I want to share a moment in my world with you. As editor of Designers Circle I enjoy all the stories and articles that are submitted by the writers for the Design Blog. I edit each one and find pictures to exemplify the ideas the author wants to share with the reader.
Recently I was editing The Chandelier Club written by Kimberly Pearson. Kim always digs deep and finds out the most interesting things about people and places. As I was reading Kim’s article I found two very interesting facts. The first was that the person she was writing about, Matthew Santoro, had the same last name as a cousin, and second, the business is located 1 mile from my another cousin’s Italian restaurant in Queens.
I called Mr. Santoro about his business and told him I was going to attend the Architectural Digest’s Design Event. We had dinner and he gave me more of his background and experience.
“Matty” is one of the last experts in period lighting holding monthly classes in his studio where he educates design students and interior designers about the history and beauty of Renaissance Lighting. These classes also consist of a handful of enthusiastic “artsy” people who pick through his huge collection of parts and pieces of historic components to create a lamp from scratch under Santoro’s guidance.
Santoro, A.K.A., The Lamp Whisperer, has a very impressive list of clients and, after over 40 years of being an integral part of lighting history, is looking forward to his next commissioned project – creating Russian Regency Chandeliers for a man from Switzerland who is building a residence in Ireland.
You can learn more about Matthew and his world in Enlightment Magazine and his website Crystal Renaissance
During our dinner conversation, I learned that Matty and my mother graduated from the same high school, 30+ years apart and they grew up in the same neighborhood.
Yes, it is a small world after all.
Fascinating! I’ve done one period light fixture restoration, and what I wouldn’t have given to have a resource like Matthew Santoro.
And yes, it has become a very small world. Last night at my nephew’s housewarming party in San Tan Valley, I met their neighbor who had attended Dept. of Defense overseas schools and, although we were in different countries, we knew several of the same people. Ten percent of my own high school class from Berlin American High have settled in the metro Phoenix area, so I see more of them socially than I did when we were teen-agers in the 1960s and 70s. Even weirder, one of my 7th grade teachers from Berlin lives two miles from me and my father-in-law went to school with his younger sisters in Globe-Miami, AZ. Go figure!