Crafts vs. "Real" Art...

I had never considered the art of papercrafting to be a very deep subject, until I started developing my Scrapology class series... As I considered the topics I felt passionate about covering; the thought process involved in the creation of those beautiful stories on paper, and the amount of energy which goes into selecting all of the elements that combine to share our musings, I realized that I in fact do feel very strongly that what I do is ART.
You know, I didn't go to college to earn a degree, with subjects such as Card Creasing 101, (prerequisite class being Cardstock: Fiber to Fascinating), Photography 101(more like-10,001), and Album Management. No, I learned those through time and by playing. A LOT! lol
I've brushed up on skills through the years through a wealth of online You-niveristy courses, interacted with fellow artists at annual conventions, and my subscriptions to various printed resources are (prohibited from meeting the garbage can) all stored up for easy access. Debated with confidence the pros and cons of certain styles, compared fussy cut images to those manufactured with the aid of a machine, and yes, I've been openly critical of both my own paper backed projects and those of my peers.

And yet, when I entered these beautiful, framed scrapbook pages highlighting the memorable occasion of our second daughter's birth, and that fun greeting card above, which says little but expresses so much of my impression of a life changing event, to a local juried art show this spring, I was informed that my submissions did not qualify as Art and are instead to be categorized as Crafts.
Say What?! (imagine coffee spraying from my astounded pursed lips)

So what are your thoughts, dear reader? Does an Artist's Trading Card created with talent and tiny found objects deserve any less consideration than an 8x10 canvas splattered in no apparent pattern by various colors of paint? Can you think of pieces you've seen hanging in museums and thought to yourself, huh, I could totally do that! Seen any of the beautiful reclaimed art pieces and wanted to dig in your own burn bin for well distressed compressed fiber blocks (i.e. fence posts)? Well, you may be an artist!
Thanks for taking the time to ponder with me as we head into the fireworks of Fourth of July. Let the oohs and ahhs around you and in your heart inspire some fantastic works of art for this month's sharing... Watch for my next EmbellishKits.com summer scrapbooking kit review and Tutorial video coming soon, and Stay crafty!