Glueman - I was merely commenting on the fact that what might have been an interesting discussion on folk arts as a whole was all subsumed into yet another thread on folk music - and no fault of the OPs, either.

The thread has now actually become far more interesting with the inclusion of christmas lights displays and sandcastles! I think these are true folk arts - and I don't think anyone could call these elitist. In a visual arts context, "folk" artists, e.g. painters, are often equated with "naive" artists such as Grandma Moses, Henri Rousseau, Alfred Wallis, etc. Naive,in this instance, used to describe artists who have no formal training but who - in the words of one book I have on the subject - bring a "refreshing view" of artistic subjects to the world.

By this definition, folk artists are far from elitist - they exist happily within their own world, uncaring perhaps about the opinion of others.