Wanted: Patrons of the Arts

We live in a world where people do not always get the credit they deserve and where people often forget to say thanks.

For anybody that can be challenging–we all love to be thanked, particularly when we go out of our way to help.

But for an artist, not having our work recognized as having value can be debilitating. To create for years and not have anyone appreciate your output can cripple.

That’s why it’s so important to have a patron of the arts.

Most of us started with the basic set: parents. Parents are expected to cheer on their offspring (It’s in the manual they get when they have children. Didn’t you get that manual?), encourage their talents, and to be a haven from the cruel world.

They also should be honest about where that child’s strengths lie–and don’t lie. Even if the kid shrieks and complains the parents “don’t understand.”

Probably because they don’t.

But a parent can  open a door and point to a child’s gifts. They’re in a good place to recognize what unique abilities their child has to offer the world. When I get into discussions with parents lamenting their (usually) teenager’s lack of ambition, I ask what the kid is good at or that child is interested in.

If they think long enough, most parents can come up with something, even if it’s only “playing video games.” From there, we usually can extend the discussion into what skills are required to play, say, video games well and how that can translate into something else. It doesn’t always work, but even the kid who never sits still has his interest captured by something.

What did you do when your mother asked you?

My mother handed me a notebook as we embarked on a 10-week trip. “You’re the writer in the family,” she said. “You need to take notes so that when we return we’ll be able to remember where we went.”

She had an itinerary, of course, but she wanted to challenge 14 year-old gawky me into using what she saw as my talent. Because writing appealed to me (and we only had three books with us on that trip–what were we thinking?), I set to the task every day–detailing what we did and what I saw.

I’m mortified by the notes now–my brother, apparently, was the star of the whole trip, vexing us every day–but I finished the task.

My mother was the first patron of my art.

Patrons of the arts–people who encourage and often monetarily provide for artists–have been the means by which a lot of great artistic works have been created.  Click to Tweet

Michelangelo never would have painted that Sistine Chapel without the hectoring and (too little) money provided by Pope Julius 11 (see Irving Stone‘s The Agony and the Ecstasy for a fictionalized account of this challenging relationship).  Most of the great artwork now covering museum walls in Europe was originally painted under commission from a patron–often the Catholic Church which is why so many paintings have religious themes.

People may grumble about the subject of those paintings now, but without patronage, Leonardo da Vinci never would have had the wherewithal to paint La Giocanda.

Music often was funded by patrons–think Mozart’s operas (see Amadeus, for another fictionalized account) and Beethoven’s symphonies

Writing–William Shakespeare couldn’t have done it without the help of companies wanting his playwriting skills (See Shakespeare in Love, more fiction) and his buddy Ben Jonson was the same way. Someone has to pay the artist enough to live on so they can live long enough to create their art work.

I’ve been thinking about this lately as I see shrinkage in the amount of money writers, musicians, and artists make these days. It looks impossible to put together a creative career on your own. But maybe it never has been possible?

I acquired another patron of the arts when I left my parent’s home: my husband. He has provided the emotional, financial and technological support I needed to write my four books–and all the others that have yet to see a royalty-paying publisher. He listened for five years as I researched and wrote a massive family history (Pioneer Stock), and funded all the expeditions. He bought countless computers, untold reams of paper, and even watched the children when necessary.

More importantly, though, unlike Pope Julius, my husband seemed to grasp my need for positive encouragement. He’s been my cheerleader and my confessor. I couldn’t have done, and wouldn’t have wanted to do, any of my books without him.

What have you done to support the arts? Click to Tweet

Perhaps it’s part of being in a relationship–a family, a marriage, a partnership, a friendship?

Perhaps it’s part of being a supporter yourself.

Have you done anything for an artist lately?

Bought a ticket to a play or musical performance? Purchased a book, listened to a poetry reading? Do you have original artwork on your walls? Have you encouraged a kid with an unusual talent?

William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Michelangelo, Wolfgang Mozart–all needed someone to help them. Could it have been you?