Italians have a centuries-old artisan and hand-craft tradition (material arts) which embraces a variety of media from stone, marble, ceramic tile, and gesso, to wood, and paint, including such art forms as: murals and frescoes, faux marble (and other trompe l’oeil), intarsia, mosaics, cameo carving, sculpting in wood or marble, plaster cast figurines. Other media such as textiles, wax, straw may be used in the domestic arts: embroidery, palm-weaving, decorative foods, ritual displays (e.g., altars, yard shrines). Many of these are alive and well, while others are waning. Names associated with cameo-carving and faux marbling (cf. St. Peter’s Church), are Giovanni Palomba, decorative plasterwork as well as figurines, Arbace Bracci and sons (c/o Garibaldina Society). Wherever Italians have settled, their skills in artisan or hand-crafted traditions have been primary. A comprehensive survey of such artisans has yet to be completed.
They have also held key roles in the construction industry. Italian names are still common among Los Angeles companies (e.g., as Pozzo, builders of Italian Hall, St. Basil’s church). An Italian’s family and home are among his/her greatest treasures. The home is therefore invested with great love, effort, and expense. Once-common embellishments took the form of yard fountains, statues, decorative wrought-iron, and are sometimes still found. Some are more utilitarian, such as a home-build outdoor ovens or barbecues, fruit & vegetable gardens—labors of love often created with one’s one hands, and serving specific cultural needs. And inside Italian American homes one easily finds typically Italian materials such as marble and ceramic tile, not to mention decorative arts which go from Baroque to the latest imported furniture and other items of contemporary design: See: ARTS: Interior Decor). Indeed, imported marble and tile companies have lately sprouted around the Southland, as these materials become more commonly used (See ARTISANS: Building Trades).