--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many outsiders see the art world as…" description: "\"Many outsiders see the art world as elitist and it is, except it is also oddly down-to-earth and embracing of oddballs who don't fit in well anywhere e..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg" --- # Many outsiders see the art world as elitist and it is… ![“Many outsiders see the art world as elitist and it is, except it is also oddly down-to-earth and embracing of oddballs who don't fit in well anywhere else.” quote by Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg) > “Many outsiders see the art world as elitist and it is, except it is also oddly down-to-earth and embracing of oddballs who don't fit in well anywhere else.” [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Notes the art world’s elitism alongside its embrace of unconventional outsiders. **In simple terms:** Art is elite but inclusive of oddballs. Key Takeaway Balance exclusivity with openness. Themes art world elitism inclusion Mood analytical curious Type critical observational When to use this quote - gallery curation - artist communities - alternative spaces Key Concepts cultural studies subculture Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions stay truly inclusive? - What defines “odd” in art? A Different Perspective Risk of tokenism remains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-world/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Down to earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/down-to-earth/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Oddballs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oddballs/) [Outsiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsiders/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Valderrama is the most elitist club in the world, even more elitist than Augusta.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seve-ballesteros/valderrama-is-the-most-elitist-club-in-the-world-even-more-elitist/) [Seve Ballesteros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seve-ballesteros/) > [The one who tried too hard, the outsider, the oddball. Yeah, that was me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idina-menzel/the-one-who-tried-too-hard-the-outsider-the-oddball-yeah-that-was-me/) [Idina Menzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idina-menzel/) > [Who and of what import were the men whose bones bulk the Great Wall, the thirty million Mao starved, or the thirty million children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/who-and-of-what-import-were-the-men-whose-bones-bulk-the-great-wall/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I strode among giants, friends tell me now, though at the time I felt more like a misfit associating with oddballs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-roper/i-strode-among-giants-friends-tell-me-now-though-at-the-time-i-felt/) Steve Roper > [If we make this readjustment to view Homo sapiens as an ultimate in oddball rarity, and life at bacterial grade as the common expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/if-we-make-this-readjustment-to-view-homo-sapiens-as-an-ultimate-in/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [There's a potter that lived back in the 1800s, in Biloxi, Mississippi, and his name was George Ohr. 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Not to get grandiose about it, but I have a talent for playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainn-wilson/i-think-that-doing-comedy-and-playing-dwight-is-a-service-not-to-get/) [Rainn Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainn-wilson/) > [Be yourself! Be individualistic!' he called out after me. 'But for God's sake get your hair cut. You look like an oddball.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-zindel/be-yourself-be-individualistic-he-called-out-after-me-but-for-god-s/) [Paul Zindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-zindel/) > [I've been such an oddball my whole life, but I've always been cool and I've always dressed fairly smartly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cee-lo-green/i-ve-been-such-an-oddball-my-whole-life-but-i-ve-always-been-cool-and/) [Cee Lo Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cee-lo-green/) > [This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/this-is-what-god-s-kingdom-is-like-a-bunch-of-outcasts-and-oddballs/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) ## More by Sarah Thornton > [“Art needs motives that are more profound than profit if it is to maintain its difference from—and position above—other cultural forms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/art-needs-motives-that-are-more-profound-than-profit-if-it-is-to/) [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) > [“Our lives are constantly changing. Different things become relevant at different times in our lives. We are motivated by our changing sensibilities. Why can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/our-lives-are-constantly-changing-different-things-become-relevant-at/) [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) > [“Their hatred is so passionate that I can't help but wonder if they're attracted to each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/their-hatred-is-so-passionate-that-i-can-t-help-but-wonder-if-they-re/) [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) > [“I'm an atheist, but I believe in art. I go to galleries like my mother went to church. It helps me understand the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/i-m-an-atheist-but-i-believe-in-art-i-go-to-galleries-like-my-mother/) [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) > [(...) contemporary art has become a kind of alternative religion for atheists. (...) 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Artists make work that "looks like art" and behave in ways that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/although-the-art-world-reveres-the-unconventional-it-is-rife-with/) [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) [Explore all 9 Sarah Thornton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Many outsiders see the art world as elitist and it is, except it is also oddly down-to-earth and embracing of oddballs who don't fit in well anywhere else.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Thornton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elitist-and-it-is-except-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elitist-and-it-is-except-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/242/sarah-thornton-45145_art_many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elit_131758.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Many outsiders see the art world as elitist and it is, except it is also oddly down-to-earth and embracing…” — Sarah Thornton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Sarah Thornton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Many outsiders see the art world...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elitist-and-it-is-except-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/many-outsiders-see-the-art-world-as-elitist-and-it-is-except-it-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```