Art & Design

Vermeer's 1663 work, Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, is back on display at the National Gallery after its first visit 20 years ago. Carola van Wijk/National Gallery of Art hide caption

"I struck upon this kind of crazy idea that I was going to go to New York and stop 10,000 people on the streets and take their portrait, and create kind of a photographic census of the city." Courtesy of St. Martin's Press hide caption

Ceramics artist Ron Nagle says his greatest gift is his sense of humor --€” "basically because I'm a melancholy person," he says. William Pruyn/Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery hide caption

In Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) slips on his Nike sneakers and rides a Mattel hoverboard in front of a Texaco gas station. Courtesy of The Kobal Collection hide caption

Stacks of bowls in the company's signature colors, like "sand" and "light grey whale." Mandalit del Barco/NPR hide caption

The entrance to the main building of Japan's iconic Hotel Okura in Tokyo. An outcry from architectural preservationists couldn't stop the demolition to make way for a high-rise tower. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

The certificate for 2014 Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, with original artwork by Ruth Elisiv Ekeland. Ruth Elisiv Ekeland/Courtesy of and copyright (c) The Nobel Foundation hide caption

Alder branches form a bridge in a Dumfriesshire, Scotland, stream. (Jan. 17, 2014) Andy Goldsworthy/Abrams hide caption

Everything at the brand new Cultural Center in downtown Buenos Aires is free — from art installations to symphony concerts. "Culture is an investment for this government, not an expense," says Culture Minister Teresa Parodi. Centro Cultural Kirchner hide caption

Shahzia Sikander, pictured here, created the film Parallax (also pictured) to explore the layers of history and change that are remaking parts of the Middle East and South Asia. Courtesy of Shahzia Sikander hide caption

Frazier's grandmother grew up in Braddock in the 1930s and '40s, when "it was prosperous and a melting pot," Frazier says. She took this photograph of her grandmother in 2002. Courtesy of artist LaToya Ruby Frazier hide caption