[Miss Marple]

LOL! No. Besides my talented son-in-law (personal bias admitted) you can, around any large city, find an art community which may be full of weirdos, charlatans, and no-talent hacks but which also will have a few people turning out gems of paintings. Very occasionally these people make names for themselves, but mostly (especially if they are in the midwest or the south) they paint for themselves and sometimes manage to get a bit of local recognition.

I have quite a few nice prints I bought from the local art school's annual student show. They are quite good and are not anything like what one sees in the "print shops."

[bonfire]

I was just going to post that even High School or College Art Shows are worth checking out. But then again, my cousin is in an expensive art school and her medium is DRYER LINT~~~ I AM NOT KIDDING!