Well, I would say that the word “play,” to me, has connotations of frivolity, amusement, and entertainment. I think a lot of people look on what artists do as just goofing around and trying to pass off their idle effort as something more important than it is. It’s a hobby. I think there are probably elements of play in the work of every artist, but to call the activity itself “play” seems like a bit of a demotion to me, even compared to the low baseline at which it enters the cultural dialogue.

We could also turn you question around: “Why is the finished work of artists just called ‘practice’? What are they practicing for?”

I make paintings. Making art is labor just like anything else and artists should be paid for their labor. I also make essays, and it’s good to be paid for the work (and money) that I put into both. And I think that saying art is different from other forms of productive labor persists the treatment of artists as different, other, uninterested in being able to support themselves and their families. Artists are people who do what they love, which is making things. And as long as there’s a market resources and produced goods will be marketable. You can’t just carve out one enterprise and tell everyone it’s sanctified without A) subsidizing art, B) making it a religion, and/or C) marginalizing artists and reducing them to poverty.

http://capscrits.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/the-forever-now-contemporary-painting.html