Working here at Mezzolago Art Gallery has taught me something, something I've been chewing on for a while, and am now finally ready to digest.  It's a question that hits me at every moment while I work at this wonderful ecclectic gallery, watching people "ooh" and "ahh" over pieces that, while skillful or pretty, might leave me cold. The question is "what is art, exactly?" I thought I had it pretty well sussed out, as defined by my education and travels, the art history courses in Europe, the visits to museums since I was practically pram-bound. But surprisingly it has taken being partner in an art gallery to really get what "art" is.  Is it the 'masterpieces" that hang in museums, judged only as such by curators with triple PhD's in art history?  Is it the finger painting I just dug out of the basement yesterday created by my then-3-year-old?  Or is it a pleasant, though admittedly lackluster painting of flowers, that to me, is so much wallpaper?  I've realized the answer is all three.  Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, and if it elicits an emotion, memory, or thought that is pleasing (or disturbing, depending on your bent), it sure as heck is "Art".  So, before y'all shower me with "no duh" emails, I'll take my soapbox and go home! :)