There is public art like statues and monuments. There are expensive paintings that hang in the halls of wealthy collectors. Music is available online, for a dollar a track, or illegally for free, or many times the artist releases it themselves and we can pay what we want. Many artists struggle, and few are able to live off their craft. So we should ask ourselves a few questions. What is the value, purpose, and function of art?

We don't need it like we need food or water or petroleum. We don't depend on it. And we don't like to spend too much on it. Yet we wouldn't want to live without it. Plato asked us What is the use of a painting of a bowl of fruit? You can't eat it. And if we are facing an economic depression, won't the painting sit there and mock us while we can't afford real fruit? And no one wants to buy the painting?

Let me present a few ethical situations that have come up in the art world. See what you think.

1. Last year a New York gallery displayed the work of a little-known sculptor. His conceptual art was displayed to the public, and was reviewed by critics. But the artists never really existed. The exhibit was a hoax, a phony creation by the gallery owners. Is it a worthwhile experiment? Is it real art when there is a fake artist? If we look at a sculpture and it moves us, does it matter if the art is a hoax or not?

2. Salvador Dali tried to make an extra buck where he could. When you buy an original print from an artist, look at the numbers at the bottom where the signature is. These numbers are usually split like 1/100. The second number is the total prints that were made. The first number tells us where the print came in the sequence. Dali made thousands of prints, but numbered them in the low hundreds, so the buyer would feel that they were getting something rare and special. In truth, they were getting a mass-produced piece. Did they get screwed? This stunt rocked the art world and put every artist on earth under scrutiny.

3. Can you love a piece of art when you know the ethics of the artist are questionable? Can you listen to Wagner when you consider the whole Hitler thing?

4. When music is available for free, are you tempted to take it? Is music too expensive? When artists are giving their music away on a pay-what-you-want basis, do you take advantage of it? And when record companies collapse as this trend grows, will this change the way you listen to music? Would you ever go back to old music buyng habits?

5. Many states are levying sales taxes on legal music downloads. Do you agree with this practice?  This may cause a rise in price or a reduced amount of money going to the artist. How will this affect your spending habits?

6. If the recession continues, what art will you be willing to give up? Cable TV? iTunes? Netflix? Going out to the movies? Going to concerts? Plays? Museums? And if you take a break from supporting the arts, will you ever return to support them again when the economy is stable?

7. How valuable is art in one's education? Some students love it and others could take it or leave it. Does the current system work?

8. How can the government support the arts in the new economy? Can we justify the expense?

9. What are other ways that artists and arts institutions can support themselves?

10. In emergencies like Hurricane Katrina, many efforts were made to support artists, actors, musicians, etc. You may want to support the cause, but aren't there other priorities that supercede them? Are the artists truly on their own in an emergency?

There are a great deal of questions that artists are asking themselves too. Many are quitting, many are relocating to more prosperous markets. What can be done? What is the value of art? And what is its purpose?