What is the Purpose of Art?

Hey all! Sorry for the long time between this post and my last post- school caught up with me. I've decided to just go in order of the chapters in Soul Pancake, partly because I'm too ordered and structured to do it any other way, and partly because the next chapter is Art and Creativity, which I'm pretty excited for. So, here we go!

From "Art & Creativity" section of "Soul Pancake":

What is the purpose of art? What is art? What piece of art most speaks to you? How does knowing the intention behind a work of art affect your experience of it?

First off, let me say that I am by no means an expert in art. In fact, I actually know very little (especially when it comes to the visual arts).