NEW YORK — Inside a New York City classroom, art and science come together to put a face to the past.
A one-of-a-kind art class is offered at the New York Academy of Art in Tribeca that pairs students with human skulls from real cold cases. The course, which began in 2015, has helped resolve depleted cases across the country.
“There is one or more families that need those answers that are literally frozen in uncertainty. And that’s what we strive to do here: answer these questions,” said Joe Mullins, an adjunct professor at the school.
Mullins’ forensic art course performers are not motivated by a final grade, but by the hope of bringing some comfort to those searching for loved ones.
“It’s definitely a unique breakthrough in the art. I think all art is there to help you, this is there to help you in a very unique way. It helps bring peace to people who otherwise wouldn’t have it,” said student Debra Calderón.
Melanie Berardicelli worked with a Brooklyn murder victim who was killed multiple times in 1991.
“He has a family that he misses and can close his family. This would mean a lot to me” Berardicelli said.
The ultimate goal of each of these artists is for their facial recovery to provide answers.
“Essentially, it’s like doing a portrait, but a portrait from the inside out. And the skull dictates those facial details, the muscles, the depth of tissue,” Mullins.
