A Creative Merger: Lawyers and Artists

By Ellen Taylor • Photo by Sirlin Photography

On April 14, the Sacramento community will be treated to an art event extraordinaire. California Lawyers for the Arts and the Sacramento County Public Law Library have joined together to present an art show entitled, "A Creative Merger: Artists and Lawyers." This first annual event will introduce works of visual art created by lawyers who are artists and artists whose work portrays a legal theme. Open invitations to provide entries were sent to the members of the Sacramento County Bar and Sacramento area artists and the final selection was made by an independent curator, Charles Miller, the former owner of the famed Himovitz Gallery, currently a fine art and design consultant. The art show will hang in the beautifully restored Sacramento County Public Law Library at 813 Sixth Street from April 14 through May 21, 2005. The building is itself an architectural treasure and the addition of the fabulous artwork will be its enhancement.

Members of the planning committee for the art show include (from left) Grace Bergen, Patricia Sturdevant, Ellen Taylor, Charles Miller and Coral Henning.

An opening reception for the artists and the public will take place on April 14 from 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. It will be a gala event with live music, wine tastings, hors d'oeuvres and the presentation of the Best of Show award. Admission is free to the reception and art show. Sponsors, underwriters and contributors are welcomed and will be published in the event program. Funds collected will be used towards the purchase of art for the start of the Sacramento County Public Law Library Art Collection, to support the reception and to benefit the programs of California Lawyers for the Arts. This event is the product of a collaborative committee consisting of staff and members of California Lawyers for the Arts Advisory Committee, and staff of the Sacramento County Public Law Library.

"A Creative Merger: Artists and Lawyers" is designed, in accordance with the mission of California Lawyers for the Arts, as an outreach to the greater community to help showcase both the programs of California Lawyers for the Arts and to introduce to the members of the public the facilities available to them at the Sacramento County Public Law Library.

This collaboration is an outgrowth of earlier programs developed by the very talented members of C.L.A.'s Advisory Committee.

In 2000, C.L.A. produced the "Abundant Treasures" Year 2000 Calendar honoring Sacramento's visual artists. It featured artwork by a Sacramento artist for each of fourteen months. The art was chosen by public vote at a curated invitational art show featuring the work of 60 artists at the Center for Contemporary Art. The calendar included the work of artists such as Wayne Thiebaud, Gregory Kondos, Jerry Silva, Troy Dalton, Paula Wenzl, Jose Montoya, Tony Natsoulas, Larry Welden, Joan Moment, Jorjana Holden, Steve Holsapple, Kent Lacin, Fred Dalkey and Mick Sheldon and was curated by artists Kim Scott and Susan Orr. Support for the calendar was from the legal community, with individual attorneys and law firms sponsoring each month. Today, with the national and international recognition of many of these participating artists, this calendar is a true collector's item.

In partnership with River Stage, one of Sacramento's premier theatres, California Lawyers for the Arts produced two memorable public symposia illustrating the nexus between art and law. The first, in association with The River Stage production of "The Chicago Conspiracy Trial," an original play by River Stage's artistic Director, Frank Condon, was based on the actual transcripts of the infamous trial of the Seven. During the 1968 Democratic Convention, seven young activist leaders were arrested for protesting the Vietnam War and were subsequently brought to trial with a blatant disregard for their first amendment rights. C.L.A. developed a symposium "The Legacy of the Sixties" with panelists Mark Rudd, former student leader of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), U.S. Judge Lawrence Karlton, who was himself an ACLU attorney early in his career and was involved in some of the high profile civil rights cases of the sixties, Professor Paul Goldstene, author of " Revolution American Style," Bobby Seale, founder of the Black Panther Party, who, as a young man, was the main character in the play and Frank Condon, the author and director. Moderator was C.L.A. Advisory Committee member, Deputy Attorney General, David Bass.

More recently in May 2004, again in partnership with The River Stage production of "The Laramie Project," C.L.A. produced a symposium on homosexual rights. The play was based on actual interviews with the townspeople of Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath of the brutal murder of Matthew Shepherd, a young gay man, and the subsequent trial of his murderers. The panel included Assemblyman Mark Leno, author of the gay marriage bill, Professor Ryken Grattet, author of a book on Hate Crimes, John Sims, Mc George School of Law Professor of Constitutional Law, Attorney Jane Pearce, specialist in same sex parent adoption, Dan Roth, Pres. Of the Stonewall Democrats, Douglas Kraft, Reverend, Unitarian Universalist Church and Jeff Scott, Pres. Of the Log Cabin Republicans. This program was moderated by C.L.A. Advisory Committee member, Deputy Attorney General David Bass.

March / April 2005