Who is art for?

This weeks reader made me question who art is for? and what role culture plays in individual lives and contemporary society? It could be argued that art is purely for the individual, which may sound self-indulgent. Although in todays society and the era we live in today art is more commonly made to be sold and therefore art iself is a commodity. Culture must got further than economics. Although we focus on the artworks value. Can we look past mass accumulation and be able to look at an artwork without considering its value, or to be able to create an artwork without the idea of value? Economics is naturally a large part of our society, although are we then just making art for pure self-indulgence? Is culture failing us?