November 2012 - The Arts 

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In Venezuela: Fighting Poverty, Armed with Violins 

In the impoverished barrio of Sarría in Caracas, Venezuela, random violence is always a possibility. But Sarría is distinguished by one unique characteristic: it is the home of the center, "El Sistema."

El Sistema’s aim is to address a depressingly universal problem: how to remove children from poverty’s snares, like drugs, crime, gangs and desperation. The method, imagined by El Sistema’s founder, the economist and trained musician José Antonio Abreu, is classical music. 

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Self-Study: A Photographic Exploration of Identity 

Natlalie N. Abassi, a young Iranian/American photographer explores her multicultural identity in a fascinating way through her photographs. "In each image I’ve incorporated myself twice, once as the Iranian and once as the American." See her images here. 

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Scottish Artist Neil Harbisson "Listens" to Color

Artist Neil Harbisson was born completely color blind, but these days a device attached to his head turns color into audible frequencies. Instead of seeing a world in grayscale, Harbisson can hear a symphony of color -- and yes, even listen to faces and paintings.

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The Cats of Jimmy Mirikitani 

The 80-year-old artist Jimmy Mirikitani  was born in Sacramento, California, raised in Hiroshima, Japan, traveled the U.S. and even cooked for artist Jackson Pollock. But by 2001, Mirikitani was homeless, living on the streets of New York City. 

As tourists and shoppers hurried past, Mirikitani sat alone on a windy corner in New York’s SoHo, drawing pictures of whimsical cats, bleak internment camps and the angry red flames of the atomic bomb. When local filmmaker Linda Hattendorf stopped to ask about his art, a friendship—detailed in the film "The Cats of Murikitani"—began that changed both their lives.