Convention celebrates art of the tattoo

The Electric City Tattoo

Convention, Friday, March 19, 2-11 p.m., Saturday, March 20, noon-11 p.m., Sunday, March 2, noon-8 p.m., Hilton Scranton Hotel and Conference Center (100 Adams Ave.) Tickets: Single-day $15, weekend $40, weekend/shirt $50. Info: electriccitytattooconvention.com

Combine ink, contests, vendors, food, cars, music and a circus sideshow all in one Scranton building, and you get the Electric City Tattoo Convention.

The convention, which will be held this weekend, has been in the works for more than a year after the business partners of The Electric City Tattoo Gallery decided it would be a good idea to have their own convention. Located on Spruce Street in Scranton, the gallery opened in June of 2008. Its tattoo artists are Mike Frenchko, Nick Frenchko, Elijah Birtel, Woody Wodock, Tyler Pawelzik and Derek Zielinski.

This is the first Electric City Tattoo Convention, but if successful, it will become an annual event.

“It’s one good way to promote our business, but people in Scranton constantly ask us what a tattoo convention is,” said Wodock, piercer and business partner at the Gallery. A tattoo convention is part business, part fun for the professionals and a chance for tattoo fans to get tattooed by artists from all over the nation, ones that you may have never heard of before, he explained.

More than 70 tattoo artists will be at the convention at the Hilton Scranton Hotel and Conference Center, including artists from New Jersey, Georgia, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, Maryland and Connecticut. Pennsylvania artists from Stroudsburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will be in attendance, as well as local artist from Triple 6 Tattoo, A Psychic Unicorn Tattoo and Fine Arts Gallery, Holier Than Thou, Art Rage Tattoo Studio and of course, The Electric City Tattoo Gallery.

Wodock is a piercer, but he appreciates tattoos. He enjoys being able to express himself differently through getting goofy tattoos, he said. His tattoos may not have a specific meaning, but they express his personality so they do mean something, he explained.

Tattoos have been around for thousands of years, in societies around the world. They have been found on bodies of mummies and on figures in some artwork. Tattoos have been used as expressions of personality, love and religious beliefs.

The Electric City Tattoo Convention is open to everyone, tattooed or not.

“Tattooing isn’t as taboo as it used to be,” said Wodock.

If you are thinking about getting your first tattoo or just adding on more ink, it is a great opportunity to choose from a large number of different artists. When organizing the convention, the primary concern was to “bring really good tattooists,” said Wodock.

“We definitely traveled a lot and had help from friends,” he said.

There will be contests every day of the convention, including a Handmade Tattoo machine contest, a Best Asian Art Influenced Tattoo contest, Tattoo of the Day contest and more.

All vendors at the convention will be local, and they are “not typical tattoo convention vendors,” said Wodock.

There will be jewelry, vintage clothing and motorcycle helmet vendors. Axelrad Screen Printing and Graphic Design from Kingston, The Vault from Clarks Summit and Unique Classic Candles from Scranton are other vendors that will be at the Convention.

“It wasn’t too hard to get vendors and sponsors,” said Wodock. “Our clients were really into the idea to sell merchandise at the convention.”

However, “it’s a lot of work to coordinate,” he said.

Hot rods from Coal City Kustoms are expected to make an appearance, and on Saturday, Coal Town Rounders, a NEPA bluegrass band, will perform.

The Convention will include a free marketing seminar for tattoo artists by Jim Rose. The Jim Rose Circus will also entertain throughout the event.

This November, Marc’s Tattooing and Body Piercing will host the 17th Annual Inkin’ The Valley tattoo convention in Wilkes-Barre. So, how are these conventions different?

“It’s kind of a very similar event, but different artists for sure,” said Wodock.

Anybody who attends The Electric City Tattoo Convention will be “exposed to different tattooists and straight-up tattooing,” said Wodock.

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