Coppola Brothers, who have always been involved in the art community, along with Master fresco painter, iLia Anossov, teamed up in an effort to offer something to artists that had never been available in the United States before. In January of 2003 Coppola Brothers Company took over the responsibility of supplying Fresco School Workshop students and the art community at large with all of the hard to find fresco art supplies and materials. All of the cost savings are passed directly to the Fresco School students by offsetting their individual materials costs. Most of the materials that Coppola Bros. Company distributes through “The fresco Shop” are imported directly from Italy.
Coppola Brothers Company is a very unique contracting firm. They specialize in the application of authentic Italian plasters and other very interesting historic materials from around the world. They concentrate on using application techniques that are derived from the Masters who originally used these materials centuries ago. “There are similar products available on the market today,” says owner and chief researcher, Mitchell Nussbaum, “but most are synthetic representations of the originals. If you want true Italian plaster walls, you need to start out with the real thing. But that’s only half of the equation,” says Mitchell. “ You must have a crew of applicators that are trained in mixing, coloring, preparing, and applying these plasters properly. These are all seamless applications,” says Mitchell, “and must be organized very precisely. After three, five, or even ten men complete a wall or ceiling, it must appear that it was all done by only one hand. That’s the trick.”
That is what Coppola Brothers Company brings to the jobsite… a crew of trained artisan plasterers from near and far. This group comes from around the world, literally. It wouldn’t be uncommon to see a group of plasters from different counties such as Italy, Ireland, England, as well as the U.S. on a Coppola Bros. jobsite. “It often feels like a class reunion when we start a job,” says Nussbaum. But that’s only where the fun begins. On a recent job, Coppola Brothers was reunited with Master craftsmen and old friend, Paul Marlow, owner of Paul Marlow – Specialists in Stucco, one of the leading specialty plastering firms in the UK. Paul flew in from Belfast, Ireland to lend his expertise to a particularly complicated job in Arizona. It is to that length that Coppola Brothers goes to get the results that have brought them such acclaim.
Once the work starts it quickly takes on the look of a well-rehearsed group of whirling dervishes setting up scaffolding and work platforms, mixing up buckets of different materials, with ribbons of protective blue masking tape going up as fast as the eye to see. The interesting part of the process is how quickly it settles into the beautifully choreographed procession of craftsmen working in a well-timed parade across a wall with wonderful music in the background and a teapot being readied for the break that will come when the series of walls are completed.
Expert plasterer, Ian Hardwick, crewmember and foreman on many of Coppola Brothers projects has called the way they work “well controlled mayhem.” But truly, it’s more like attending a Broadway musical than a typical construction jobsite. “Our guys really know what they’re doing. They love their work and they love working together. And it’s together that they do a spectacular job.” It’s really a testament to the work they produce. You can see the pride they take in their craft by watching them stand back at the end of a long workday, with cups of hot English tea in hand, and just stare at the beautiful walls they created. They chat, with anticipation, where they will begin again the next day.
Mitchell credits much of Coppola Brothers Company’s success to the well-honed skills of their foreman and job supervisor, Robert Melton. Robert, a third generation plasterer and Arizona native, has brought a wealth of knowledge to the Company. His main effort has been successfully “marrying” these historic materials and techniques that Coppola Brothers employ to the ever-changing modern building practices and materials that are being used today. “Robert manages to figure out solutions to the most difficult situations we face. He’s our problem solver. I suppose much of it has to do with is many years of experience and growing up under the training of his father who owned the largest and extremely successful commercial plastering firm in Phoenix. But, my honest opinion is that aside his years of experience, he’s an extremely creative thinker,” says Mitchell Nussbaum, “ we’re lucky to have him on-board.”
Coppola Brothers Company truly is a unique contracting firm. They have developed ways of working with the most spectacular and exotic Venetian plaster from Italy in an environment that requires precise management of scheduling timelines and adherence to modern building practices. They have successfully completed projects in virtually every climate offered in the U. S. from New York to Hawaii. Their commitment to excellence is first class.
Visit Coppola Brothers Company at http://CoppolaBros.com
Fresco School at http://FrescoSchool.org
| View Diego Rivera Posters at TrueFresco Postershop |
