http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/...1706195551.txt


'Creative Patriot' colors Escondido rooftop

By: DAVID FRIED - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- Twelve down. Thirty-eight to go. Staten Island artist Scott LoBaido plans to paint 50 flags on 50 rooftops in 50 states. And on Monday he reached the quarter-way point, finishing up a portrait of the American flag on the roof of Ellen's Enchanted Garden.

"This is what the trip is all about," the 40-year-old Staten Island artist said as he applied the finishing touches to his work atop the slanted, corrugated roof, "promoting patriotism, thanking our veterans and supporting our troops."

"This is so troops coming home in every state can look out their window and there's a big thank you painted on your rooftop from some crazy New Yorker," LoBaido said.


LoBaido started across the country on Feb. 22 in his 1989 Chevy Suburban, which is covered from hood to tail with a painting of the flag. He hopes to finish up back in New York on or before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

A studio artist by trade, LoBaido came up with the idea of portraying the flag on local rooftops while doing volunteer work in Gulfport, Miss., in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Before leaving he painted the roof of one of the homes nearly destroyed in the storm.

"It did exactly what I planned on, which was to get these people for five minutes to be distracted from their turmoil," he said.

LoBaido has passed through 11 states already, starting in Jacksonville, N.C., and weaving his way through the South before arriving Friday in Escondido, where he is staying at the home of resident Mike Richman. The men share a mutual friend back in Staten Island.

Immediately, the energetic artist hit the pavement, scouring the city until finding just the right roof at Ellen's, located at the corner of South Escondido Boulevard and Third Avenue.

Ellen Winn, who owns the event hall with her husband, John, said the couple was skeptical at first about the proposal, but eventually came around.

"There's so much dissension right now, and nobody knows who's right and who's wrong," said Ellen Winn. "This is something for all the boys and girls risking their lives so far away. This is just our way of being patriotic."

Fulfilling his 50-rooftop goal promises to be no easy task for LoBaido.

The $3,600 he left home with has dwindled to about $120, leaving little money for gas and supplies.

Sherwin-Williams Paints in Escondido was the only store so far to donate paint to LoBaido ---- 12 gallons, including three shades of blue and five shades of red. And although LoBaido asks the owners of the businesses or homes he paints for a donation, he does not charge any commission.

He has tried to attract a national sponsor, but so far hasn't had any luck.

All of which makes it harder to reach his next planned stop.

"My plan is to get to Pearl Harbor, (Hawaii), but as of now I have no way of getting there," he said, adding that he hoped some donations would start rolling in through his Web site, creativepatriot.org, where he is documenting his project.

His campaign got a small boost from Lauren Seals, a Fallbrook resident who stopped by Ellen's to give LoBaido $20 in honor of her friend, a Marine pilot serving in Iraq.

"What Scott is doing is not only painting the rooftop," Seals said. "I also feel he's painting my heart with feelings of patriotism and warmth and gratitude for our troops over in Iraq."

Mayor Lori Pfeiler, who climbed up on the roof to apply a few strokes of shading with a paint roller, said the glimmering Old Glory along South Escondido Boulevard is a fine fit for Escondido.

"We have a reputation for hanging large flags, so I think this is totally appropriate," she said.

Last year, a group of Escondido Auto Park dealers raised an 1,800-square-foot flag on a 180-foot flagpole, the tallest man-made structure in North County.

LoBaido's past artistic efforts have generated their share of controversy, and even landed the artist in jail.

A 2004 painting titled "Have Faith," depicted President Bush as a cavalry soldier hoisting an American flag in one hand and the head of Osama bin Laden in the other.

In 2003, New York police arrested LoBaido for hanging an awning on the French Consulate as a way of protesting what he considered France's contempt for the U.S-led war in Iraq.

Four years before that, LoBaido was arrested for flinging horse manure at the Brooklyn Museum of Art to protest its display of a painting of the Virgin Mary covered in feces.

Such political statements are behind him now, LoBaido said.

"I'm still a struggling artist," said LoBaido, his jeans spattered with red, white and blue paint. "But I know my potential is unlimited, because I live in America, and men and women have died so I can express myself as an artist.

"It's actually kind of simple," he said. "It's so surprisingly simple, it's bizarre."

Contact staff writer David Fried at (760) 740-5416 or dfried@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.

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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
Unabashed Patriot wrote on April 18, 2006 4:08 AM:"If Scott LoBaido needs a place to hang out, he is welcome to hang out at my house. This is a spirit I haven't seen in a while. It should be nurtured. "