The Church, Art, & Commercialism

Based on the readings of my fellow bloggers it appears to me that most have forgotten that much of religious history is very much intertwined with art. I of course am speaking of the elaborate cathedrals, exquisite alters, countless paintings depicting the life of Christ, or even the beautiful hymns and the like. I think ultimately as we look around us art has taken a more commercial role in today's society. I don't think the church is shutting out art as a whole but embracing the fact that art does not represent what it used to. Nobody wants to take the financial risk on a new opera or film that they don't think will sell to a large commercial consumer. As a result all of our forms of art are shaped by modern day commercialism. We see it in the theaters, public art galleries, on your TV, in supermarkets, and so forth. The problem isn't an anti art church, but a church that wants art with more meaning in a commercial world.