Art Makes You Smart

This image has two messages:

One is to suggest the sort of graphic art that the New York Times has increasingly been publishing to accompany its articles over the last few years--I find it quite marvelous.

The second is the thesis of the article itself, which reports a controlled study comparing school students who were chosen by lottery to join tours to a new museum in Arkansas with others less fortunate (they went later)--the former showed real differences in their responses to a questionnaire about their interest in art. They demonstrated "stronger critical thinking skills, displayed higher levels of social tolerance, exhibited greater historical empathy and developed a taste for art museums and cultural institutions".