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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; While Santa waves from a window near the Luzerne County Convention and Visitors Bureau office, Yoda and C3PO of &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; fame offer seasons greetings across Public Square at Blue Wireless.</p><p>Meanwhile, Heat Miser and Snow Miser &#8212; remember them from a 1974 television special? &#8212; grimace menacingly at Rodano&#8217;s and, at Katana, Charlie Brown and the rest of the &#8220;Peanuts&#8221; gang throw back their heads and open their mouths wide to offer &#8220;Joy to the World.&#8221;</p><p>From the gingerbread cookie at Dunkin&#8217; Donuts to the word J-O-Y created from peppermint sticks at Frederick Dental Group to the mirror in which you can see your &#8220;selfie&#8221; at Luzerne Bank, downtown Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s windows have recently taken on a festive appearance.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a real labor of love,&#8221; said Leonardo Davenport, of Nanticoke, one of about 20 artists who volunteered to paint decorations on the storefront windows.</p><p>&#8220;We look at this as our gift to the community,&#8221; said John Maday, speaking for the promotions committee of the Downtown Wilkes-Barre Association, which organized the painting. &#8220;It recreates the memory of the downtown from long ago when every store had its displays and what&#8217;s nice is, each of the artists gave a different perspective on what the holidays should be.&#8221;</p><p>So you might find Snoopy singing while Lucy offers advice at El Zocala restaurant, a snowman riding a sled at the Kirby Center, Rudolf wagging his tail at Bottlenecks.</p><p>Davenport is the artist responsible for the Rudolf at Bottlenecks, as well as characters he named &#8220;Macey&#8221; after a waitress, &#8220;Jason&#8221; after the owner and &#8220;Peppermint Patty&#8221; after a drink.</p><p>Carrying a variety of different colored paints in the trunk of his car, he also painted a waif-like child that represents the Valley Santa charity on the Geisinger Health Systems building and an array of holiday motifs on the F.M. Kirby Center.</p><p>&#8220;This will really make them stand out,&#8221; he said, dabbing a touch of red here and there along the edges of his work.</p><p>Sporting a beret and suspenders covered with images of palettes and brushes, Davenport said he was wearing his painting clothes.</p><p>His first name wasn&#8217;t always Leonardo, he explained. &#8220;I&#8217;d tell people my name was Leonard, and they&#8217;d forget it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I added the &#8216;o&#8217; and now they remember.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Leonardo Davenport paints holiday designs on the doors to the F.M Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_srm-70161.jpg</photo0><caption0>Leonardo Davenport paints holiday designs on the doors to the F.M Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120215holdaywindows13.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Artist Leonardo Davenport from Nanticoke paints holiday designs on the Geisinger Health Systems building on Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square on a recent Friday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120215holdaywindows13.jpg</photo1><caption1>Artist Leonardo Davenport from Nanticoke paints holiday designs on the Geisinger Health Systems building on Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square on a recent Friday afternoon. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120215holdaywindows23.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Leonardo Davenport is reflected in the window of a holiday painting he created on the front of Bottlenecks bar near Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square as he puts finishing touches on the art. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_TTL120215holdaywindows23.jpg</photo2><caption2>Leonardo Davenport is reflected in the window of a holiday painting he created on the front of Bottlenecks bar near Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Public Square as he puts finishing touches on the art. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Artists transform Wilkes-Barre windows for the holiday season