The viewer doesn’t matter. No artist needs to “hear from them”.
Some people here do not identify as artists, preferring to call themselves photographers instead. If I wield my awesome power as a viewer and call them artists are they now cursed to identify as one?
One of the many uses of art, and purposes of the artist, is communication. And for any art or artist, the importance can range from zero to being all about communication. Feedback from the viewer is equally important...nice when it is expressed with a cash sale, but sometimes a stand-up ovation does nicely.
Over several decades I have been part of various local galleries (art associations, cooperative galleries, and such) and spend a good amount of time behind the counter. Always interesting seeing how a large variety of people look at art...including kids. Husbands dragged in by wives (or the other way around), new college students, local artists coming in to see friends' work, people from inland escaping the heat or smoke, botox wonders from the southern part of the state looking for art at a quarter of the price of their local artists, and folks who moved away long ago and are showing their kids where their parents came of age.
I watch as (most) people will walk by my work with hardly a glance, and some who will stop and spend a good bit of time. To those who seem interested, I will mention that I made the B&W images they were looking at earlier and ask if they have any questions. The depth of such discussions vary widely.
If everything anyone creates is art even if only a smidgen, or anyone can call themselves an artist including my three-year-old grandson, then it's no big deal to be an artist. I'm glad we settled this.
Exactly, this has been my point...it is no big deal to be an artist, except to the artist of course. Hopefully your grandson will keep his artistic spark alive. It can show up as creativity over the next 90 or so years. I hope no one ever tells him he is not an artist. That is like saying he is not fully human.