Flags Across Staten Island

“Our Island Real Estate is honored to have an American flag painted on their building, located at 2008 Victory Boulevard. To have an artist as well known as Scott LoBaido create a patriotic masterpiece on our building and to help show support for Where to Turn is something we are more than happy to do for our Staten Island community,” says Chris Reno president of Our Island.

Where To Turn, Inc., a newly incorporated New York not-for-profit located at 1110 South Avenue, Staten Island, N.Y. 10314, had its beginnings shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It was at this time that it became apparent that many families of victims did not know where to turn to receive the aid they needed. In response, a small group of Staten Island residents began a collaborative effort to help the families.

This nascent effort grew into a support organization that served the families of victims by acting as a clearinghouse for 9/11-related information. By collecting relevant information on many of the 9/11 support groups, Where to Turn was able to direct families to available support groups and services. Where to Turn was also able to get answers to victims’ general questions from organizations on both local and national levels, depending on the need. Where to Turn was able to assist families that found themselves caught in various bureaucratic mazes within many support organizations.

As Where to Turn became better known, it began to build relationships with top-level administrators of such support organizations and helped them to become aware of problems or needs that were not being addressed. Where to Turn voiced the families’ concerns and successfully enacted changes to the Victim’s Compensation Fund as well as the redevelopment of Ground Zero.

Where to Turn soon became one of the primary New York-based clearinghouses for 9/11-related information. It soon became apparent that the process that they had developed could be used to help all victims of tragedy. In October of 2004, the staff of Where to Turn began to verify and catalogue the various links with which they had been dealing. At launch, the Where to Turn website contained nearly 300 verified links.

The project, Flags Across Staten Island, which will be finished by July 4, is a sequel to LoBaido’s 2006 trip around the country in which he painted a flag on a rooftop in every state. “I’ve been painting flags for 20 years,” said LoBaido, 44, of Grasmere. “It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a powerful thing. I know that men and women sacrificed and still do today so I can express myself and test the boundaries of the First Amendment,” the fourth-generation Staten Islander said. The goal of the murals, on buildings ranging from churches to gas stations is twofold – to inspire patriotism and deter graffiti. “Kids never touch my flags. For some reason they respect the flag,” LoBaido said.

Scott LoBaido is a self-taught artist. His art is diverse in style, medium, and subject. Most artists stick to one continuous style, but Scott loves the challenges of change and diversity. This is evident in his gallery of a wide range of works, from surreal and abstract paintings to the pop art of his love for patriotism. His past is rather colorful and controversial, as he was known for his notorious pro-American activism. With his art as his platform he has been featured in hundreds of newspapers, TV news programs and radio shows like CNN’s Anderson Cooper, ABC’s World News Tonight (Person of the Week) and FOX’s Bill O’Reilly Show.

The artist’s goal is to combine his surrealistic pop images with a touch of patriotism in hopes of promoting the positives of this feeling to all generations, especially the young who see the flag and love of America as taboo.