Hasta La Ideas

If you liked our write-up on the artists behind the gold-gilded pub mirrors we ran a while back, you’ll want to tune into this. While we typically take signage for granted, whether it promises the “Biggest Sale Ever!” or contains a particularly humorous typo, there’s an artform hidden between the lines that most of us don’t ever hear about. Directors Faythe Levine & Sam Macon went on a journey to put a spotlight on a community they saw falling to the wayside—sign painters. The result is “Sign Painters,” a documentary featuring the hands behind the painted signs on storefront windows, walls, billboards and just about every other texted surface you can think of.

Faythe Levine and Sam Macon, directors of Sign Painters

It takes more than just a steady hand to make it in the sign-painting world. According to the documentary synopsis: “What was once a common job has now become a highly specialized underground trade, a unique craft struggling with technological advances.” The film features anecdotes from famed sign painters including Ira Coyne, Bob Dewhurst, Keith Knecht, Norma Jeane Maloney and Stephen Powers. Check out the trailer:

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