Painter enjoys horses, Harleys at home

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As he’s painting, John Sartori lets his mind drift. It usually goes to one of three places: Italy, his barn or the highway.

A painter for the university’s Construction Services, Sartori visits buildings all over campus. Recently, he was in the Medical Science Research Building, painting a meeting room in dry erase paint, turning all the walls into whiteboards that can be written on. It’s usually solitary work, and Sartori sometimes daydreams as he paints.

“I’d like to see Italy, because I’m Italian,” he says of the first thing on his bucket list. “I’d like to go out west, with my wife and dog. Maybe in a Corvette. I like red on red.”

His job has taught him to be a planner. Before he can begin painting, Sartori has to prep all the surfaces, which can include filling holes and cracks and taping off sections. “To paint this room,” says Sartori, gesturing to the small meeting room he’s working in, “will take 45 minutes. To get it prepped, four days.”

John Sartori says the biggest part of a painting job is the preparation work. (Photo by Martin Vloet, Michigan Photography)

The tools he uses are simple: rollers, brushes, tape and paint. But Sartori preps the rooms he works in with scientific precision, and his brushstrokes are equally careful.

After more than 30 years, he’s found an easy rhythm, and it’s evident that he enjoys his work.

“It’s all about getting it right and making the customers happy,” he says. He doesn’t mind the fact that his job takes him all over campus, sometimes putting him in three different buildings in a week. “I get to see the whole university, this whole little universe.”

While he’s working, Sartori likes to listen to radio stations from Tampa, where he used to live. “They’ll say the temperature is in the 70s and I kind of hope it’s like that when I go outside. But it never is.”

Despite the cold, Sartori enjoys living in Michigan. When he first moved here from Florida, he worked with quarter horses, and enjoyed training the racehorses and watching them compete. Now, his barn in Grass Lake holds the three horses he owns with his wife. CC, Baby and Old Slick have the run of the 16-acre pasture, but Sartori doesn’t race them.

The horses have become a family affair. Sartori’s daughters, stepdaughters, wife and eight grandchildren help him take care of the horses and enjoy riding them. “Like any pet, you have to pay attention to them, take care of them. But they’re worth it.”

When he’s not riding horses, Sartori enjoys riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles. “Since I was little, I’ve always built little bikes, just a motor on a frame. But then I bought a ’94 Harley-Davidson Super Glide, and I’ve taken it out east, down to Florida, all around with different bike clubs.”

His advice for riding horses and riding Harleys is similar: “Don’t fall down. Always look around. Ride like hell.”

Does he have a favorite? “Well, one’s a horse and one’s the iron horse, one’s relaxing and one’s a little louder. I couldn’t choose between the two.”

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Comments

  1. Cheryl Mayes
    on January 27, 2014 at 10:04 am

    Very nice article. It is always pleasing to see that the hard work of the University Plant Crews is not only noticed, but appreciated. Thank you Ms. Plumhoff for a wonderful and entertaining story.

  2. Heather Fazio
    on May 6, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Thank you so very much for making the university a beautiful place John.

  3. elizabeth james
    on June 5, 2014 at 11:03 am

    Thanks so much for the wonderful work that you do to make our campus a more beautiful place. love reading about how diverse and amazing our staff is away from work!

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