Art and purpose

I remember in 9th grade I once wrote this preposterous paper where I described an "history" of artistic processes, but it was completely creative; Mrs. Butler said I'd be laughed out of class for such writing... Well, perhaps that's about to happen again.
As I sit in this art gallery, surrounded by art of varying degrees of (aesthetic) value, and my friend is contemplating a purchase, I am wondering about the purpose of artistic works in contemporary civilization..
I've always been an artist, but these days I'm slightly averse to th idea of making wall paintings: I find myself more drawn to other practical/pragmatic, or utilitarian processes, though still every bit as creative. Nowadays, I might make a drawing of a simple cartoon profile; a painting that I work on for just a couple hours, or perhaps once a month for over a year. But I don't spend much time making "art"...
And as I hear th sounds which signal she has indeed made a purchase, it makes me wonder again: what do people get from art? it is merely home decoration..? Cultivation of/or (concentrated) culture? Th capturing of some product of human ingenuity that created a transcendent, powerful emotional experience for th viewer/buyer, or one that has to potential to bring such experiences for days, months, years to come?
And so many different aesthet-ethics.. Post modern artistic methodologies and tools are vast. Multi-media is basically a given, and everyone's an expert/professional..
Need to continue this later; time to EAT!!!!