Next week I will be in New York with UNLV colleagues.  Follow along on  Twitter and Instagram for field observations on public art, street art . . . or whatever I may find. Onward to Link + Ink.

ABOVE: VIA The Met,  "A Bunch of Cops" by Weegee from "Crime Stories: Photography and Foul Play".  BELOW: Via The Whitney: Laura Poitras (b. 1964), ANARCHIST: Data Feed with Doppler Tracks from a Satellite (Intercepted May 27, 2009), 2016. Pigmented inkjet print mounted on aluminum, 45 × 64 3/4 in. (114.3 × 164.5 cm). Courtesy the artist

Gig Depio and NSC president Bart Patterson with  "Born Free."

ART IN THE HALLS: "The Campus Canvas: An Evening of Art, Architecture, and Design" was Nevada State College's inaugural art walk showcasing a year of art acquisitions.  The art collection showcase featured a panel with artists Robert Beckmann, Gig Depio, plus Ron Singer, Senior Associate from PGAL. and moderated by Angela Brommel, Director of Arts NSC .  Also on campus is the traveling exhibition "Geographical Divides: Finding Common Ground" that runs until June 10.   For information on the hours and maps for a self guided tour,  call (702) 992-2000.

BLISS: I enjoyed reading the long form reporting about local reaction Las Vegas to 'Bliss Dance," Marco Cochrane's sculpture for Black Arts Foundation recently unveiled. It moved from Burning Man to the Strip and the debate became do you call it public art or leftover decor?  “Good public art, whether part of a municipal or corporate collection, is a reflection of how we see the world and our city," said Danielle Kelly in the story by Kristen Peterson.  "It can enhance the environment or transform a landscape, heighten our awareness or make us question our assumptions.”  

Public art has the burden to have general appeal, and not all art will reach all people. But many locals hope for public art that speaks of the region beyond cliche, and not be something generic. Bliss Dance could be nicknamed Missed Chance.

Ellsworth Kelly "Wall, Majorca" (1967) Courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery

Take a look at Hyperallergic's post on Ellsworth Kelly Photographs at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York and you will see the geometric muse.  It was co-organized by the artist shortly before his death on December 27, reports the arts blog. "The exhibition primarily focuses on the period during which he photographed barns on Long Island and their interlocking structures. In the 1970s, he tended to photograph architectural details as he traveled from Europe to his home in upstate New York." It will help understand how Kelly studied, researched, and responded to distinct shapes, and inspire locals to see his prints that up at The Barrick until May 14.

"Ellsworth Kelly" in the Barrick's Inner Gallery through May 14.

Las Vegas artist and Huffington Post contributor JK Russ writes about Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), who have partnered with Pam Stuckey of Las Vegas to talk technology,  art and renewable energy I HuffPo

A filmmaker and skateboarder reclaim Coachella's visual identity by featuring murals not inside the concert grounds. 

Los Angeles to host their first public art biennial at 14 sites along the Los Angeles River.  The project is the end product from being one of four cities granted $1 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies public art challenge. Funding is also being provided by city's Department of Cultural Affairs. "Public art is a communal activity. It inspires people to talk, to think, to re-imagine, to enter a museum that has no walls,"  Mayor Eric Garcetti said during the Tuesday announcement. The biennial will be held during July.  LATimes

Sculptural installation by Droyce "consists of a series of three-dimensional letters, in a font similar to the Hollywood sign, that spell out the artist's name on a steep hillside above the [101] freeway," writes Carolina A. Miranda for the LATimes.

Courtesy Kent Twitchell

The Freeway Lady mural by artist Kent Twitchell recreated at Los Angeles Valley College and dedicated Thursday I Daily News

The Panama Papers reveal how shell companies circulated assets around the world.  Fine art was an asset I KNPR

An art dealer claims a painting found in French attic is a Caravaggio. If so it is valued at $136 million. I NYTimes  ​

For Lasco Project, there is an underground collaboration between street artists JR and Os Gemeos in the basement of the Palais de Tokyo. It was unveiled through Instagram accounts I ​Atlas Obscura

While many pieces of WPA art have been lost or destroyed “Norwalk has one of the largest collections of restored WPA murals in the United States," says Diane Jellerette, proud director of the Norwalk Historical Society in Connecticut. I  Hamlet Hub

The 30 most "promising up-and-coming artists across the globe."​ I ARTSY

6th Marrakech Biennale will feature series of murals "scattered through the fortified 954-year old city." I HuffPo

From The Creators Project: "Artist Andy Leek never got a gold star in school, so in adulthood, he’s made it a personal mission to share his lost approval with the works of others. Suspecting that others might seek the gratitude he does through art, for his Gold Star Project, he’s finding the best of East London’s street art and marking it with giant, shiny gold stars and the exclamation "Well done!' "

In "Walls of Color: The Murals of Hans Hofmann" the German-born Abstract Expressionist is getting noticed for his little known murals. ​ I Architects Newspaper

Courtesy of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

Federal Art Project murals from Goldwater Hospital on Roosevelt Island being exhibited at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. I Cornell

"I try to meditate for 35 minutes every morning but don’t always succeed," so says Robert Crumb in a UK profile. I  Telegraph

Helen Marriage talks to  Brad Wieners about her Public Art that is "somehow, engaging people in a task rather than seeking permission unlocks the whole thing. They don’t so much say yes as stop saying no. I  Bloomberg

Public art is becoming more of a private enterprise. I NYTimes

Photo I Paint This Desert

Acting Librarian of Congress David Mao appointed Juan Felipe Herrera to serve a second term as the 21st Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry I  Library of Congress 

Just for my reference: Public Art to see in NY  I HuffPo