Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to become a patron. It may be more
Speaker 1: affordable than you think to commission art in its various forms,
Speaker 1: or to support an innovator's pursuits. Being a patron can
Speaker 1: be a satisfying and effective way to get more great
Speaker 1: work into the world. So if you studied the Renaissance
Speaker 1: in school, you no doubt learned about the medicis and
Speaker 1: others who had commission masterpieces from famous artists. And while
Speaker 1: it would be really cool to be the guy who
Speaker 1: commissioned Michelangelo, that doesn't sound like it would be within
Speaker 1: the realm of most of our capabilities, and perhaps not
Speaker 1: at that level. But the truth is that commissioning art
Speaker 1: in its various forms might be more affordable than you think.
Speaker 1: I certainly found this when I helped found the competition
Speaker 1: for Young Composers, which has been run by the Young
Speaker 1: New Yorker's Chorus for almost two decades now. We invited
Speaker 1: young composers to send us samples of their work, and
Speaker 1: then we'd choose three finalists and commission works from each
Speaker 1: of them with a guarantee of certain prize amounts for
Speaker 1: those pieces. The dollar amounts were around a thousand dollars
Speaker 1: and we got some pretty fantastic choral works out of that.
Speaker 1: More established composers would be more expensive, for sure, but
Speaker 1: we are talking within the range that a small foundation
Speaker 1: or perhaps even a small choir could conceivably support. I'd
Speaker 1: personally some day like to commission a concert length choral
Speaker 1: work that's either a cappella or written for one instrument.
Speaker 1: Lots of choirs can't afford a whole orchestra, so that
Speaker 1: would broaden the amount of accessible concert repertoire. As for
Speaker 1: visual art, I had purchased a few pieces from a
Speaker 1: particular artist I found exhibiting in the Torpedo Factory in
Speaker 1: Old Town Alexandria several years ago. Then I realized that
Speaker 1: I would like a painting of Texas bluebonnets to give
Speaker 1: to my husband. I reached out and she quoted me
Speaker 1: a very reasonable price for what is an absolutely fantastic
Speaker 1: original piece of art that is now hanging in my house.
Speaker 1: There are lots of creative people in this world. Like
Speaker 1: anyone else, Creative people need to make a living. Thanks
Speaker 1: to the Internet, it is possible to connect with people
Speaker 1: like never before. If you would like a piece of
Speaker 1: art for your home, or a special holiday card, or
Speaker 1: professional calligraphy for a wall hanging, or perhaps even a
Speaker 1: special song for someone's birthday or an anniversary, you just
Speaker 1: might be able to connect with someone. Certainly, you can
Speaker 1: see who is doing good work via Etsy or the
Speaker 1: people you follow on social media see what they might
Speaker 1: be able to do. Then you will have something that
Speaker 1: no one else has, and you will help create more
Speaker 1: cool work in the world. You can do this for
Speaker 1: all sorts of things that are creative. Plenty of creators
Speaker 1: have started Patreon groups or substacks as a way to
Speaker 1: create community while generating support for their work. If you
Speaker 1: like what someone is producing, then by paying a small
Speaker 1: amount of money each month, you can vote for that
Speaker 1: person to keep producing their work. In general, I want
Speaker 1: to live in a world where people are producing more
Speaker 1: cool things, both in terms of art and content. So
Speaker 1: those of us who do enjoy such things can use
Speaker 1: money to make sure that more cool things come to be.
Speaker 1: And the good news is that these days you don't
Speaker 1: have to live in an Italian castle to make it happen.
Speaker 1: Many people can become patrons, even people who've never thought
Speaker 1: of themselves that way. And the more people who do
Speaker 1: start to think of themselves that way, the more rich
Speaker 1: and interesting the world will be. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 1: That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
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