Art

Painting Signs in the City

Jayson Salvi makes signs sign in PVD

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If you’re reading this somewhere in downtown Providence, look up and look around. Chances are, somewhere in your vicinity is a handcrafted piece of art designed and created by local resident Jayson M. Salvi. Fragments of Jayson are scattered all over the city – from the Providence G Rooftop Lounge to Trinity Brewhouse to City Hall, these fragments are not paintings in the traditional sense, as they do not hang on walls merely for the pleasure of passersby. Instead, Jayson’s work serves a fundamental purpose: to inform as well as delight. Need to convey a message in an engaging way? Salvi’s Traditional Sign Painting and Design is the answer to one’s professional and personal artistic advertising needs.

Jayson started exercising his creative muscles in high school when people would ask him to hand-write invitations or cards because he had excellent penmanship. It was his father, however, who first introduced him to the world of sign painting.

“[My dad] worked retail but he always hand-lettered all the signs for his jobs,” explains Jayson while we sit in Rogue Island’s cozy dining room on a rainy Monday afternoon. At first glance, you might not expect Jayson to be an artist – there are no telltale flecks of paint on his velvet sport coat – but if a creative impulse strikes, he always has a paint brush tucked away somewhere on his person, just in case.

At 18, Jayson joined the Navy and it was at that point when his sign painting flourished. “In the service I would paint the ship’s logos, and inside I would hand letter different departments, never once thinking sign painting was a viable means of income,” he remembers. “So when I came to Providence in 2001 and opened up a retail store specializing in candles [in the Arcade], I still hand did signs, but never did it for business.”

Tazza – the fondly remembered downtown Providence eatery – was where Jayson saw sign painting as more than a hobby for the first time. “In 2004 when Tazza first opened, I lettered their windows,” he states. “That was my first big sign painting job.” And even though Tazza is no longer in business, Jayson’s work still shines bright at 204 Westminster Street.

Jayson’s first lucrative bite whetted his creative appetite, and the transition from hobby to freelance began. “I still work a full time 40-hour-a-week job because you do what you have to do. But I put in about 35 hours a week doing sign painting. Being a freelancer you don’t know when you will have that dry spell. It’s unfortunate that artists and freelancers have to rely on other forms of income to do what they love.”

To see Jayson’s work, all one needs to do is walk around the city. See that bright red circle emblazoned on the Providence G Rooftop Lounge? It’s one of his favorite creations, and his art is essentially part of the framework at Rogue Island. You can also purchase his work at Frog and Toad on Hope Street or Homestyle on Westminster. Keep up with Jayson’s creative endeavors online – currently he’s working on a “Made in Providence” line.

In the future, Jayson wants to see Providence creatively express itself so that outsiders, tourists and newcomers are engaged from the first time they enter to the time they leave.

“I would love to do something that really distinguishes Providence when you enter the city – something huge that when people come, they will say ‘wow.’ The only ‘Welcome to Providence’ sign I ever see is when you’re coming from Elmwood. There’s a historical plaque, but there’s nothing really amazing that signifies where we originated from and who we are now.”

Rhode Island having an issue with signage? This is a problem often discussed among natives and non-Rhodies alike. “There’s a quote in the sign business,” says Jayson as we finish up our conversation: “‘a business with no sign is a sign of no business’.” This is an interesting concept when applied to Providence. Perhaps the first step to inviting more business into the city – besides reducing property taxes – is showing outside investors who we are. And what better way to do that than through a sign, one of the oldest forms of advertising? Imagine something massive on the side of 95 that implies: “Welcome to Providence... we are indeed open for business.”

Salvi’s Traditional Sign Painting and Design

808-7373

Salvi, Sign, Painting, Design, Providence, Art, Create, Retail, Hand-lettered, freelance

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