The art world isn’t limited to museums and galleries anymore, with pieces now embedded in courthouses across the country — from the majestic marble palace of the U.S. Supreme Court to landscapes urging conversations about climate change at the Byron White U.S. Courthouse in Denver.
The walls of courthouses are lined with artworks created by the finest artist of the day, representing the justice system as they, and the court, see it. How did we move away from serious images of Lady Justice and authoritative judges clad in black robes to swaths of color and happy trees? How did art get into the judicial system to begin with?
In our penultimate episode this season, we bring you the artists who capture vivid portraits that honor state justices and attorneys not often memorialized in art and how courtroom sketches transcend photography to paint a picture of a defendant up close and personal or document moments of social change. Watercolors not included. Sketching encouraged.
Special guests:
- Roger Laux Nelson, a landscape artist with works in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
- Ximena Velázquez-Arenas, an artist and attorney
- Ted Ellis, an artist and director of Florida State University’s Civil Rights Institute
- Jennifer Gibson, director of the Center for Fine Arts at the General Services Administration
- Drew Alderson, manager of the Colorado Judicial Learning Center
- Joan Kee, director of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University
- Vicki Behringer, a courtroom sketch artist
Sidebar tackles the top stories you need to know from the legal world. Join reporters Hillel Aron, Kirk McDaniel, Amanda Pampuro and Kelsey Reichmann as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond and break down developments to help you understand how they affect your day-to-day life.
This episode was produced by Hillel Aron. Intro music by The Dead Pens. A transcript will be available later this week.
Editorial staff is Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.
For more art in your Courthouse News:
