Streets are safer in Bogot, Colombia, thanks to Mayor Antanas Mockus, who reduced reckless driving by hiring traffic mimes, says Mara Cristina Caballero in the Harvard U. Gazette (3/11/04). Initially 20 professional mimes shadowed and mimed pedestrians who didn’t follow crossing rules, and poked fun at reckless drivers. The program was so popular that another 400 people were trained as mimes…Marcel Marceau would be proud! Check out the article for other wild and crazy ideas from this mathematician and philosopher turned innovative mayor. Who says the arts can’t change the world?
