What the heck is art anyway?

We've been reading Marcia Muelder Eaton's Basic Issues in Aesthetics as a text in my critical theory class, along with The Critical Pedagogy Reader edited by Darder, Baltodano and Torres. I recommend them both for those of you who want to cut to the chase and get to the heart of the matter(s) fairly, relatively, quickly about both Aesthetics and Critical Pedagogy, which, oddly enough, intersect at times. Eaton is attempting in her book to give us insight into "applied aesthetics" in other words, a working definition of aesthetics which will aid in public and private decisions such as the Environmental Policy Act of 1969 which requires environmental impact studies be conducted on the affect on aesthetic amenities among other things. What the heck is an aesthetic amenity? We all think we know but when you get down to the nitty gritty of following a law, how do we know we really know what an aesthetic anything is? And how about spending tax money on public works of art? or federal funding to artists? We all know we need and want art, but how do we know what art is worth funding? Is it all a matter of opinion or is there a guiding philosophy we can apply? She maintains that aesthetic values relate to social values and become issues of public policy. So FINALLY studying art has some practical purpose!
I'm just kidding, but I'm sure there are some out there who would not find that all that funny.