Artist Alissa Eberle desperately wanted to create neon signs for a living, writes Anna Orso for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 2012, she asked for help from one of the region’s most prominent sign-makers, Domenic Urbani, owner of Urban Neon in Delaware County.

This month, Eberle is unveiling “Already Dreamed,” her first-ever neon art show, a collection of nine pieces.

Her biggest fan won’t be there. In July, Urbani died at age 58, leaving behind Urban Neon to his wife, Betty, and their three sons who work in the shop.

Urbani’s wife said she can’t overstate how proud “Dom” would have been of the woman 20 years his junior who had a shared passion for a technique unknown to most of the world.

Urbani said in an August 2018 interview that passing on the trade of bending neon was somehow therapeutic. “I love teaching,” he said. “I’m really lucky to be able to do this.”

He only asked that Eberle train someone else someday.

Now, a coworker at Urban Neon has been sticking around after work, hoping to learn the tricks of the trade.

This time, it’s Eberle who’s doing the teaching.

Read more about this neon legacy here.

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