‘I’m basically less than cheese sauce and ketchup,’ Greensburg-based artist says after Kennywood auction

An online auction for pieces of an original mural of Kennywood Park’s Thunderbolt roller coaster raised more than $14,000 for charity last weekend. But the artist behind the original piece believes the sale could have raised more, had he been notified of the auction.

Raphael Pantalone, a muralist and retired elementary school teacher in the Greensburg Salem School District, painted the Thunderbolt mural at Kennywood in 2002. Last week, the park invited muralist group Wicked Pittsburgh to paint a new one to celebrate the attraction’s 100th anniversary. Six pieces of Pantalone’s original were auctioned off to raise money for the nonprofit 412 Food Rescue.

Pantolone said this week that he was disappointed to learn of the auction through a Facebook post.

“I didn’t know they were doing this, and that’s okay. Nothing lasts forever,” said Pantalone, a 62-year-old South Greensburg native. “But if they could have talked to me, it would have made them more money, but it would have made more sense.”

The artist said he tried to contact Kennywood last week, offering to sign five of the six works up for auction that didn’t yet bear his signature. Kennywood’s marketing team called Pantalone back a week after the auction ended, he said.

Kennywood Park was part of a family-owned entertainment company until 2007, when the two families that owned it, the Hennigers and the McSwigans, sold it to Parques Reunidos, a Spanish-based entertainment company.

Lynsey Winters, communications director for Palace Entertainment, a subsidiary of Parques Reunidos, said the idea of ​​contacting the original artist of the mural had not been discussed before the auction. But the oversight, she added, was not due to any ill intent.

“Our goal was simply to raise money for 412 Food Rescue, and anyone who wanted a piece of Kennywood history could have it,” Winters said.

“The ride is historic, but this fresco is only 20 years old.”

Besides feeling forgotten, Pantalone said he has the option to sue for copyright if he wishes.

His stylization of the letter “T” from the original mural as the “T-Bolt,” the nickname park employees gave the attraction, is part of the new mural. Pantalone said the symbol was his original design and that he was not asked for permission to use it.

“If I’m aggressive, it’s because I’ve been mistreated,” Pantalone said.

Winters said Palace Entertainment could not comment on Pantalone’s option to sue.

“We will definitely stay in touch with him. We will sort it out.”

When the park was family-owned, Pantalone said he had a close relationship with the owners — a bond that led the family to commission Pantalone to paint about 60 pieces for the park since 2000.

But since ownership changed, Pantalone said his role as a contributing artist at the park has collapsed, despite his best efforts. Over the past decade, Pantalone said his offers to create new works have gone unheeded.

“I try to reach out to them, but they don’t even reach out to me. I’m basically less than cheese sauce and ketchup,” Pantalone said, referring to the backlash from Pittsburghers the park faced in 2019 when it replaced the original cheese sauce on Potato Patch fries with Heinz ketchup.

Tanya Babbar is a staff writer for TribLive. You can contact Tanya at tbabbar@triblive.com.

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