Lady Gaga on Art: ‘It Has Totally Cured Me’

Lady Gaga attended this year's annual gala held by nonprofit organization Americans for the Arts this past Monday (October 19), where she received the Young Artist Award, honoring the many accomplishments she’s made before turning 30. And while Gaga has certainly received her fair share of accolades throughout her career thus far, this particular award -- which signifies and declares her worth as an artist -- is the one she seems to value above the rest.

During her lengthy acceptance speech, Gaga spoke about the value of art in her life (via Vulture), saying, “[Art] has totally cured me. And each and every moment in my life, I have grown. I have learned more, and I have become smarter or dumber, which happens also. While art can make you foolish and wild, it has always been a warm blanket for me to rely on, something I always knew would be there for me, the byproduct or the unicorn, the fantasy that arose out of whatever struggle I was experiencing or whatever torment. So I'm here today to say thank you so much to all of you for honoring me today, because I don't think there is a single award that means more to me than this one.”

Gaga continued, making it clear that she's always wanted to be taken seriously as both a mainstream pop musician and as an artist outside of it, which is why this particular award holds such importance for her.

She said, “...all I always wanted, more than anything, was to be taken seriously as a musician in the Pop cultural field, as well as the fine arts at the same time. And tonight is the closest that I might ever come to that.”

You can read Gaga's speech in its entirety over on Vulture.

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