Does art matter?

I was in the hospital yesterday with my dad--he needs a bypass. I sat with a french surgeon and looked at my dads arteries on a computer screen. The surgeon was about my age, maybe a few years older. I watched him look at the arteries like an artist looks at a tree or a landscape. It occurred to me that art really doesnt matter that much..saving peoples lives is much nobler than painting slop. I started to think about my childhood dreams of being a doctor or scientist (but I have bad math skills) Then I went to the second doctor ( a friednd of mine) and he had painting sall over his office (even some of mine) maybe art has a place but it doesnt save lives..it may make people feel better, though..like an aspirin or a martini...While I was in the office I got an email on my phone from a Brazilian magazine who wanted to buy one of my images for an article they were writing about floods. It was a very strange moment, like god was trying to tell me that art does have a place. My painting was indirectly about God, it was about floods (which is in my mind always related to God) I still believe if you are stranded on an island you would want to have a doctor  there more than an artist..then again, maybe both are needed...you need something for one your soul is broken (art)  and something for when you break your ankle on a rock. I guess if art didnt matter then there wouldnt be museums filled to the brim everyday all over the world. Art is the thing you cant explain