Addressing the Misconceptions about Art and Artists in Ghana

The role of art is indispensable in the socio-economic development of Ghana; but over the years, no efforts have been made to salvage the dwindling interests of the arts. This lack of interest for art has degenerated into what is called misconceptions. Study has shown that these misconceptions if not addressed timely, have the tendency of totally relegating art and artists in Ghana to the background, hence the need to carry out this research. The study was handled with a practical approach of finding out the actual causes of the misconceptions, the effects and the possible solutions thereof. In all, (65%) of respondents who participated in the study were males while (35%) were females. The descriptive (qualitative) research method was adopted to describe variables.  A sample size of 300 was used for the study because that was considered to be a fair representation of the accessible population. The data gathering instrument employed was the survey technique where 300 questionnaires were administered to the sample population. A major finding of the study is that the misconceptions about art negatively affect the patronage of art works in Ghana and the respect given to artists in general. Another finding is that, lack of education is responsible for the misconceptions about art. The study therefore recommends massive education for the general public in Ghana about the benefits of art.