My feeling is there are a lot more artists / artistically inclined folks than we think, but colonizer-consumerist-capitalist culture discourages people from expressing those inclinations in any way. CCC culture (and creeping fascism) ridicules the arts (other than sometimes in a “museum/upperclass WASP”-sanctioned, setting).
If we have the audacity to do it as our job/career/calling, mainstream culture calls it irresponsible or useless or bad life choices.
Same with any of the humanities: anthropology, philosophy, etc.
We are the only ones who can dismantle this stranglehold. Art is revolution. Reducing our need to earn money, and reducing other aspects of our dependence on the “official” system, is revolution.
Permaculture, occupational co-ops are one way to build a resilient parallel structure.
Art and creativity in all forms is absolutely essential; we cannot allow our sick culture to tell us otherwise.
For many of us everyday people, throughout the ages, art has taken the form of the common household items we make (or adapt). Clothing, linens, furniture, tools. Many old tools were artistically embellished by their users.