What is art?

(image from Wordle; click on the thumbnail to see the full-sized word cloud)

We asked, and thanks to email, Facebook, text messages, Twitter... many people answered! Here's what we got:

Art is the creation of intelligent human design being expressed in various ways. The creation of significant a beautiful things. (Amanda C.)

A way to express your emotions/feeling through a creative form. (Michael L.)

It is a way to express emotion through creative activities and objects. (Lucy F.)

The method to express what you cannot say or explain.

Art is all that surrounds us. So art is the structure of everything. (Jessica C.)

Art is a part of history, a creation. Art is beauty and a part of someone. Art is life. (Kayla B.)

I think art means something someone creates.

A creation mode by you, coming from your heart.

Art is everything that is around you.

Creative thoughts & images inside the human mind.

Art is lines connect to make a drawing.

An expression of someone's outlooks on something.

Art is the representation of ideal peace & beauty as defined by various cultures.

Art is anyway that a person chooses to express how they feel or think through things like drawings, dance, clothing.... (Taylor R.)

Art cannot be defined. It is the physical way to show your emotion and feelings. (Brandi C.)

I think art is something that people do/create to express themselves/feelings in a way that beautiful.

Art is an expression of one's self through creativity and passion. (Shaylene D.)

Art is anything that people use to express their feelings. (Irvin C.)

Art is a creative form of expressing yourself.

Art is a way to express oneself, or even another thing.

Art is a way of expressing what you feel, think, and believe. You put your thoughts and creativity to paper, a drawing, or even sound. It's beauty and expression; it's a new language. (Genesis G.)

Art is something you can admire or try to understand verbally, visually, or literally. Art can be beautiful or ugly, emotional and blank at the same time.

Art is something to help you show who you are and to help be yourself to express your feelings and identity. (Stephanie C.)

Art is the dismissal of feeling into pen and paper that can come to life as either canvas or sound. (Juan B.)

Art is an expression that may not be defined. It's something that portrays or expresses you or the person emotionally, mentally, or physically. (Ashley V.)

Art is an emotion expressed into form or "sculpture." (Alexandra G.)

Art is the expression of one's feelings.

Art is an expression of emotion and how they put it in a work of art.

Art is a way of expressing one's emotions or feelings toward something. Art is a creation of any form from using your emotion. (Miranda D.)

Art is the emotion between the earth and people. (Samuel I.)

Art is the product of human creativity.

Art is the expression of one's creativity and emotion through interaction. (Gail B.)

Art is an expression of a vision or emotion that can be depicted by a series of media. (Jasmine F.)

When you express your feelings by drawing or using stuff to make a sculpture. (Francisco Z.)

Art is something you love to do and enjoy making it. (Erika M.)

Art is when you draw a picture.

I think art is the method of creation, not only painting and sculpting pieces, but buildings, architecture, etc....

I think art is a way to express your feelings to people.

Arrangements of sound, color, images to create a masterpiece. (Oliver R.)

Art is design of anything. (Dartagnan D.)

Art is the figure of imagination that someone expresses through what they picture of other objects through the creativity of art. (James F.)

Art is a way to express yourself through acting, painting, drawing, & writing.

Art: visualization of and creativity of one's thought, feelings, emotion, and aspect towards life. (Maria J.)

The definition of art is having talent. (Manual L.)

To me, art is expressing yourself bluntly but creatively. (Sydney P.)

Art is what one perceives it to be: beauty and/or a visual representation. (Jessica M.)

Art is what gives us the potential to strive beyond our own imagination. Everything around us, we've developed. Everything we have created is art.

Art is when a person uses their imagination to create pieces of music or painting; it's how they feel. Everyone has their own style and create whatever they want.

Art is the ability to express your feelings, ideas, or perception of life in a form that can be felt, heard, or seen. (Austin S.)

Art is the expression of one's perception and view on things and how they feel about it. (Kyle M.)

Art is an arrangement of sounds, color, forms, or other forms in a manner that affects the sense of beauty. It is a creative work that is beautiful to some, all, or even none. As long as it is made using one's creativity. (Michelle G.)

It is the form in which a human being expresses their feelings and emotions through shape, color, space and objects.

A way to express yourself.

I think art is anything someone can create to express themselves. (Jacqueline R.)

A form of expressing an emotion or a story through your work. (Elizabeth G.)

Art: production of different shapes, colors, sounds, and lines to produce beauty and things of expression.

Art can be something simple you can see and make brilliant, and it doesn't have to be an object; it can be your thoughts. The way you create art is endless as long as you keep your possibilities and mind wide open to new things. (Mariah M.)

The definition of art to me is a way of creativity and could be almost anything. (Marisa W.)

Art: anything created by a specific human being that is unique to him and represents his emotions. (Manuel A.)

Art is a significant piece of something drawn for your imagination or fantasies.

Art is effort to design. (Taylor J.)

Art is everything that surrounds us; creativity.

Art is everything, what was and what will be, alpha and omega.

Art is a visual expression of emotions and culture.

A piece of thing created in a unique way. "Anything." (Beatriz A.)

Art is expression of creativity... with art you can express your feelings.

Art is something made or created that is beautiful. (Alex E.)

I think art is when someone's emotions and thoughts come to life in a creative way. (Mayra V.)

I believe that art is being creative.

Art is a way of expressing your feelings, thoughts, and emotions not using words. (Lupita L.)

Art is a way to express yourself.

Art is a creation of one's mind or the expression of one's creativity of their mind.

Art is an artist's expression. (Dylan V.)

Art is creativity, fun; when you can express your feelings and ideas.

Any form of human activity that demonstrates creativity, appeals and/or opinion.

Art is a way to express an emotion you are feeling and putting on paper. (Maite Z.)

Art is the magic of colors that a person uses to express their feelings towards the world.

Art is anything that can intrigue the human senses. (Dayzia V.)

Art is an expression of somebody's feelings, past experience, secrets. It is a ticket into somebody's soul, a small glimpse into it.

Art is... expressing one's emotions physically in some form (showing emotion through material things or something that people can see, feel, or hear with their senses).

How people show their feelings through art like paintings, sculptures, music, and other things. (Fzelle G.)

Art is something someone creates with their mind.

Art is something a creative person expresses through the state of mind. (Zandra S.)

Art is a way of showing feelings, of showing who you are using figures and colors.

Art is life, for art is once and only once. It happened to many people; art is one's self image of beauty that, depending on one's personality, may last for an eternity or a few seconds. But it mostly depends on one's emotions. Some are connected like fear, rage, pain, and hatred or happy, love... they go together and express one's self being in their art. Art is and can be anything that makes you think beauty. (Andres G.)

Art is an example of the emotion and actions of a person in a physical, literal, verbal, metaphorical expression.

Art is something created by one which is creative or has a personality with an imagination.

Art is a form of expression of your inner feelings or a view of what you see. (Joel C.)

Art is what a person or group deems creative, beautiful, or simply elegant according to the individual's standards. (Ronnie M.)

Art is one's expressions of thoughts, feelings, and also natural occurrences. (Kayla E.)

I believe art is the physical manifestation of individual or cultural hopes, dreams, ideation, and fears. But what do I know? :-) Good question, friend. (Leah P.)

Read Oscar Wilde's introduction to The Picture of Dorian Gray! (Shay C.)

Hmm... creation, appreciation, oftentimes beauty. (Lynn R.)

Way too early to think about that! Does art need a definition? (Zach S.)

The expression of one's thoughts, ideas, and feelings through a medium (permanent or otherwise) that can be experienced and shared by a group or individual person. You can bed religious beliefs and cultural customs to that list, too. (Kilean J.)

Art cannot be defined only expressed and what you express makes you who you are so you are art. (Derek R.)

There's no possible definitive answer to the question, as it's different for each individual. There is art in everything, regardless if we understand it or not. (Heather H.)

Simple - an expression of creativity/imagination! (Juniper L.)

Art stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or incite us to riot, with a whole gamut of emotions in between. Art gives us a way to be creative and express ourselves. For some people, art is the entire reason they get out of bed in the morning. You could say ... See Morethat art is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-rounded. In any case, It makes the soul infinitely rich! What is beauty for one person may be obscure and defy reason to another. So, there is no one way to define art except to say that it stimulates and yet beckons reason. (Kari H.)

Any form of creative flow that generates thought. (Patrick S.)

umm,,,it's just the expression of expression. pure and simple. (Paul M.)

Art is the expression of one’s feelings and beliefs. (Lisa H.)

Quick thoughts: Genre, Branch of learning, The expression of culture, inner self (Loree E.)

Art is the urge to create. It’s a demonstration that expresses our experience as human beings. The first caveman picking up a piece of charcoal in the cave, a paint brush, a quilt—even (was it Pollak’s?) a vat of urine… it’s a way of saying, “I am human, and this is what I think or feel. (Martha M.)

“Art” cannot properly be defined. Once you say art “is” this, or “isn’t” this, someone comes along and creates an engaging and interesting piece of art that defies those limitations. However, since “art” is a distinct word it must correspond to a distinct concept, but it doesn’t seem to. Therefore, the idea of art is a contradiction and thus implies an absurdity or logical impossibility. I am happy to accept that art is absurd and illogical. That is what makes it so interesting and subjective, etc. (Joe H.)

Dictionary 1: skill 2: branch of learning 3: creation of things of beauty or works so produced. (Sharon D.)

Art is something created with self expression as the intention. (Mike B.)

Art is the expression of feelings or emothion, through avenues other than just speech. Art is the display of one’s thoughts or views in a non generic format. (Darryl G.)

Refined and deliberate human expression. (Max W.)

An expression of emotion in visual form. (Michelle T.)

One’s perception of beauty…. (Kristen H.)

Creativity that can be enjoyed by one of the senses. (Amy W.)

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. ... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art

Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature; The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colours, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic ...en.wiktionary.org/wiki/art (Paul S.)

Haha! Read Henry James’ “The Real Thing”(Heather N.)

Art is something created by the mind and senses. It is expressed in various mediums through use of any or all of our body parts and sometimes assisted by devices that may appeal to any or all of someone else’s senses. (Sean H.)

Art is the creative expression of the human experience. (Barb R.)

Art is human beings' attempt to express, reality and/or beauty. (Ken G.)

Dave T: I like these two explanations: http://painting.about.com/od/inspiration/a/what_is_art.htm; http://arthistory.about.com/cs/reference/f/what_is_art.htm

A method of expressing an emotion, thought, or action -or whatever Maria says. (Andres A.)