Artist Statement

Through the course of this project, I learned a great deal about the foster care system and filmmaking. Previously, I had never studied foster care; more specifically, I had never bothered to investigate the legal side of this industry. Given this inexperience, I discovered a wealth of information, so much in fact, that I found it necessary to pare down the facts to a singular subject: Guardians Ad Litem. Due to my interest in and understanding of the overarching legal system, I began to wonder why these lawyers perform this task. Technically, there is little (if any) monetary gain and oftentimes children’s cases present a great strain upon the mind. Witnessing the degradation of a child’s family life is never easy. While trying to find an answer to this question, I also learned a great deal about the process of creating blogs (something I had not previously performed) and filmmaking (something I had only done in an extremely limited capacity). True, there were multiple problems, both from a topic and multimedia perspective, but overall, each challenge allowed me to improvise and educate myself with regards to the artistic process.

Most importantly, I found myself legitimately curious as to why busy attorneys would volunteer their time in order to tackle complex and draining children’s cases. Children’s law, given its extremely private nature and typically heart-wrenching subject matter, is rarely pursued for simple “interest”. An attorney must truly want to help these children in order to partake in this field of law. Many firms require their lawyers to participate in a set number of “pro-bono” hours. On account of a trial’s exorbitant costs, many families cannot afford an attorney, leading to the appointment of a pro-bono GAL. While these attorneys are fulfilling their volunteer requirements, many have attested that the work is extremely satisfying and regularly sign on for extra cases. Such a mentality struck me as noble and so I decided to study these volunteer attorneys.

Unfortunately, this subject matter proved extremely difficult to discuss due to its complexity and privacy; thus, I chose to structure my blog in way that was both inviting to newcomers and respectful to those within the system. Essentially, my blog has been created as a generalized introduction to this topic and should by no means be considered “comprehensive” in its information. However, I hope readers walk away feeling more informed regarding the GAL position. A large portion of my first post was devoted to explaining the generalities of the law's impact upon the foster care system. From there, I attempted to steadily narrow the scope, eventually arriving at Guardians Ad Litem. I viewed my interview with Mrs. Anita Cruise as the “showpiece” of the project, as she provided a more personalized and detailed account of these representational volunteers. In terms of photographs, I felt that my pictures of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, GAL guardianship forms, and Kids Matter contributed to the subject matter greatly. While initially seeming out of place, the photos of Kids Matter were included in order to provide a view into Mrs. Cruise’s work environment.

During this project, I encountered a number of unforeseen technical setbacks. For example, the digital camcorder I used for my interview rendered approximately eight of my twenty-five minute video unusable. In addition, my digital camera died prior to taking pictures of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Luckily, with some editing and ingenuity, I was able to work through these issues. The solutions were not ideal, but they were serviceable. Hopefully, readers of this blog will not find the technical problems too obtrusive.

In conclusion, I learned a great deal about both Guardians Ad Litem and filmmaking. So much work is poured into defending foster children that I cannot help but respect the passion exerted by GALs. This is not a job for the faint of heart. On that note, my limited experience in crafting a film (and subsequent blog) has allowed me to understand the time and exertion required in such an endeavor. It’s certainly not an easy task. The next time I view a film or documentary, I will apply a more critical eye to the proceedings while still appreciating just how much work went into the production.

The Courthouse

As I stated in another blog post, my digital camera died recently (R.I.P.). Therefore, I was unable to upload any pictures of the Milwaukee County Courthouse (where these children's cases are tried). Considering the fact that I had promised to do so, this is comes as a disappointment. Still, in an attempt to rectify the situation, I have scoured the internet for photos of this institution. True, my own photographs would be preferable, but in this situation, I'm out of luck. Most children's court cases are resolved at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, leading GALs to spend a fair amount of time there.

Note, I've placed the first few photos in chronological order. The courthouse has changed over the past 100 years and I thought the progression was kind of cool to see.

(The courthouse circa 1920)

(The courthouse circa 1965)

(The courthouse circa 2008)

(The door leading to the juror's assembly area)

(One of the many courtrooms)

(A judge; ironically, the very same judge that presided over the case in which I was a juror.)

Project Update:

I've decided against posting a youtube video and instead have directed my focus on typing up my artist's statement. The youtube search proved more annoying than I thought. Either the videos were embarrassingly melodramatic or they were too dull and lengthy. I felt that posting these pictures was more beneficial to my blog.

Citation:

http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/MilwaukeeCountyHisto19196.htm?PrintPage=yes

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/archive/?blogID=28007134&archive=y&startDate=09-01-2007&endDate=09-30-2007

http://www.milwaukeecounty.org/ImageLibrary/Groups/cntySupervisors/cntybrdimages/CntyBrdRMw.jpg

http://media.jsonline.com/images/28007134_wall100307.jpg