Art is a photograph or a painting. Art is a drawing or a ceramic vase. Art is a Michelangelo sculpture of David or a Van Gogh self-portrait or a first-grader's self-portrait drawn in crayons.

Art is a music video on MTV.

Art is in the eye of the beholder.

It may be easy to define what art is, but what it isn't - that's not so easy. There are critics who will say, "That's not art." I've always been a critic of critics who say what art isn't. How can you prove a negative? It is very difficult, if not impossible, to say what something is not. And art is so abstract already, it doesn't seem possible to say what art is not.

When I was a child and painted out of the lines, my art teacher lowered my grade by a slight margin. She would say something like, "You must be more careful. It's art."

Slowly, over time, I developed the notion that nothing was art unless it was perfect. It had to conform to the set parameters. No coloring outside the lines!

As I became a little older, I continued to want to make my ceramic pieces a little abnormal. I wanted my drawings to be disproportionate. Again, they were unacceptable. I was told I tried "too hard" to make it look odd. I "made too much of an effort" to make my piece stand out.

Once I arrived at college, I thought my professors would be more abstract and let me be more so. I took a poetry class to work on my self-expression.

It didn't go well, either.

My poetry went something like this:

"The day drifts in with the wind./My skin burns in its light./I reach for the cover/only snakes lie there./I scream."

My poetry professor basically told me that I wasn't writing about what I knew best or at least wasn't conveying exactly what I meant. The English majors in my class found enough material in my poetry to rip on me for an entire hour.

My artistic integrity seemed damaged. I thought that I wasn't as creative as I hoped I was. I couldn't color within the lines, I couldn't conform and I couldn't express myself clearly enough in my poetry.

But, I kept asking, "Who sets the guidelines for what is poetry? Who sets the rules for what art is?"

I was told no one did, but there were limitations on what was appropriate to say in one's work and how it could be said.

I was heartbroken. My art wasn't good enough. I couldn't find the right direction to take my thoughts, to express myself or to show the world what I could do.

I swore I'd never try to write poetry, draw a picture or build a masterpiece again. I swore it in a poem.

I found that I had to express myself. If I couldn't do it in a classroom, at a show or on a stage, then I would announce my anger to the world on paper and keep it to myself. My words expressed not only anger, but sadness, regret, love, happiness, torture and cruelty. I discovered I could compare myself to whatever nature set before me and it felt good.

It felt extremely gratifying.

I found, on my own, what art is.

Art is letting go of what holds you back. It is saying what you need to say because it's there in your mind. It's the colors that shade your day or darken your night.

Many Americans fail to appreciate art for what it is, what it does and how it changes the world. A few may pay a couple hundred million dollars for a piece but they don't appreciate the work and emotion behind the piece. On the other hand, those who truly value art can pay $20 for a simple drawing and they will hold it up as dear as a child.

A book of poetry is sometimes only bought if the author is someone famous like Maya Angelou or Walt Whitman. Both of them are great, but they are not the only voices in America. Many poets write their expressions and need to be heard as well, should be heard.

Once upon a time, art in all its forms was held up high. People wanted to be writers, painters, actors or singers. And others wanted to read their work, view their paintings, see them act or hear them sing.

Now, art is there but it is unappreciated. Anger, fear, sadness and joy are all seen on the news but never expressed in art.

The violence in rap is seen as a problem instead of an artistic expression on the madness of our society. Nude photography is seen as obscene instead of an artist's appreciation of the gift God gave us.

Did Shakespeare or Michelangelo ever have these censorship problems? Undoubtedly. But American art is protected by the First Amendment, isn't it?

Freedom of speech is in the Constitution. Art is speech. Art is in the Constitution.

But if you don't like my poetry, or if you don't like Monet's paintings or Madonna's rock videos, that's fine. A person does not have to like everything. A person should acknowledge another person's right to say it, sing it, paint it, draw it or photograph it, though.

It's unAmerican to think otherwise. What would our forefathers have thought?

Art is a part of our American heritage.

Every American is an artist in one form or the other.

Art is the beholder. [[In-content Ad]]