For Brianne Cohen, assistant professor of contemporary art history at the University of Colorado Boulder, art is much more than an aesthetic: It can offer powerful commentary on the issues of the day and galvanize public opinion. "There is a question of compassion fatigue. If we’re barraged with all these images of atrocity and war and so forth, can we actually move as a public to effect change? So, that’s the big question for me. Can they do that? I think that (the images) can.”