What is the role of art in the world?

Art is a distillation of experience (thought, sensation, feeling) and a creative act that is related to the divine creative act. As such its possibilities are infinite. Its role in the world, it seems to me, is manifold. It can provide a kind of comfort, as in the Matisse quotation about the purpose of art being the same as a comfortable armchair--solace for the soul. On the other hand, art can also be effectively used to play with boundaries and stale categories, as in feminist or queer art--stretching the soul.  It can also be an effective tool for engaging social issues like war, the environment, or poverty--providing a call to arms for the soul. Then there is the important function of creating a living, material memory, as in the Vietnam Memorial or AIDS quilt--commemorating the soul. Historically, in terms of all existing art, it provides us with a kind of visual record of the world soul in different places and periods. These are just a few of the ways art can work to touch us at the deepest core of our being.