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The concept of art is constantly changing. It has everything to do with intention and rarely anything to do with the actual piece itself. There are also varying degrees of art. There is "high art" and there is "folk art"; there are artists who are craftsmen and artists who know almost nothing about the craft.
To me, high art is about concepts and not the medium or the piece itself (although it is certainly intertwined). These are the pieces that are intended by the artist to get the viewers to talk about the concept rather than the piece itself. A LOT of people don't "get" this kind of art.
Folk art on the other hand is more about aesthetics; or even decoration. People talk about the piece or medium. Good cabinet-makers are certainly artists (craftsmen).
Where it can get really interesting is when folk art becomes high art (and vice-versa) due to time or misinterpretation.
For instance: if I take a picture of my grandmother--is it art? What if I paint a picture of my grandmother--is it art because I used paint instead of a camera? What if Rembrandt painted a picture of an old woman? He did--several times--they were pretty much just the same thing as snapshots from a camera. Of course, now we consider it "art." Why? He was really good at it ... but there are several artists alive today with the same capability.
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