History of the IAI Forensic Art Discipline

Forensic art is "Any art that is of a forensic nature; that is, art used in conjunction with legal procedures." A working definition of forensic art is "any art that aids in the identification, apprehension, or conviction of criminal offenders, or that aids in the location of victims or identification of unknown deceased persons."

History of the IAI Forensic Art Discipline

By Karen T. Taylor

Through many hours in the library, I have documented that the use of forensic art goes back at least one hundred years. Our IAI Forensic Art Discipline can trace its roots to 1984, when Detective Frank Domingo, now retired from the Artist Unit of the New York City Police Department, organized the First National Composite Art Symposium. Held on October 15, 16, and 17, 1984, at the World Trade Center in New York, there were more than fifty artists from the United States and Canada in attendance. At the 1984 meeting, I was personally proud to meet many artists who continue today to be valued friends and professional colleagues, including:

There was general discussion of the formation of an independent professional organization for composite artists. During the conference, Kay McClanahan of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spoke to the group as a representative of the IAI. Frank Domingo discussed the importance of communication, education, standardization and perhaps eventual certification in the police art field. It was subsequently voted upon and agreed that the IAI would be an excellent "umbrella organization" to facilitate the composite art organization. It was later decided that the generic term "forensic art" would be used rather than "composite art" to encourage membership by those who were involved in other forensic art endeavors such as facial reconstruction from the skull or demonstrative evidence.

In 1985, a handful of artists met at the 70th Annual Educational Conference in Savannah, Georgia, and discussed plans for our fledgling organization, and got to know the IAI.

In the following year, 1986, Frank Domingo represented the artists' group at the 71st Educational Conference in London, England, where he addressed the Board of Directors concerning the value of adding forensic art as a discipline. A vote was taken during the business meeting and forensic art officially became a discipline under the auspices of the IAI.

The first Subcommittee Chairperson was Frank Domingo and the first members were: