By Sally Deering

A terrorist flirted with her; a murderer stuck his tongue out at her; and a victim whose face was slashed shared with her the heart-stopping details of her attack – itâ€s all in a dayâ€s work for courtroom artist Christine Cornell who has spent decades in the courtroom with her canvas and pastels drawing some of the biggest criminal trials in our countryâ€s history.

Cornell, a Weehawken resident, has been drawing trials since the 1970s and images from her portfolio are sought after by documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns who features 30 Cornell drawings in his new film “The Central Park Five” which recently aired on PBS about the five young men convicted and later found not guilty of the rape attack of the “Central Park Jogger”. Just last week CNN contacted Cornell for a documentary on the 1980 murder of Beatles†singer/songwriter John Lennon. They wanted to purchase the drawing Cornell did of gunman Mark David Chapman at his arraignment clutching the book “Catcher in the Rye”.

When asked what makes a good courtroom drawing, Cornell says, “Composition. You have to have the key elements and be able to see and feel what the defendant is feeling. You need the judge, the witness, the attorney engaging the witness. Itâ€s always more interesting when thereâ€s more than one person. These drawings are more telling when thereâ€s an interaction between people. You can look back at the drawing and it can actually tell the story.”

Courtroom artists have been attending criminal trials and drawing the events inside the courtroom since the Salem Witch Trials of the 1600s. By the 1960s, courtroom artists were in demand because TV cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, but things began to change in the mid-1980s with more courts allowing cameras and since then, courtroom artists have seen a decline in numbers. Still, Cornell is considered one of the best in her field and travels all over the country to draw courtroom trials. And when sheâ€s not in the courtroom, Cornell spends her time working on her first book, a visual history of the biggest trials of our times and a collaboration with her sister Irene Cornell who has covered most of the same trials as a reporter.

Famous Trials

Martha Stewart, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump – these are just a few of the celebrities Cornell has covered in the courtroom. In December 1980, she was called in to draw the arraignment of Mark David Chapman who was clutching a copy of “Catcher in the Rye”. In the late 1980s, Cornell covered the trial of Bernie Goetz, dubbed the “Subway Vigilante”. She also covered the trial of Leona Helmsley aka the “Queen of Mean”.  During her trial, Helmsley leaned over and asked Cornell: “Is my hair really that messy? If I looked like that my husband would divorce me”.

“I told her she was right, and I fixed it,” Cornell says.

In New York, Cornell also covered the Central Park Jogger trial. Watching the daily courtroom proceedings, Cornell felt that the boys on trial were not guilty as charged, she says.

“None of their confessions matched. None had a criminal history and it was hard to imagine they could get all the details wrong if they had participated in it,” Cornell says. “They couldnâ€t agree on what she was wearing, where the event took place. The sentiment in the courtroom was they were guilty of something. Everyone knew they shouldnâ€t have been out there, but they were kids. In the end when they got convicted, I figured okay, you donâ€t confess unless chances are you did something. So there it is. But all along I didnâ€t think they committed the rape.”

For the Bernie Goetz Trial, Cornell did a series of five drawings that included a re-enactment of the crime where Goetz was attacked by a group of young men and alleged that he used his handgun in self-defense to shoot his attackers. Cornell drew the re-enactment by reading the transcript of Goetz’s confession. She also did a re-enactment drawing for the trial against the men who slashed the face of Marla Hanson.

“In that case I sat down with Marla and she described to me what happened,” Cornell says. “I drew the assailants from her descriptions. She told me that the guy carving her was smiling.”

At John Gottiâ€s trial, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano testified to 19 murders and Cornell was there drawing it all in and on paper.

“He looked at me and stuck his tongue out at me,” Cornell laughs.

And when Ramses Yousef was on trial for the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, Cornell says his lawyer came over to her and relayed this message from his client: “If I beat this rap, will you go out with me?”

In 2012, for the show “In Session” on Tru-TV, Cornell was courtroom-artist commentator for the Jerry Sandusky trial in Pennsylvania. It was her job to describe how the young men who accused Sandusky of sexual abuse were handling the pressures of telling their stories in public and how Sandusky was reacting.

“It was a challenging task I took seriously,” Cornell states on her website ChristineCornell.com where you can purchase prints of her courtroom drawings including one from the Sandusky trial. “People began to approach me on the street and tell me how I had added to their understanding and appreciation of the emotional goings-on inside.”

How to Draw Justice

Born in New York and raised in Yonkers, Cornell grew up in a news-gathering home. Her dad Cameron Cornell was a popular newsman in radio and her sister Irene went on to be a reporter for CBS radio. Eager to go to college, Cornell was 16 when she entered the Pratt Institute where she earned a BFA in Drawing. She attended the College of Physicians and Surgeons – part of Columbia University – where she studied anatomy to hone her skill drawing the human body.

“We learned all the external musculature and it made it so I could draw figures from my imagination from every position,” Cornell says.

Honing your craft is important to being a courtroom artist, but so is having a strong sense of compassion, Cornell says. Thatâ€s because courtrooms are emotional places and the human drama is what makes a good drawing.

“If youâ€re missing out on the feeling, whatâ€s the point,” Cornell says. “Youâ€re trying to tell the emotional story as well as get their likeness.”

To view Christine Cornellâ€s courtroom art, go to www.christinecornell.com

 

For more info on “The Central Park Five” documentary, go to
http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/centralparkfive/

The post WIN, LOSE, DRAW -Courtroom Artist Christine Cornell See the Art in Justice first appeared on River View Observer.

Jersey City, N.J.

“The opening of Saint Peterâ€s PAC is a momentous occasion for our neighborhood as this new initiative will open up endless cultural opportunities and will bring world-class talent to the McGinley Square area,” said Michael A. Fazio, vice president for advancement and external affairs, at Saint Peterâ€s College. “As we look forward to our transition to Saint Peterâ€s University, Saint Peterâ€s PAC is just another sign of the rebirth of Saint Peterâ€s and of Jersey City.”

The venues in Saint Peterâ€s PAC include St. Aedanâ€s: The Saint Peterâ€s College Church – a 1,200 seat cathedral that transforms into a majestic theatre, providing a grand backdrop for world-class artists; a 3,200 seat arena that hosts family events, trade shows, food expos and more; an intimate 200 seat theatre; and black box spaces showcasing everything from poetry jams to comedy improv to film screenings. A 400 seat cabaret-style performance space with a coveted view of the Manhattan skyline is also currently under construction and will serve as the perfect arena for jazz and acoustic concerts.
On Saturday, September 15 Jay Black and Darlene Love will take the stage at St. Aedanâ€s: The Saint Peterâ€s College Church for the premiere event for the Performing Arts Center. Jay Black will be performing alongside Darlene Love, a former leader on the charts with legendary producer Phil Spector and a Broadway star.
November performances at Saint Peterâ€s PAC include a stand-up performance from Bill Cosby on Saturday, November 3 and an “Evening of Doo Wop” on Saturday, November 17. Bill Cosby, one of Americaâ€s most prolific comedians of all time, has dazzled generations of fans with his comedy routines. His comedy transcends age, gender, and cultural barriers.
An “Evening of Doo Wop” will feature a variety of legendary performers such as Kenny Vance & The Planotones famous for their hit “Looking for an Echo,” Jay Siegel & The Tokens, singers of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” Frankie Lymonâ€s Legendary Teenagers known for the song “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” Shirley Alston Reeves, the original singer from The Shirelles, who will be performing her legendary hit, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and Linda Jansen, original lead singer of The Angels, performing her classic “My Boyfriendâ€s Back.” Additional performances will be announced soon.
Advanced ticket sales are available by phone at (888) 943-4864 or online at www.saintpeterspac.org. For additional information and details on upcoming performances, please join our mailing list by visiting our website.

Saint Peterâ€s College, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment.

Contact Angeline Boyer (201) 761-6238 aboyer1@spc.edu

The post Saint Peter’s College Announces the Launch of Saint Peter’s PAC first appeared on River View Observer.

 Michael Eric Dyson, the renowned social analyst, best-selling author, ordained minister and University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, who is considered one of the finest thinkers in the United States, will speak at Hudson County Community College’s Lecture Series. Dr. Dyson’s appearance is scheduled for Thursday, February 11 at 6 p.m. in the Scott Ring Room of the College’s Culinary Arts Institute/Conference Center, 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City – just two blocks from the Grove Street PATH station.

A prolific author whose writings have explored the lives of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., singer Marvin Gaye and entertainer Bill Cosby, Dr. Dyson has also written about the cultural significance of rap in Between God and Gangsta Rap, on Hurricane Katrina in Come Hell or High Water, and on matters of race in America in Debating Race.

Dr. Dyson has taught at some of this nation’s most prestigious universities (including Brown, UNC at Chapel Hill, Columbia and University of Pennsylvania), and the Chronicle of Higher Education once wrote that his fiery and fearless oratory “can rock classroom and chapel alike.”

Born in Detroit in 1958, Dyson grew up in a comfortable middle class family. As a child, he developed his oratorical skills by delivering speeches to the members of his Baptist church. While attending a prestigious boarding school, he encountered his first personal experiences with racism and returned to public high school. By the time he was to graduate high school he was a teenage father-to-be, living on welfare, and known on the streets as a hustler. Throughout everything, he continued to attend the Baptist church, and by the time he was 21, he had studied and become an ordained minister.

Dr. Dyson pursued his love of learning and journalism through his studies at Knoxville College and Carson-Newman College, where he earned his bachelor’s degree with honors. He then went on to earn a master’s degree and doctoral degree from Princeton University. He is a much sought-after social commentator who has appeared on a wide variety of television and radio programs, and he has hosted his own nationally syndicated radio show, “The Michael Eric Dyson Show.”

“The theme of this year’s lecture series is ‘Reaching New Heights,’ and Dr. Dyson has devoted his life to doing just that,” said HCCC President Dr. Glen Gabert. “It is an honor to have Dr. Dyson appear here at Hudson County Community College. We are certain that everyone will find his lecture engrossing, enlightening and inspiring,” Dr. Gabert stated.

There are a limited number of free tickets available through the College’s Office of Student Activities for Dr. Dyson’s appearance. More information and tickets are available by phoning (201) 360-4195.

Dr. Gabert reminded that the third and final installment of the 2009-2010 Lecture Series is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17 when Rita Moreno – one of the few performers who has won all four of the nation’s top entertainment awards – will appear.

The post Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, One of America’s Most Inspiring and Influential Authors and Scholars,to Speak at Hudson County Community College first appeared on River View Observer.