PITTSTON — Summer is nearly over, and that means the Second Friday Art Walk comes to an end for 2015.

The last event of the year will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Main Street on Friday, Sept. 11, concluding the art walk’s third year.

With the Inspiration Mural being the centerpiece of art for much of the summer, Main Street Manager Rose Randazzo said Michael Pilato, who painted the mural, will be back for the art walk once again after having begun the large project during the July event.

This time, she said, he will do something more patriotic.

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“Every year Mike does a Sept. 11 vigil and he stays up around the clock in front of one of his murals,” said Randazzo. “He’s done it at State College, Williamsport and other areas where he’s painted. He will, free of charge that night, be painting some tribute, we don’t know what it will look like, to 9/11 and any local heroes who died serving the country.”

Randazzo said Pilato will be located at the Inspiration Mural on the corner of Main Street and Tomato Festival Drive.

Pilato said he will paint 48 hours straight, beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10 and concluding at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.

He has done this every year since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. This will be his first time doing it in the Greater Pittston area.

“I’m so excited to do it in Pittston because I’ve done a mural there,” Pilato said. “I love the community and I’m just proud to add to the art that’s going and spread the message to never forget. The whole thing is about never forgetting our heroes and the people who serve such as police, EMTs and people who serve overseas. It’s just an honor to be able to do it.”

Pilato also said some of his vigils have featured only one local hero while others have featured up to 10 and that he hopes to paint at least three heroes of the Greater Pittston area.

On top of Pilato’s vigil, Maria Livrone, owner of Art on Main, said there will be a lot of first time art walk artists and that Fidelity Bank will host artists who have submitted images for wallpaper that Fidelity Bank uses by providing refreshments and introducing them to the public.

The art walk will also feature the usual happenings such as face painting for children in Pocket Park, music in the lower Tomato Festival Lot and musicians busking up and down Main Street.

After the 2014 Second Friday Art Walks, Pittston was voted for having the best Art Center Event in NEPA by readers of Happenings Magazine.

This year Pittston was voted eighth out of 10 for America’s Top 10 Towns for Craft Lovers.

Because of the honor, Pittston will participate in American Craft Week from Friday, Oct. 2 until Sunday, Oct. 11 in which there will be various activities and events taking place during that time frame relating to art.

“The whole city gets involved,” said Randazzo. “Paint N’ Pinot and others will probably get involved and it will be a big art week.”

With another successful year of art walk’s concluding, Livrone says the best has yet to come.

“This is just the tip,” she said. “It’s going to grow and get bigger and better. We have more and more artists who are asking to be part of this and, when we started three years ago, we only had local artists because anytime you do something like this for the first time artists are hesitant to be part of it. Now, word is spreading to other communities and actually other states about what Pittston is doing and the success of this event. I’m hoping we can keep it that way.”

A Sept. 11 vigil that Mike Pilato painted in Williamsport that he worked on over the course of five Sept. 11 dates which features local military, police officers and firefighters from that area. Pilato said he hopes to paint three Greater Pittston heroes during his time at the Second Friday Art Walk.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Sept.-11-vigil.jpg.optimal.jpgA Sept. 11 vigil that Mike Pilato painted in Williamsport that he worked on over the course of five Sept. 11 dates which features local military, police officers and firefighters from that area. Pilato said he hopes to paint three Greater Pittston heroes during his time at the Second Friday Art Walk. Submitted photo
Last Second Friday Art Walk being held on Sept. 11

By Jimmy Fisher

jfisher@timesleader.com

Reach Jimmy Fisher at 570-704-3972 or on Twitter @SD_JimmyFisher