The Whole Ball of Wax. What is Art?

The piece "The Whole Ball of Wax" by Jerry Saltz was a little bit confusing to me while reading it. Some of his analogies and metaphors about what art does to people and the world puzzles me and I can't really grasp what he is trying to say. The article starts out talking about two people Laura Hoptman and Peter Eleey and how they say that art has some "magical power" and, in fact, changes the world. 
   The article then begins to go into that art cannot stop issues such as world hunger or global warming, but has a different impact on the world. Art can change the views of the world on different topics and issues to one side or the other. Saltz explains that art is just as part of intelligence as science, religion, etc. This article then takes off into the direction that art is a way to creating new ideas. Art is a necessary part of the world and we would not be able to go without it. Saltz then goes on to quote different artists and philosophers  and concludes with the statement that art is an experience. Then he begins to dive into how art can help change the world in small increments. He describes how looking at art can change the moods of humanity and help people feel better during some of the most traumatic events in history. This experience right here is how art can change the world. The change can be very  slow but over time it will prevail to produce a change. 
   One of the last points of this article is that art can be perceived in ways that the artist is not even intending for. Saltz gives the example of how when art is considered extremely political, it was actually intended not to be, and vice versa. This happens, Saltz says, because art provokes new ideas and thought structures. The last point that Saltz makes is a comparison. He compares art to a cat, because when you call a cats name and ask it to come here, it looks at you then rubs its body on another object and lays down. This shows that the cat and yours relationship has a third aspect, the object he rubs up against, so in order for you to comprehend the cat you have to think more in a curved line than in a straight one. This is why Saltz says art is a cat. 
   

To me art is something that helps start conversation about controversial topics in our world. Art is almost everything in our world, and is a catalyst to get people to see problems that are going on in the world, art helps open the eyes of the world.