During a party, she needs food instead of art! (5)
I believe the answer is:
peggy
'instead of art' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'during a party she needs food' is the wordplay.
'during' indicates putting letters inside.
'a party she needs' becomes 'py' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'food' becomes 'egg' (egg is a kind of food).
'py' enclosing 'egg' is 'PEGGY'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for peggy that I've seen before include "one associated with Sue" , "Dolly < bird" , "- - Lee, popular singer" .)