900 Sheridan Avenue
and 215 East 161st Street

Charles Alston
Equal Justice Under the Law, 1976
Mosaic, 96" x 432"
Criminal Court
Department of General Services/FA

The Family, 1976
Mosaic, 144" x 264"
Family Court
Department of General Services/FA


The Criminal Court / Family Court Building was designed by Harrison & Abramovitz, the firm responsible for the planning and design of the principle buildings at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. In addition to two large mosaic tile murals by the African-American artist Charles Alston, there were twelve commissions for banners and tapestries of various sizes (eight are still in site; four are missing) awarded to nine artists. Alston's murals are found in separate lobbies: Equal Justice Under the Law in the entry of the Criminal Court, The Family for Family Court. Equal Justice Under the Law contains five equally sized but differently colored globe-like forms representing the five races of man. Similarly, in The Family variously colored abstract figures set against a blue background represent the family of man. These very modern looking almost abstract panels are markedly different from Alston's multi-figured compositions done 35 years earlier for Harlem Hospital.




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[The Criminal Court / Family Court Building]