Reflection: What is Art and Who Decides?

At the beginning of this course, I wrote that I believe anything can be art and anyone who is able to connect to the piece of art can call it art. I still believe this. Throughout the course, we have looked at different artists and their lives, the progression of modernism and post-modernism, and the four aspects of formalism and style, iconography, Marxism, and feminism. Each of the things we have studied has convinced me that my initial idea is based in truth.
Looking back at different artists, we saw critics and members of the public deciding whether something is art or not, which I thought was rather ridiculous...who gave them a right to decide whether it's art? Modernism dictated parameters that needed to be met in order for something to classify as art, but studying the idea of iconography enforced the idea that art is much more than it seems - you need to look at the emotion and the story behind it. Post-modernism further supported my initial reaction to the question "What is art and who decides?" since it basically states that anyone can make art and anything can be art. Not necessarily everything is art, but almost anything can be art. Again, you have to look at the story behind the piece of art. It needs to convey an emotion or idea.