Are They Artists? (Or Are We Just Moving the Goalposts?)

 

We all know the “masters,” right? Leonardo da Vinci. Raphael. The whole crew, basically the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, minus the pizza and sewer lair.

History handed them the title: Artists. Capital A. No debate. But then things get… blurry. Fast forward a few centuries, and now we’re staring at soup cans from Andy Warhol, paint splatters from Jackson Pollock, and rural Americana from Grandma Moses… and someone, somewhere, had to say: “Yep. That’s art.” Everyone else just kind of nodded along… eventually.

So, where’s the line now? Is Bob Ross a master artist because of his wet-on-wet technique… or because he made millions of people believe they could be artists too?

What about the graffiti artist turning a brick wall into a statement piece? (And depending on who you ask, either a visionary… or a vandal.)

What about the sidewalk chalk artist who creates a 3D illusion so real you hesitate to step on it? They know their "masterpiece" is gone with the first refreshing rain.

Do we consider the person with a spray can and a blowtorch, turning a plain jacket into something nobody else on earth owns? We all see them on TikTok or FB reels!

How about the sand sculptor—building something breathtaking… knowing full well the tide is coming to erase it like it never existed?

Then there’s this question… What about you? The one dabbling in woodworking. Trying the Bob Ross method. Learning watercolor. Playing with ink. Does “dabbling” disqualify you, or does it quietly put you in the same room as the rest of them?

Let’s make it uncomfortable for a second, are doodlers artists? You know the ones filling notebook margins during meetings, phone calls, sermons… (no judgment… mostly). No gallery. No training. No audience. Just a pen… and something inside that won’t sit still. Is that art?

Maybe we’ve been asking the wrong question. We keep asking: What makes an artist? Talent? Training? Recognition? Money? A museum wall? What if it’s simpler—and more unsettling—than that?

What if it’s this: An artist is anyone who feels the need to create… and does something about it. Not perfectly. Not professionally. Not profitably. Just… honestly.

Which leads to the question we can’t dodge: Is there an artist in all of us? Or have some of us just gotten really good at ignoring it?

Because maybe the difference between Leonardo da Vinci… and the person sketching during a Zoom call, isn’t talent. Maybe it’s permission.

Some people create masterpieces that hang in museums. Some create moments that wash away with the tide. Some create things no one ever sees. But if it moved you to make it… and it meant something while you did…who exactly are we to say that isn’t art?