to do something a little different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bell project took about a year altogether, Krall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of waiting for the actual bell to arrive \u2013 it wasn\u2019t a year working,\u201d he clarified. \u201cIt was a couple months of sketches that had to be approved by multiple parties, because I was working directly with Hershey and then also working with (America250PA).<\/p>\n

\u201cHershey had to approve it, and then they sent it to other people. And then Hershey has separate companies, like the park and the candy aren\u2019t the same company. So they were like, we want roller coasters in there, but then that has to be approved by the park in the way the roller coaster\u2019s drawn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once his designs were approved, nothing could be changed, Krall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then everything was approved by everyone and I think it was probably six months before I got the bell,\u201d which was delivered to his house, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He did the initial sketches on paper, he said, and described the process of getting those drawings onto the bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took my sketch and just by hand transferred it onto the bell in light blue pencil,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was probably the hardest part of the whole process, because a flat piece of paper doesn\u2019t really accurately represent the curved dimensions of a round bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI split the bell up into quadrants, which is kind of the same thing I do for murals. I split it up into eight quadrants \u2013 basically it was a sketch for each side. And then I just put painter\u2019s tape on the bell to create these eight quadrants and then just freehand drew the sketch onto the bell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bell is filled with plenty of familiar images, from Milton Hershey himself to the Kissmobile to Hershey\u2019s characters and the town\u2019s trademark smokestacks.<\/p>\n

\u201c(And) I just used house paint\u201d to paint the bell, Krall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty weatherproof, it should last a while \u2013 I know how to use it on a fiberglass object,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can be a little bit of a struggle, especially doing details \u2013 some of the colors you have to do multiple layers of paint for it to be opaque, like the reds and the yellows. I just had it in my garage and I worked on it. It wasn\u2019t a rushed thing; I\u2019d work on other jobs and then work on the bell for (like) half a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commemorative pieces are nothing new for Krall; he also decorated one of the donkey sculptures displayed at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

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\t\tHawk Krall painted this donkey sculpture for the DNC in Philadelphia. (Photo by Steve Weinik; courtesy of Hawk Krall)<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a very similar thing, of doing (an initial) sketch, but then we did those onsite in a warehouse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Krall was born and raised in the Philadelphia suburb of Jenkintown and lives in North Wales, Montgomery County. But he comes from a long line of Lebanon countians who have been in the area since the 1700s. He says he visited Lebanon regularly growing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was born and raised in Lebanon \u2013 his family, the Kralls, go way back,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were Pennsylvania German, or Swiss, Mennonites. Some of my father\u2019s family have a bunch of farms \u2013 there were a lot of Krall farms. My father\u2019s aunt had a working farm, but apparently some of my dad\u2019s other uncles also had farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other side, my grandmother was a Hauck, which is kind of where my name, Hawk, comes from. I don\u2019t really have confirmation of this, but some of the people in my grandmother\u2019s family, instead of using the spelling \u2018H-A-U-C-K\u2019 used the spelling \u2018H-A-W-K.\u2019 They were Pennsylvania Dutch, Pennsylvania German.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His grandmother\u2019s family also had farms in the area, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are Hauck farms that, at least according to my father, were dairy farms that were sending milk to the Hershey Company,\u201d he said. \u201cMy dad remembers my grandmother loading up the trolley \u2013 they would have the trolleys that came through and picked up the milk and took it to the factory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Hawk Krall. (Provided photo)<\/p>\n

He also comes from a long line of artists and artisans. After completing high school at Jenkintown High School, he graduated from the Pratt Institute School of Art in Brooklyn, New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was an illustrator, an art director, a graphic designer, for a variety of different places,\u201d he said. \u201cHe worked for a crossword puzzle magazine, (the ones) they used to have in the grocery store \u2013 he designed the covers of those.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom is a painter, and she\u2019s taught for many years. She taught kids after school and then taught at a bunch of different schools. Now she teaches mostly senior citizens, like nighttime classes, and in her free time, does paintings of carousel horses and trees. My mother doesn\u2019t have a gallery, she just makes art. She makes insane amounts of art all the time when she\u2019s not doing other things. She\u2019s the real deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

His parents also came by their artistic bent naturally, Krall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Pennsylvania Dutch grandmother did crocheting, like decorative craft stuff, but my mom\u2019s family are professional illustrators going back a couple generations,\u201d he said. \u201cMy grandparents on my mom\u2019s side were both illustrators and painters. Even my great-grandparents were painters and sculptors (on) my mom\u2019s side \u2013 they were from Philly and taught at the University of the Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krall\u2019s artistic style is very distinctive: colorful, graffiti-inspired, densely-detailed, cartoon-esque drawings filled with his trademark bubble letters.\u00a0Living in Philadelphia for 20 years inspired his style, as did one of his early influences, New York-based multi-disciplinary artist Red Grooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an illustrator, a cartoonist; he also did these three-dimensional installations, like sculptural things, these very cartoony, outlandish things,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw a big show of his when I was like 10 or something, (and) that was my inspiration for 10 years of my life of making art. And then I was very into alternative indie underground comics from the \u201990s till currently \u2013 there\u2019s definitely some artists in that genre that do dense, urban scenes of city life, crazy layers and signs and graffiti.\u201d<\/p>\n

His personal artistic style coalesced around his college years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re specifically asking about the dense, cityscape style, that probably developed around 2008 or so,\u201d he said. \u201cI was doing some freelance illustration, but it was mostly caricatures, like portraits. I had a show at Space 616 (a DIY art space), I think that was 2008, 2007. I did a whole show of work in that style \u2013 black and white cityscapes with tons of detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

His work has \u201cdefinitely gotten more detailed and more accurate\u201d and also more researched, Krall said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Hershey piece, I was looking at references for everything, for old buildings, and trying to get everything as accurate as possible,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Krall has done editorial illustration for publications like the Baltimore Citypaper, Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Magazine, and the Village Voice. He also has large murals displayed in various locations across Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

He hand-draws all his work, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor illustrations or for clients in print, I do often color in Photoshop, but all of my drawings are hand-done,\u201d he said. \u201cI do pencil sketches, and then I do finals in India ink and brush on paper. If it\u2019s going to be a visually-delivered illustration, I scan it in the computer and I do color in Photoshop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe large format stuff, the murals, it really depends on the project. For (the bell), obviously it was hand-painted because it\u2019s really the only way to do that. I have done murals that are digital installs, where I do an ink drawing and scan it. And then if they want color, I do color on the computer and then send it as a massive 500-gigabyte file that they print out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much of Krall\u2019s work is for the food and beverage industry, including last year\u2019s merch launch for the super-popular brand Mike\u2019s Hot Honey. He worked in restaurants for years before becoming a full-time professional artist, adding he was always interested in food.<\/p>\n

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\t\tA Krall piece displayed in the Art Gallery at Tr\u00f6egs Independent Brewing.<\/p>\n

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\t\tHawk Krall\u2019s 2017 poster, used in Philadelphia, for Tr\u00f6egs\u2019 inaugural First Squeeze campaign celebrating the release of Nugget Nectar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved Anthony Bourdain when he was still around \u2013 I was reading all his books when I was working in the kitchen,\u201d he said. \u201cI was like why am I not bringing all this knowledge \u2026 this experience, into my art?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI did some comics about working in kitchens, which was cool, people liked them, but career-wise (they) didn\u2019t do that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

His break in that field came when he started doing work for the website\/food blog Serious Eats.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started doing a hot dog column for them once a week \u2013 I would do an illustration and a short article,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was from 2008, 2009, to 2011. I\u2019d say since then, over half my work is food related.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The America250PA bell will be on display outside Chocolate World for the remainder of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What the future holds for the bell after that remains unclear. Organizers hadn\u2019t responded to LebTown\u2019s request for comment as of publication, and Krall wasn\u2019t sure of the plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it\u2019s somewhere public that people can look at it for as long as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next up on Krall\u2019s plate is more work for Mike\u2019s Hot Honey. He\u2019s also doing another project in conjunction with America\u2019s 250th birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing a big project for Goldbelly \u2013 they ship food all over the country. It\u2019s still in the works, but it\u2019s going to be (with) America250 (called Taste of America 250<\/a>; the company has been named the program\u2019s Official Marketplace).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do signature foods for every state across the country. I\u2019m working on that right now. It\u2019s going to be a cool project.\u201d<\/p>\n

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