A guest piano player.
As the tension mounted in a New York City courtroom years ago in the trial of Bernhard Goetz, artist Bob Smith was there, capturing all the emotion with his colored pastels as the top courtroom artists do. He’s now at Brightview Senior Living in Woodburn, but his sketching hasn't lost its luster. He recently sketched scenes around Brightview like the in-house poker group, a choir and a college-aged piano player entertaining the residents.
Smith is now rediscovering his passion by teaching his fellow seniors at Brightview. When he captures a resident during a birthday celebration or singing, he gives them the pictures and many times it ends up in a frame on their apartment wall. “All the drawings I’ve done down here are in house,” he said.
One outside project he’s working on is a totem pole at the Thomas Jefferson Library where he teaches an outside class. The totem pole is made entirely of coffee cups.
“Everytime we have an entertainer, he does a sketch,” said Lisa Semonick, the Brightview Vibrant Living Director.
At Brightview, Bob Smith, retired from a career as a courtroom artist, teaches his craft to fellow residents.
His Court Appearances
Back in 1981 when he was just getting started, Smith was at the trial of Mark David Chapman, the shooter who killed John Lennon. "One of my courtroom drawings made the cover of Newsday in New York City," he said. This wasn't just any drawing either, as the John Lennon shooting had ramifications that went far beyond the musician's death. His sketches of that trial were published abroad too, conveying more emotion than a photograph might have done in that instance.
The Chapman picture was among a list of more famous, or infamous, people he's drawn in a New York City courtroom. Other famous cases include Jean Harris, Bernhard Goetz, the Central Park Jogger case, the Brinks Robbery, Baby M, Imelda Marcos, and Ariel Sharon.
Jean Harris was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean who was tried and convicted of the 1981 murder of Herman Tarnower, cardiologist behind the Scarsdale Diet. “My drawing was sent out on the wire services,” Smith said.
Bernhard Goetz shot four young Black men in 1984 on the New York subway, with intense publicity, sparking national debate.
Smith had a spot on the television show Law & Order, where he appeared as a courtroom artist extra.
Not Always Allowed
Cameras and microphones were banned from courtrooms around the country following the 1935 trial of the Lindbergh baby, a kidnapping and murder case that generated a public uproar, similar to some trials recently. Think OJ Simpson or the Menendez Brothers.
In March 2023, bill S.858 the "Cameras in the Courtroom Act," was passed by congress saying “The Supreme Court shall permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court unless the Court decides, by a vote of the majority of justices, that allowing such coverage in a particular case would constitute a violation of the due process rights of one or more of the parties before the Court.” This may impact the courtroom artist but there still is value in a hand-drawn impression by someone sitting there with charcoal pencil and pastels.