Nobody cared much about Mike Disfarmer until long after his death. A photographer from rural Heber Springs, Ark. Disfarmer made his living by making portraits of farmers and other locals who came to his studio. A solitary bachelor, he died obscurity in 1959 without will, leaving behind an archive of glass plate negatives and a bank account of $18,148.80 (worth about $200,000 today) that was divided among his siblings or their heirs. Years later, his work was discovered by the art world and celebrated as masterful artist. In recent years the archive has also been at the center of a dispute between the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation and descendants of heirs he apparently had once renounced. The resolution of the legal battle is raising consequential ethical and legal questions, noted The New York Times this month.

  Karin Bruckner, an artist and teacher of printmaking, was recently granted a four-month residency to create a new body of work. The result—an installation comprised of dimensional paintings and structures—is currently on view at the Carter Burden Covello Center for Older Adults, in El Barrio. As one of her students over the past several years, I was intrigued by the variety, scale and integrity of the work. She shared her thoughts in the following email discussion last week: ...