Art and business can coexist, and they do so quite readily. In fact, one might almost compare the relationship of art and business to symbiotic relationships that occur naturally. Art and business help each other while remaining separate entities.
In some cases, successful businesses are formed to deal directly with art. This can be seen primarily with writing as a form of art. Publishing companies have existed for centuries as a primary method in not only disseminating useful written knowledge, but also as a way to bring artistic endeavors such as novels, short stories, poetry and drama to the general public. The publishing company profits from the sale of these texts. Art galleries are another form of business established to help sell art to the public. Such galleries display sculptures and paintings for the public to select and purchase. This gives the artist a chance to create more art without being distracted by the business of selling it.
A less concrete way in which the two coexist is demonstrated in the sponsoring of artistic endeavors by business. Take for instance, the sponsorship of the Metropolitan Opera's broadcasts by Texaco, a well known oil producing company within the United States. In this very specific relationship between a well established art form (opera) and a business, Texaco gives funding for the broadcast of the opera to a large number of classical and public radio stations throughout the U.S. In so doing, it gives thousands of listeners outside of New York to appreciate the skilled blending of voice and music, without having to attend a live performance. The appreciative listener will then hopefully send funds in to support the continuing success of the art form.
The business also succeeds in a number of ways by supporting such a broadcast. First of all, at the most simplistic level, the appreciative listener will hear the advertising surrounding the broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera, ...