Get Well Soon, Nicole Gagne

“The artists at the condemned Queens building where a staircase collapsed on top of jeweler Nicole Gagne last week did what they do best Tuesday – they painted. In large, sweeping strokes, they sprayed ‘Get Well Soon, Nicole’ on the Jackson Ave. side of the Long Island City building, the one side that has not been condemned by the city Buildings Department since Friday’s collapse. ‘When she’s able to see what we did and understand what we did, I think she will appreciate it,’ said Jonathan (Meres) Cohen, 36, who has run 5Pointz, the building’s exterior mural space, since 2002. “An external staircase collapsed on top of Gagne, 37, a Parsons School of Design-trained jeweler, asshe left her artist studio to head home around 5:15 p.m. She was pulled out of the rubble and transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she remained in critical condition Tuesday. To help pay for her medical expenses, Cohen and other artists are organizing a fund-raiser, which they are hoping to hold within the next two months at nearby P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center.” (Via Dorian Block at the NY Daily News)Reported in the NYTimes April 18.