Artistic types get constantly accused of snobbery. In fact snobbery cuts across professions.
I have known snobbish construction workers who thought that only they did real work and that everyone else was a parasite.
I have known snobbish engineers who thought that they were the only sane and rational people, and that everyone else was lazy, stupid or insane.
I have known snobbish doctors who thought that they were better than everyone else because they finished medical school.
I have known snobbish businessmen who thought that they were the only winners and everyone else was a loser.
I have known snobbish military people who thought that they were the only real men and that everyone else was a wimp.
Are artists snobbish? Some are and some aren’t. Certainly there are any number of snobbish people affiliated with NEA. But I am a part of a majority-black DC poetry reading group in DC, and these people aren’t snobbish at all. Most of them come from the rough side of town, and many of them have dealt with much harder things than did the people who think that artists are snobs.
My experience of artistic types is that they are more, not less, open and tolerant than other people. I once went into an art class in DC and started reciting my poetry, and these people welcomed me. Would a meeting of doctors or businessmen do that with a total stranger? Yet a meeting of artists did.
I don’t think that it will ever be possible to conclusively do away with snobbery. However we can do away with misconceptions. There is no reason to see artistic types as more snobbish than the next person. We will see snobbery in any demographic. And we will have to learn how to minimize the snobbery and maximize the benefits of the pursuit.