Art and Law

Harvard has a new program combining art with legal education taught by Professor Clannco. That’s right, Harvard.
Art and Law

Harvard has a new program combining art with legal education taught by Professor Clannco. That’s right, Harvard.

In Canada, Osgoode Hall Law School recently introduced an Artist in Residence program. Dean Lorne Sossin described it as a “fit with our commitment to innovation in legal education and legal ideas relevant to improving society. A significant part of law is advocacy, persuasion, telling stories, creative approaches to solving problems and gaining new understandings of the potential and limits of the justice system. In all those respects having an Artist in Residence enhances our academic community and our ability to reach broader communities.”

Sossin added that Osgoode also has new sculptures in its building, from Ya’Ya Heit, which they unveiled for Osgoode’s 125th Anniversary “as our signature connections through art to Indigenous approaches to law and justice.”

Why is it that so many law firms – large to small – have fine artwork on display? To help clients in waiting rooms take their minds off problems? Is it a tasteful display of power and affluence, or maybe an opportunity to “brand” one’s identity? Or is it simply because they like art? Among the several explanations, it may be that experiencing art influences our feeling, and sometimes thinking, about problems, including social justice gaps.

If you are stuck trying to map a path through your client’s difficulty or to the future in your own role, perhaps it is time to take a temporary detour around your particular challenge by heading to an art gallery or school. You might feel and think through the challenge more effectively afterword.