How to Support the Arts
- Buy the arts. Don't
argue about the price, just look at your budget and decide what you need
and want in life. No matter what your income or social class, you have
at least some entertainment budget and you have choices in what to get
for your necessities. When buying art, you support an artist in his or
her pursuit of art, so every little bit counts. The following steps
provide practical suggestions for purchases that support the arts.
- Both fine art and artisan creations (crafts, chefs and arts that
aren't seen as fine art) support your local economy as well as giving
you a higher quality of lifestyle. You may find you can afford more
personal luxury after you know these artists and discover what you like
most. They also need to eat, do their laundry, pay their rent and local
taxes on everything, so they are also helping everyone else in the area
keep their jobs and pouring your spending money into building a stronger
community. In all of these things, follow your personal tastes.
- Don't buy stuff you don't need or like just to support the arts.
Specifically support the artists and artisans whose work you enjoy and
collect more of it over the years as they grow artistically. Your
collection will deepen as well as broaden and you'll be an important
patron to these artists. It's luxury, so the point is to indulge
yourself and get the best of their work.
2
Support the indie artist first.
When deciding to go out for a show, consider tickets for live theater
instead of a movie, or an indie film rather than a first run
blockbuster. You're supporting new actors, directors, producers and live
theatrical houses when you make these choices. Not every time, if a
favorite comes along go ahead and get the first run viewing - but go see
that at a matinee to save money to also see the indie film. You'll have
more variety in your viewing pleasure and your dates may find you are
more educated, more sophisticated and intellectual than if you just go
to the same movies everyone talks about.
3
Buy real paintings and drawings from living artists to decorate your home.
Collect real art within your budget. If you like artists you can't
afford, consider smaller original pieces, sketches rather than paintings
or archival limited edition prints. Then take care of your art
collection by storing it in a cool dark dry place (attic, closet or
other air conditioned indoor area).
- Frame everything and look up basic art conservation for collectors.
If you vary which artists you collect, the entire collection will
appreciate in value. You may not know which of your collection becomes
super valuable by the artist's fame growing, but your kids and grandkids
will have an incredible legacy if you spread that investment around -
and do it from the heart.
- Buy the artwork you fall in love with. Then stash them if your
tastes change because collectors or your kids may love them later.
4
Buy books from living authors at full price.
Very often discounts and bargains get taken out of the author's
royalties. The author gets paid on the net, not on the gross value of
the books printed. If it's print-on-demand and you discover independent
authors you like, always purchase them direct from the author's website
versus Amazon.
- If you collect e-books from living authors, you won't need as many bookcases.
- Don't feel bad about purchasing hardcover versions of paperbacks or
ebooks you liked and want to reread, that's a way to reduce your
bookshelves to manageable.
5
Buy tickets to music, dance and other live performances.
Again, do this within budget and focus it on your tastes. You may like
Riverdance more than you like formal ballet, or you may prefer weird
little live theater off-off-Broadway types of productions. You may like
concerts with big famous bands or symphony orchestras or opera. Yes,
this includes live theatre as mentioned above or any type of performance
art you enjoy.
- Pay full price tickets to magicians and musicians.
- When you pass a street performer, put some money into the performer's hat or tips box.
- Buy CDs of independent musicians who self produce them, you may be
launching a someday-famous band and have a collectible - or just have a
beloved CD of famous music. And if you download their music, pay for
it––don't be a freeloader as the "free music" attitude has ruined the
livelihood of many a struggling yet very talented musician.
- Be polite and quiet during live performances. This is especially
important in pubs that have Celtic music, as the Celtic tradition is
very keen on respect for bards. Don't talk during live performances.
You're not only distracting the audience who'd like to hear the music,
you may be distracting the musicians too and throwing them off their
stride.
6
Hire live local
musicians for your personal events - weddings, graduation party, child's
bar or bat mitzvah, Sweet Sixteen, family reunions, friends who used to
hang out in high school get together. Why not celebrate your
anniversary by hiring a live musician to serenade your spouse at a
romantic dinner - or have the romantic dinner at home with a musician
both of you love performing? Any kind of holiday or personal event can
become lavish if you have live music. Book them well in advance, talk to
them in person after a concert and find out their rates.
- Find out when the band's off season is and what causes it. You may
wind up getting a bargain or a shorter wait time if you book them during
a time of year they don't get many gigs. The opposite of tourist season
is often good.
- For the holidays, try to book the band early, so you're the one that gets them for your holiday party.
- If you like variety, turn your annual music party into an "guess what the band is" event.
7
If you need to buy new
clothes, especially for evening or party wear, consider finding a
textile artist, tailor, seamstress or other artisan. Instead of
going to an upscale shop where you'll pay a high price for fancy
clothing, go to an artist who will fit it to your individual body much
better, create it to suit your precise looks, complexion, style and
taste, and support another type of independent artist. You will get more
than your money's worth because a quality handmade original garment
will last longer and if you pay for their best work, wear better than
anything from even an expensive store. You can reduce the size of your
wardrobe while raising its quality.
- Buy handmade boots and shoes from leather crafters and artists.
Again, they will be expensive but they'll fit better, look better and
wear much longer than shoes and boots from stores.
- If you like buying shoes often, find your favorite artisan and have
new ones designed for you periodically for fun. You might start getting a
"regular customer" discount working one on one with the artist instead
of just purchasing something made by mass production to sell to
thousands of others. Remember - your shoes are unique, unlike anyone
else's. If they were made to fit your Christmas dress and you love them,
maybe take them to your clothing designer next year to get a new
Christmas dress inspired by the shoes. Artists sometimes work together
on things like that. The more you know them, the more personal and
unique their works are and the closer they come to your personal tastes.
8
Have jewelry hand crafted for you by artists.
On a low budget, start with small silver and semiprecious stones. Once
you're up in a fine jewelry bracket, you can pay for more elaborate
workmanship and more expensive materials. Especially pay attention to
their original pieces or commission original pieces. Buying the stock
rings and necklaces they have on hand helps the artists to survive, but
when you look at their best work and choose that or commission something
unique that takes the best of their skills, you also feed their souls.
9
Eat out at small chef-owned original restaurants.
Food is an art form, so is ambiance, these one of a kind restaurants
are sometimes a lot higher quality than chain restaurants. Once you find
your favorites, you're likely to get personal attention and extra good
service for a more enjoyable experience.
10
Buy handmade toys, furnishings, furniture and gifts from local artists.
No matter what it is, if a local artist makes it, you are getting
originality and personal attention. Your entire home can become a
collection of treasured, unique, beautiful objects. Many of those things
will be higher quality than manufactured goods.
11
Buy locally grown food from farmers and gardeners.
Hire local landscapers to take care of your yard unless you're a
gardener. Find the ones who are artists, look at their other gardens,
then give them some artistic freedom. Yes, the flowers in your yard and
the landscaping can be an artwork that's an expression of who you are
and what you love.
Asking for a commissioned piece of artwork
1
When
buying art, choose an artist you enjoy (of any kind, performance or
tangible) and then keep your description of your commission simple. Stick to the type of work that's their specialty.
- Don't haggle over changes to it, give them a hard time or get too
controlling. Part of supporting the arts is to encourage the artist to
go on being an artist. You're not buying real arts in order to get the
cheapest bargain or rip off the painter for a masterpiece by paying less
than he did for the materials! If you do that, there's a good chance
the artist will get disgusted, quit and do something else for a living,
which reduces the appreciation of that masterpiece.
Leaving compliments for all to see
1
If
you bought from a writer, an artist, a musician, review the item on
Amazon, Twitter and other places online, especially if you like it.
Negative reviews are a warning not to buy from an unreliable seller. The
arts are far more personal - your taste comes into it. If you made a
mistake and got a book you didn't like, explain what you didn't like in a
way that people who would like it for what it is will find it
enjoyable.
- Try something like "I expected this to be a lovely vampire romance
and it turned out to be a horror novel with a fanged stalker who scared
me to death. Don't buy this book if you want to mush over the vampire.
But if you like a good scare, it might be just your thing." You have not
only supported the writer (or artist or musician etc.) by purchasing
their original work, you've supported them again by word of mouth so
they can sell more, make a living, pay taxes in your town, etc.
Localizing your support for the arts
1
Support the arts in your local area.
Youth theatres, amateur organisations and school productions need your
support! There are hundreds of ways to get involved, whether you're
designing posters, sewing costumes or selling tickets.
- Organize and help set up at festivals and fairs. Just helping a
bunch of artists and crafters get their stuff unpacked and set up, or
helping to organize an event that they can all show up to helps them big
time!
- Help promote local arts events by posting about them online, blogging them, making flyers or stapling them up.
- If your town or city has an arts committee, find out what they need volunteers for. If it doesn't, consider trying to form one.
- Some types of local events you can help organize or prepare for are
concerts, live performances including outdoor ones, art fairs, studio
tours for artists, book signings and poetry readings, any of the arts
can benefit from a public event and its exposure. If the artists have
any recordings or physical things to sell, be sure the event's rules
allow them to sell their works even if the performance or show is free.
2
As you know 'practice makes one perfect', so keep practicing and cultivating regularly. Be sincere.
- Take classes in humanities or art or music or literature
appreciation at your local community college. Some local community
charges have a much lower "Audit" fee if you attend the class but don't
take the tests, get a grade or college credit for it. When you're
attending just to improve your appreciation of the arts, auditing is
just as good as taking the class to get in the right number of
Humanities credits and leaves you more budget to buy real art, pay local
musicians, get tickets etc.
Getting involved in the arts yourself
1
Get involved! The
arts are about creativity and self-expression, so whatever your passion,
get out there and enjoy the art. Arts are broad, including drawing,
painting, performing, street theater, making murals, crafting, engaging
the community in artistic projects and much more, so there are plenty of
things to explore and find your own artistic niche within.
- If you haven't yet discovered the activity that's for you, find
about any free or cheap tester classes you can join. Ask if you can
borrow materials initially, or look online for many cheap options such
as auctions of art materials people no longer need.
2
Do some reading. Go to your local library and find books on photography, art, ballet or even the art of performance.
- Read up on these arts online, whatever your particular interests
are. There are many reviews and articles on all of the arts available
for free. That frees your budget to make knowledgeable purchases from
local artists.
3
Go to a museum or art gallery. Find an art, ballet, photo, or performance museum. If you can't go in person, see online exhibits if they are available.
- When on vacation, visit museums and galleries in your vacation area.
You'll broaden your appreciation of your favorite arts and appreciate
your local artists' works even more by deepening your knowledge. You're
on vacation anyway, so why not see what artists and musicians etc. are
producing in the cool place you visited? If you take holidays in the
same place every year as some people enjoy doing, you can become an
annual regular and support particular artists - the local painter in
your holiday spot, the little pub that always has good Celtic music,
that theatre, the opera house.
- If you like opera, definitely get at least bargain tickets and
experience it live. Opera houses operate on a shoestring despite the
number of millionaires that donate. They need to sell those empty cheap
student seats at the back and it's a wonderful experience. The
productions cost so much and involve so many live people not only
performing but doing all the work of creating the production that
they're always operating at a brutal budget. If you're an opera lover
who lives near an opera house, consider volunteering your time and
effort to help keep the house going.
4
Donate to charities who support the arts or donate to organisations directly. For example, the National Endowment for the Arts, who help art programs throughout America. Donate to art programs You can donate to programs in your school, or your city.
- Organize a monthly art hop. Sign up various art venues in your area
that will open their doors on one evening per month. A map and list
could be offered in advance to help those planning their tours. Finger
foods and beverages could be served at each spot.
- Donate directly to local theatres, performance companies and arts
events. Many of them accept donations. Your local arts council and local
theatre troupe may need the donations more than something as big as the
National Endowment for the Arts.
- Support PBS. Make a steady annual donation or watch when they do
pledge drive auctions and bid on things you want. Volunteer to work the
phones at PBS pledge drives. PBS always needs it, everywhere, and doing
this will also get more of your favorite programming purchased by your
local PBS station. They listen to fan requests.
- Purchase new copies of your favorite books at full price from living
authors and donate them to your local library. The community will be
better for it, those that can't afford it will get to read it sooner,
those that might never have found your favorite author may wind up
buying their own copy when they have to return it. Everyone wins - and
your author is more likely to continue writing instead of taking up
something else because the bills need to be paid.
5
Get out there and experience it!
The only way to boost your appreciation and support of the arts is to
experience as many performances as possible. Be open-minded and you
never know which new genres you will discover.
- To save money, opt for cheaper seats or buy last-minute tickets from discount websites.
- If you can't afford original paintings from your favorite painters,
consider their smaller works, sketches or limited edition prints.
Whether you opt for lower priced works from the newest indie unknowns or
the lower priced works by more successful artists, you will always be
supporting the arts - and that supports the economy both local and
national.
6
Get to know the artists.
All of the arts are about communication. Forming relationships with
artists and artisans, studying art appreciation and encouraging those
that are growing in their arts also improves the quality of your own
life. From furnishings and objects that you enjoy more than mass
produced goods to the social success of becoming more refined and
knowledgeable to the inner spiritual growth that comes from awareness of
beauty, supporting the arts will enrich your life in more ways than you
would expect.
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