Local artist displays political portraits in front yard

A portrait of Joe Biden on a tree in Todd Crespi’s front yard.

Lots of folks around here have political signs in their front yards, but artist Todd Crespi has gone a lot further. 

Crespi has decorated his yard, at the corner of Whispering Lane and Oakwood Drive in Annandale, with a rotating display of portraits of Democrats, including candidates for president and vice president Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Rep. Gerry Connolly, and Sen. Mark Warner. 

Todd Crespi proposes former presidential primary candidate and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg as secretary of state if Joe Biden is elected president.

Crespi has done illustrations for the Washington Post, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times; was an official CNN artist at the Supreme Court; and paints official portraits of judges, attorneys, and corporate leaders. He is also a filmmaker and former actor. 

Todd Crespi works on a portrait of 10th Circuit Judge Michael McConnell for the federal courthouse in Denver.  The finished painting is on the left.

he importance of the upcoming election has motivated him to use his artistic talent to make a political statement.

The outdoor portraits “have become a bit of a neighborhood attraction,” Crespi says. People walk or drive by to see the latest painting and take pictures. As a result, he’s gotten to know a lot of neighbors he’d never met before. 

A portrait of Kamala Harris says “vote Democratic” in nine languages.

One neighbor brought her daughters and took a picture of them hugging in front of an eight-foot picture painted on a closet door of Biden and Harris swing dancing. At one point, a group of bicyclists stopped in front of a painting and had a long political discussion. “It’s a well-traveled intersection,” Crespi says, and for many people, it was on their way to vote early at the Mason Government Center.

Sen. Mark Warner is running for re-election.

So far, Crespi had displayed one picture at a time. On Election Day, he plans to put many of them out at once. He also plans to keep up the outdoor displays after the election with other socially conscious subject matter. 

The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump in January 2020.