Pictures of a 5-year-old girl from suburban Seattle, dressed up as her heroines — Angela Davis, Rosa Parks and other African-American women who fought for freedom — were shown at the International Center of Photography recently. On Thursday night, they were followed by images of displaced migrants in a Tunisian refugee camp.
Where the museum chooses to display these powerful shows — on the facade of its Bowery building, from dusk to dawn — is a sign of a growing global trend among arts institutions that are trying to make an artistic statement while engaging visitors, both returning and new.