In 1986, Donna Hennig was asked to design and paint graphics on a water tank in Bellevue, Washington. By then she had already established her reputation as an artist with hundreds of murals in schools and other buildings throughout the Pacific Northwest. So when city officials were looking for a way to beautify a water tank in the middle of the Clyde Hill neighborhood, an architectural firm referred them to Donna. Although she had never dreamed of designing graphics for a water tank, she considered the project to be an interesting art challenge and went to work.

Since the Clyde Hill tank was surrounded by trees, she tried to make the tank blend into its surroundings by continuing the tree line on the tank surface. The results were very positive, with members of the community coming up to the job site and raving about the work being done. The project even became a sort of tourist attraction with local people bringing visitors to show off how the ugly water tank in their backyard had been transformed into a beautiful work of art. Soon after, Donna and Rodney Hennig launched Hennig Mural Design and began transforming more water tanks in the area.

As of 2008, we have completed over 60 water tanks. Usually when tanks are needed near homes we are called upon to make them less obtrusive. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, our towers typically feature evergreen trees, mountains, and streams, whereas desert scenes and palm trees are more popular in California. However, each tank is a custom piece of artwork that reflects the client's goals, whether it be to camouflage the water tank or to prominently display a logo or community name for all to see.

See examples of our towers in the Gallery