Condron & Company receives SAGE Award

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Luzerne, Lackawanna artists are among those eligible for ArtPop billboards in the Poconos

First Posted: 6/19/2014 No, not that Leonardo.
But he does carry a paint brush.
Fifteen years ago, the Insalaco family donated &#8216;Welcome to Pittston City&#8217; signs to the downtown. But the weather is beginning to take a toll.
That&#8217;s where Leonard Davenport, owner of Leonardo&#8217;s Painting, stepped in. He&#8217;ll admit he&#8217;s &#8220;no da Vinci.&#8221; But he&#8217;s been tasked to restore four of the welcome signs prior to this year&#8217;s Pittston Tomato Festival.
On Davenport&#8217;s list for restoration are signs located at William Street and Kennedy Boulevard next to the Susquehanna River, one on North Main Street coming in from Duryea, one across the street from Domino&#8217;s Pizza welcoming motorists from the west side, and one on William Street coming in from the bypass.
The Insalaco family, which grew a large supermarket chain from humble beginnings on South Main Street in the city, is covering the cost to have the welcome signs restored by Davenport.
The plan for Davenport is to finish all the signs by the start of the Pittston Tomato Festival, which begins on Thursday, Aug. 21. He was able to take three of the signs back to his shop and work on them there. The one on Kennedy Boulevard is a permanent structure. So, you can see Davenport working his magic throughout the week.
The signs are more than a decade old and are showing it. Much of the paint has been worn down and stripped off. The vinyl decals and lettering are also becoming problemsome.
&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of new school,&#8221; Davenport said. &#8220;That&#8217;s how things are done now. I will do everything by hand for the final product.&#8221;
Each sign has a picture of a tomato on it. Originally, that was vinyl. Davenport will now paint them by hand.
&#8220;They are already fantastic signs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There are very few sign shops that can do this kind of work.&#8221;
The signs are also recessed. Each says, &#8216;Welcome to Pittston City&#8217; in gold paint. They also depict the Water Street Bridge and a church. Two signs hang from the main sign. One says, &#8220;World&#8217;s Quality &#8216;TOMATO CAPITAL.&#8217;&#8221; The other: &#8220;Donated by INSALACO DEVELOPMENT GROUP.&#8221;
Based out of Nanticoke, Davenport specializes in Splash Art, which serves the purpose of attracting new customers to a business.
He says, &#8220;My window painting is a creative way for you to spice up the holidays, celebrate the seasons or your anniversaries. I can help you announce a new service, advertise a sale or simply show your community support.&#8221;
You can see a lot of Davenport&#8217;s work throughout Pittston, including some splash art once Christmas rolls around. He recently painted at M.D. Pit &#8212; BBQ & Ice Cream Parlor in Exeter.

Brushing things up