History

While in elementary school in Queens, NY, Francis learned how to gild with genuine gold leaf from a very kind and generous sign artist. Francis became an instant LetterLover and taught himself pen calligraphy and soon moved on to brush hand lettering. By the time he attended Bishop Loughlin scholarship high school in Brooklyn, he was producing "Book of Kells" illuminated, gilded calligraphic manuscripts, and began hand lettering paper signs for butcher shops and other storefronts.

 

Francis S Lestingi, left, with son Stephen, installing award-winning Sign of Gold at Maple and Hopkins, Williamsville, NY

 

After high school, Francis entered the religious teaching order of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (The De La Salle Christian Brothers), where he received an undergraduate degree in physics from The Catholic University of America and a master's degree under a National Science Foundation Fellowship from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. During his early years in the Order, he was responsible for initiating a print shop and a ceramics facility at the Brothers’ complex in Washington, DC. Later, he taught physics, chemistry, mathematics, and theology at Christian Brother high schools in Rhode Island, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Queens, where he developed physics graphics and demonstrations for use on overhead projectors and was Contributing Editor for the American Association of Physics Teachers journal The Physics Teacher. Harvard University noted this work, and the Harvard Department of Physics and the School of Education hired Francis to design transparency graphics for a high school physics course, Harvard Project Physics, which it was developing for the National Science Foundation. Eventually, he designed six volumes of illustrative physics graphics that were used in classrooms throughout the country.
 

After Francis left the Order, he earned a PhD on a US Office of Education Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then taught physics, astronomy, and history of science at the State University of New York College at Buffalo, where he continued designing graphics, now in Special Relativity and astronomy, and branched out into computer animation and filmmaking. Several of his short films, on the Periodic Table, and on Hiroshima, received awards at the Rochester Film Festival and the Hiroshima and Toronto International Film Festivals. Francis also designed illustrative graphics for the best-selling astronomy textbook in the nation.

He has presented several invited lectures at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY; the Museum of the Gilded Arts, Pontiac, IL; the Castellani Art Gallery, Niagara Falls, NY; the Burchfield-Penny Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; the Buffalo History Museum; the Historical Society of the Tonawandas, NY; the Buffalo Museum of Science; the Advanced Technology Think Tank Conference in Welland, Ontario, Canada; the North Tonawanda History Museum, NY; the Blackrock Historical Society, Buffalo, NY; the Historical Society of Lewiston, NY, and
for the State of New York University Express Lecture Series.

The State University of New York has honored Francis as the first professor to receive both the President’s and the SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
 

Stephen J. Lestingi, Director of Installations
with Signs of Gold, Inc

 

In 1994, while still teaching, Francis decided to return to the “Letter Arts” and started Signs of Gold, Inc. with his master woodworker son Stephen. He enjoyed it so much that he took early retirement and went full-time carving. As professor emeritus (i.e., “recovering college professor”), Francis has garnered ten First Place Awards from the USSC Sign Design Competition and the International Sign Association since 1999 (see AWARDS WON) and has been profiled in Signs of the Times, Sign Business, and SignCraft. (see ARTICLES). He has published 23 articles on carving, gilding, and his handcrafted techniques in five of the top North American sign industry journals. (see PUBLICATIONS), and he has delivered 20 invited Workshops and Seminars at North American Letterhead Meets and at the United States Sign Council SignWorld International sign industry conventions in Atlantic City. (see WORKSHOPS). In 2013 Francis was a recipient of the "Innovators & Influencers Award" presented by Sign & Digital Graphics trade journal in recognition of those "who have made a significant contribution in the signage and graphics industry" and "who have changed for the better the way our industry conducts business." (see AWARDS WON).

Several art galleries and museums have exhibited Francis's gilded works. They include the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ, The Castellani Art Gallery in Niagara Falls, NY, and the Museum of the Gilding Arts in Pontiac, IL.

Francis has done pro bono restoration gilding with the Society of Gilders in New Orleans Katrina-damaged churches and has created pro bono Signage for the religious teaching order, the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Narragansett, RI; the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City; the National Autism Society; the United States Marine Corp, Cape Atlantic Detachment, NJ; the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States of America, Atlantic City, NJ; the Firefighters Museum of Southern New Jersey; the Voluntown Peace Trust in Voluntown, CT; the Police Athletic League of Egg Harbor Township, NJ; the Historic Albany Carousel Museum in Albany, Oregon; The Field of Dreams for Special Needs Children of South Jersey; the Veterans One-stop Center of Western New York, and the Italian Cultural Center of Buffalo, NY.

For Francis's benignant contribution to the City of Buffalo, the Sheriff of Erie County, John Garcia in 2023, officially swore Francis in as Honorary Deputy Sheriff of Erie County (with Badge and documentation).
Francis is also the sole "24K Gold Benefactor" of the Society of Gilders (see WEBSITE) and is a member of the Board of Trustees as well as Secretary. He has authored several articles for the Society's journal, The Gilder's Tip.

Francis's lifelong fascination with calligraphy and lettering as an art form has led him to design six original digital typeface fonts, which are commercially available on the Web. (see TYPEFACES).

He is also the Co-founder, Co-director, and President of the non-profit (501c3) Buffalo Niagara Nikola Tesla Council, Inc, whose mission is to pay homage to prolific inventor Nikola Tesla by imparting long-overdue educational awareness of his contributions to the betterment of our civilization. To accompany the 1976 Yugoslavian-donated Tesla statue on Goat Island, Niagara Falls, NY, which sat for 45 years with no information concerning who Tesla was, Francis designed and donated an attractive Information Panel to explicate the statue.  In addition, Francis has designed, financed, and gilded a 7-ft bronze statue of Nikola Tesla, which was dedicated in 2020. His group was instrumental in having the City of Buffalo name the park where the statue resides as "Nikola Tesla Park," the first and only Park in America named in his honor. (Visit www.google.com/maps and Search Nikola Tesla Park Buffalo). He has also designed, financed, and donated an 18-ft stylized art structure of a Tesla Coil that was dedicated in Gratwick-Riverside Park, North Tonawanda, NY in 2022. (see www.TLCforTesla.org).

In 2023, the Sheriff of New York State's Erie County named Francis as an Honorary Deputy Sheriff
for his educational, artistic, and philanthropic activities in Erie County. And in 2024, the Italian Cultural Center of Buffalo, NY named Francis "The Man of the Year" at its Rennaisance Gala for his philanthropic and artistic contributions to the Center.