Maplewood MacArthur Genius Cites Passion for His Work

"I like to be hidden away," said Ubaldo Vitali, when Patch visited his workshop on Hilton Avenue in Maplewood recently.

Although Vitali has been unobtrusively working in the building for 31 years, he is hidden no more. The announcement made by the MacArthur Foundation on Tuesday, Sept. 20, that Vitali was among its 22 awardees for 2011 has brought the world to his doorstep.

Just before Patch stopped by, a German media crew had spent a portion of the morning interviewing Vitali. He's been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and on CBS radio, noticed in The New York Times, and, on the day of the announcement, la Repubblica, a major Roman daily newspaper, ran a full-page story on Vitali.

Meanwhile, Patch posted a link to the Wall Street Journal article, but local readers sent numerous emails demanding that we get out there and interview Vitali ourselves. They wanted to know more about the genius working amongst them.

Long story short: Vitali is a quintessential Renaissance man. A fourth generation silversmith, he is a master at restoration, an historian, a philospher, a lecturer, and an artist in his own right. He has restored Paul Revere's teapot, produced commissioned works for museums like the Newark Museum, and had his art shown in others such as the Smithsonian.

Still, Vitali is humble — genuinely, impressively so. "I'm not a genius. I"m just somebody who does something with a passion."

And Vitali is generous in sharing the credit.

He tells the story of his first commissioned work. Ulysses Grant Dietz, curator of the decorative arts collection at the Newark Museum (and a notable Maplewoodian himself), had been working with Vitali on restorations within the museum's collection. He commissioned Vitali to create a tea and coffee set for the 75th anniversary of the museum. "Ulysses has been a good influence on me. He's a great friend, a great supporter of my work."

Vitali also sees this honor as a shared award. "I am the first Italian and the first silversmith — and also the first craftsman. A lot of people feel vindicated. It's touched a lot of people beyond me."

"I have several people working with me," said Vitali, noting that his workshop has attracted craftspeople from all over the world — from Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Nepal and beyond. Many come to work after obtaining their degrees. Vitali was anxious to introduce two crafters in the workshop the day we visited: Anthony Cavalieri of Sicily, who has been with Vitali for 38 years, and Amrit Tamrakar of Katmandu, Nepal.

Vitali himself comes from Rome, but moved to New Jersey "because of love."

"I met a beautiful American girl studying painting in Rome." Soon, Vitali was on a boat to the U.S. He lived at the YMCA in Newark for the first few months before his wedding — throughout the 1967 riots. He had his first U.S. studio in Belleville — not far from the Tiffany studio that was there at the time. Once married, Vitali and wife moved to Glen Ridge, where they still reside, raising four children. One daughter now lives in Maplewood, and her two children are in the school district here.

The morning of the announcement, Vitali received a call from Ireland — from the priest who presided at the wedding of one of his daughters. His phone hasn't stopped ringing since. The MacArthur Genius grant has put Vitali back in touch with friends and colleagues separated by many miles and years, something seemingly more important to him that the $500,000 that goes with the honor.

"The beautiful thing is finding people," says Vitali.