Judge Adds 'Splash of Color' to Federal Courtroom
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison of Houston is setting a mood not often seen in courtrooms, where formal portraits and framed documents are usually among the only pieces of art.
Indeed, Ellison’s courtroom “looks like a nice hotel lobby or someone’s fancy living room, complete with a sparkling chandelier in the court chamber,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
“One of the things most courtrooms need is a splash of color and a sense of proportion. Most courtrooms are pretty drab,” says Ellison, a Yale Law School grad and Clinton appointee. “We should not be intimidated by the courthouse, but neither should we enter it as casually as we would enter a store or restaurant.”
Abstract artist Van McFarland is the creator of many of the pieces that adorn the courtroom, jury room, staff offices and hallway. Several of the works are drawn on old exhibit boards that the artist acquired from his late father’s law practice.
