Artist's Statement

In the beginning, the way in which our service learning project was described was somewhat unclear. Not unclear in the sense that I didn't understand it, but more in the vein of not knowing what to expect or what I would eventually be doing. However, as the semester rolled on, bits and pieces of the extent of this project revealed themselves.

How I actually decided on the legal side of foster care I do not fully remember. I guess that I just have a natural interest in the judicial process. The work that attorneys do fascinates me; although, I can't say that it's something I myself would want to do. Learning about the legal system, though, is very interesting to me. So from there it just became a matter of tackling foster care through the eye of the law. That is how I was connected with Ann Benjamin, an attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP. Her firm's pro bono program work with many nonprofit organizations, Kids Matter being one of them. The cases that Ann has worked for Kids Matter were both those of guardianship. So naturally, the concept of process of guardianship became the focus of my final project. That is what Ann knew and talked about in great detail, so I had an incredible primary source of information regarding this topic. For me, having someone who is directly involved in this process is much more insightful and helpful than perhaps just reading about what happens in these cases. I had two interviews with Ann at her firm, and both times I walked away knowing more than I thought I could about legal guardianship. Listening to her tie in her own real life examples and experiences was fascinating. When you're actually able to listen to someone talk about they've lived firsthand, everything becomes all the more engaging.

As far as the artistic process of assembling and organizing the final project and blog, I tried to keep things simple and easy to follow. At the outset, I could not foresee the technical problems I would encounter, so I had planned on a more involved video than what I actually ended up with. The idea to focus the video on the Children's Court came late in the process. It really arose when Ann talked about it in detail - her husband was one of the designers of the building. Since I decided to make my video about the court, I needed to use the rest of my gathered information in some other way. I had recorded a lengthy audio clip of Ann speaking about the process of guardianship - how begins, is carried out, and how it ends. I didn't want to not use any of that, as it was all very interesting and important. So I ended up creating a few separate audio clips linked to the blog. Someone can simply click on the text for the audio, and then listen to Ann's descriptions. This method worked well for me, and I think (next to having more video) this was the best option to go with.

Overall, I can truly say that I learned an incredible wealth of information about my topic. I previously had no real knowledge about foster care, especially any legal implications. So this project and this course as a whole really opened my mind to topics that I had never thought about before. I think that the foster care system and its ideology are very important in our society; the work it does for and the help that it gives to children in need cannot be measured. And it is the people, whether it's someone like Ann or someone directly involved with a child, that allow this system to do what it does.

Coda

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This is sort of a cap on everything discussed below on the blog. I asked Ann Benjamin why specifically she got involved with Kids Matter, and this audio clip is her answer.

The Guardianship Process

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This is a very interesting and detailed description of the guardianship process. Attorney Ann Benjamin explains how these kinds of foster care cases are conceived and carried out.

More on the Courts

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This short audio excerpt serves as more background information on the Children's Court. More specifically, some major differences between the various courts are explained.

Video: The Milwaukee Children's Court

Technical Interference

The camera that I was using to shoot video with had been acting up lately and causing me some minor problems. But I was able to get the footage that I needed despite some annoying setbacks. However, a good portion of my video from the Children's Court seems to be lost. At first, I thought I made a mistake capturing to the computer - that ended up not being the issue. Then I reviewed my tape closely and found out that I had inadvertently shot over about half of my Children's Court footage. Apparently, my camera had some sort of auto-rewind feature in playback mode that I was unaware of. I have never used the feature before but I have a feeling the technical problems that I had been having with the camera had something to do with this. Granted, I did not lose all of my footage; but, of course, the video that I took first (some limited interiors of the Children's Court - only what I was allowed access to), was what got taped over. After I had taken footage inside, then I got exterior shots of the building - I did lose one really good establishing shot of the building. Also, the tripod that I had was broken, so I was forced to shoot hand-held. I ended up sort of using whatever video I had left to create a more abstract/artistic view of the court. I guess the good news would be that the audio that goes along with the video is very good and informative. I asked Ann Benjamin to talk about the Children's Court and the theory behind how it was conceived and constructed, and the differences between it and other courts. I wish that the visual end of the video had turned out better (and with more footage) but I am happy with the audio track.

Further Update

After reviewing the information that I'd collected from my interviews/research, my goal changed somewhat. Instead of making a video profiling a single guardianship case, I will end up posting a lengthy yet detailed and very information audio clip in which attorney Ann Benjamin explains the process, from beginning to end, of a guardian case. She includes several interesting anecdotes about her own experiences with these sorts of cases. That will be a major part of the blog. Also, for the video, I will post a sort of portrait of the Children's Court. Ann gave some great information on the differences between the Federal/County courts and the Children's and many of the reasons behind that. She also talks about the experience of what it's like to be in the Children's Court and some of the theory behind how it was created. That will serve as the audio track for the video, along with scenes of the court itself - outside, inside, or both. Again, I am still working through sorting out the Question & Answer section. Since Ann is my major source of information and research, I want to make sure what I include will be the most helpful to those unaware of this aspect of the legal side of foster care. Also, I will be scanning some of the legal guardianship documents that Ann gave me and putting them up on the blog.

Project Update

At this point in my project, I have some good video footage and audio recorded from my second interview with Ann Benjamin. This time around, I decided to focus on creating a profile of a single foster care case on which Ann had working. The case that we talked about was one of guardianship, and it was kept completely anonymous. I am planning on using the audio of Ann speaking as a sort of voice-over narration for my video. Soon, I am hoping to get some good footage at the Milwaukee Children's Court to serve as a setting for a part of the video. I think I am taking the project in a more narrative direction as opposed to simple documentation. It is sort of a combination of the two, with the result being an account of how an actual foster case was conceived and carried out.

Office Law

Here are some of my images from the photo essay. There are also some new ones in color that perhaps give a more realistic representation of their subject. All of the images again reinforce the echelon of foster care's legal system that I am exploring.

A Little Background

Here I have taken an excerpt from my artist's statement for the photo essay. I feel that it gives a beginning sense of my project's direction. It also serves as a sort of introduction to the attorney who is a major part of the profile I am shaping with this project.

"...How I went about ordering the images was simply in the manner that would take a person from outside up into Foley & Lardner. There is a shot of the U.S. Bank building, then the law firm, then interiors of the personal office. The reason for so many images of the office relates back to what I talked with Ann Benjamin about. She usually is not a courtroom attorney; she does a lot of paperwork in the office. Her specialty, patent prosecution, requires a great deal of this kind of work. It was intriguing to learn that her work with Kids Matter was strictly pro bono, as it is companywide. Foley & Lardner has many attorneys, similar to Ann, that go outside of his or her specialty to work free cases for Kids Matter. So far, all of Ann’s Kids Matter cases have been those of guardianship of a child. With my images, I displayed paperwork. My thoughts behind that lie in the fact that many of these guardianship cases don’t end up in trial; they might just be resolved with a long stream of forms and applications. The numerous forms required in a guardianship case are a big part of what Ann does. She showed me just a few of the many pieces of paperwork involved depending on the specifics of the case – it seems like it would be overwhelming at times.
Obviously, with my photo essay I’m attempting to document a person with these images; and it really seems like Ann is consistently busy with all manner of work, with her law firm and with Kids Matter (last year, she had two Kids Matter cases). The majority of my images take place in an office, and that is really to capture the office mentality – always staying on top of many workloads, and a lot of paper. I enjoyed listening to Ann describe how she became involved with Kids Matter; she liked the idea of being able to help people in the community, especially children (many of whom truly need legal aid to better their lives). The two most recent cases that Ann had were guardianship instances in which a grandmother wished to be sole guardian over a child whose parents where unfit to raise him or her. This is the essence of what Ann does with Kids Matter. She also talked to me about how guardianship is not the same as custody, as the parents retain that even if guardianship goes to someone else. The parents are able to appeal the guardianship ruling at any time, though as Ann told me, most don’t. All of this was essentially new information for me; I really didn’t have much previous knowledge of this aspect of foster care. I found all of what Ann had to say fascinating..."