Born in Abruzzi, Italy, in the little town of Introdaqua, a few miles from Rome, young Isolando del Signore was watching a Church procession with his older brother, Clivio. When Isolando saw the beautiful statue of the Madonna the priest was carrying, he proclaimed, “Someday, I shall make things like that.”

A year later, in 1920, Isolando, his brother, Clivio, and his mother, Rosa set sail for the United States. In a completely new world filled with so many different and exciting surroundings, it might be easy for a little boy of only seven years to forget his dream.

A new life began for the del Signore family in Columbus, Ohio, where their father had established himself. It took young Isolando time to adjust to the ‘modern world’ and the new language.

It was not until he was a sophomore at Central High School that his old creative urge returned. He began with carving small statuettes of famous men and women in history, out of chalk. His teachers were so impressed they insisted he enter them in an art competition, which eventually led to a four-year scholarship to the prestigious Columbus Academy of Art and Design, in Columbus, Ohio. Upon graduating with a degree in Fine Arts/Sculpture, he soon received a commission to do two panels for St. Francis Xavier Church in Willard, Ohio. So it is, he embarked on a lifetime career as a sculptor and designer, finally settling in Southern California.