The Pro-Am Arts Question

Ronny and I have been taking a wheel pottery class at The Maple Creek Artisan Center for the past six weeks. He went, rather reluctantly, claiming "I'm not artistic, you're the artistic one!" Now he finds himself bent over his potter's wheel every Saturday afternoon, determined to "create" utilitarian art (in his case, cat food dishes). And he's become quite good at throwing small bowls and plates. My hands, apparently, are too big to be efficient at creating smaller pieces so I typically "go big or go home." Here are a couple of our "creations:"





This caused me to further ponder a recent blog post by Andrew Taylor (The Artful Manager, whom I read religiously) that attempts to define the difference between professional and amateur "artists." I understand the true difference between arts professionals and arts amateurs - we are, and always will be, on the AM-side of things. But why do some "PROs" feel it's only true art if you are trying to make a living at it and that the rest of us are mere "crafters?" Or worse, "hacks." And you know who you are...

Will our pieces ever be bought/sold, collected, or put on exhibition in some museum? No, they won't. But it's still art. We both tapped our inner-potter and created something from nothing more than a big hunk of mud. We instilled the works with our sweat and tears (both literally - when the kiln was being fired one Saturday afternoon - and figuratively - when I went to pick up a beautiful, large dish I had thrown the week before and the edge snapped off). And we enjoyed doing it. We learned. We made. We expressed ourselves in a new way. Isn't that what true art is all about, regardless of whether it's PRO or AM?