Art of the Courthouse 1:

U.S. v. Thao, et al.

Writstband required for a correspondent’s entrance to Warren Burger U.S, District Court, St. Paul (MN), to cover U.S. v. Thao, et al., 2022.

I’m one of two sketch artists who were — weeks back — credentialed to be present at the federal trial, U.S. v. Thao, et al. Its three defendants, former Minneapolis police officers Kueng, Lane, and Thao (allegedly) had violated the civil rights of Mr. George P. Floyd, Jr. prior to — and resulting in — his death. All three are now under criminal scrutiny in a district court in downtown St. Paul (MN). This is big.

After a single day each of a pretrial hearing and jury selection I have three matters to share, notably the setting and processes, some artful results, and thoughts on what’s next for a weekly serial I’m planning for Counter Arts.

1. Setting and processes

Context is everything. It seems especially important for a sketch artist, because that essentially is what you’re drawing. The environmental or architectural setting is the Warren Burger U.S. District Courthouse, a quintessential “mid-20th century modern” specimen, seven stories, its setting being an entire city block downtown. Occasionally it is described by building historians as a product of the “new brutalism” style, though I find it full of impeccable “golden-section” ratio and proportion. Some would judge it spare and cold. If I have time I might ask staff what it is like to work there.

Process-wise I had inquired a month ago for a possible “press pass” but the Feds required a very specific application to obtain a media-correspondent pass. In my case they told me to use the category “freelance sketch artist.” I was approved for one early in the game. Correspondents like me who got credentialed were put in a “media pool.” A lottery was then held that permits four journalists and one sketch artist to be ushered into the highly-secure courtroom each day of the trial. I was assigned 9 randomly distributed (but specific) days. Another artist was assigned the remaining 11 days.

You likely know videography is not permitted in most federal courts across the U.S. Correspondents who did not gain a lottery seat but who wish to observe could do so in an overflow room by way of CCTV.

Security is a very high concern and priority. The Burger court building was fenced in with entry by two gates, pedestrians and automobiles. Screening is airport-style. My art supplies (including a dozen of my favorite Kohinoor sharpened pencils) haven’t been assessed as weapons.

A half-dozen media outlets (local affiliates who are tied to national ones, mostly broadcast) have contacted me for use of my images. That path is tricky. Courtroom illustration is a bigger business than I imagined. It takes skill to draw the courtroom scenes quickly and accurately.

I am as much of a courthouse artist as specifically courtroom. For these weeks I circulated around the court building’s ground floor for views to draw by way of graphite “gesture sketches.” My subjects are people in the courthouse, standing, seated or in motion, on site for a myriad of reasons. There was even a Hungarian-bred police dog I encountered named “Pickle.” (Look and sketch but — don’t pet!)

2. Results

Two weeks ago I was witness to a fifty-minute pretrial hearing on-site but not “in-court,” rather in the media-room. It has CCTV with a capacity of 40 people.

Five days back correspondents like me watched one full day of jury selection. Again, I was sketching in the media-room.

“What you see is what I got” during three days over the last several weeks. Exploring variety of media, surfaces, sizes, and and styles was the goal…

Figure 1: I sketched the entrance to the “(court)room where it will happen,” 7D. As you can imagine security is tight, so no access to the interior unless one has gained a media-spot inside by lottery. I have a seat there on January 31. White charcoal pencil on 9 x 9 inch black laid stock, January 11, 2022.

Figure 2: This the Devitt Courtroom on the first floor. I drew this because in mid-January I learned it is where the public can view a CCTV monitor of the trial; admittance is daily, first come, first served. White charcoal pencil on 3 x 4 inch black stock, January 11, 2022.

Figure 3: I carry a 4 x 6 inch white-stock sketchbook at all times in the courthouse. Top is a five minute sketch of presiding Judge Paul Magnuson. I notate hues so I can add color later. Medium is graphite pencil. Bottom is a spread I sketched of a few fellow correspondents in the media room. When one journalist for the New York Times (upper left) learned of this he asked me to share — “to show to my mother.” January 22, 2022.

Figure 4: My enlargement of the base sketch in figure 5 (of Judge Magnuson) rendered in color. Gray stock coated with ground gel, medium is white charcoal and Kohinoor woodless color pencil, size is 5 x 7. January 22, 2022.

Figure 5: This four minute sketch was made at the public check-in station outside the Devitt Courtroom. A St. Paul policeman was making rounds with his department dog, Pickle; he had stopped briefly to chat with a clerk and I. Graphite pencil, size is 4 x 6 inches. January 22, 2022.

Figure 6: Lastly, I pursued a side venture with an atypical treatment of courtroom art with a depiction of the broadcasted jury selection using parts of sketches that I drew in the media-room and elsewhere. I simplified some of my line drawings and composited it. A savvy design colleague felt it was too diagrammatic, too cold: “I recall what Milton Glaser said — that ‘news reporting should look like it’s hot off the wire.’ “ White charcoal and Kohinoor woodless color pencil atop gray stock, 7 x 10 inches. January 11, 2022.

3. What’s next

My answer is — February. My Counter Arts serial next week will of course include more sketches, along with more of what one experiences in a high-profile trial.

Acknowledgement:Editing assistance courtesy Kathy Heuer. Errors that might remain are mine and mine alone.

J. Kevin Byrne (MA/Minnesota, MFA/Cranbrook, MSc-Cert./Saint Mary’s) is Professor (now Emeritus) at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MN/USA). He has published in print and continues to do so online. Feel free to Link-in to him here.

This blog’s narrative matter and sketch images are assigned Creative Commons license 4.0 CC 2022.