Crowd-Funded Cathedrals

INTRODUCTION

On December 25, 1956, a woman walked down the stairs of a Manhattan townhouse and watched as her friend’s children began opening presents. She had been working at an airline over the holidays and was unable to go back to Alabama for Christmas, spending it instead at her friends’ house. At least she had gotten work off. To a displaced Southerner, Christmas in New York was a melancholy occasion.

As the presents were distributed, she had to hide her steadily growing disappointment, as it seemed there were no presents for her. But her friends had not forgotten about her: hanging from the tree was an envelope addressed to Miss Harper Lee. She opened it and read: "You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas."

That year, Harper Lee wrote the first draft of what was to become To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most enduring classics of American literature written in the last sixty years.

THE WESTERN TRADITION OF PATRONAGE

The world of art, architecture, and entertainment has reached something of a crisis point in recent times. Postmodernism has run its course and found a void at the end of its ‘rainbow’; the advent of AI has challenged existing paradigms; and social media continues to award trendy and titillating content. It’s easy to be pessimistic about the future of Western culture.

But I am optimistic about what’s going to happen in the next handful of years. In eras of instability, existing hegemonies can be redirected or contested. New players and institutions can begin shaping culture with novel solutions—or, better yet, with tried and true solutions that bear reviving. Art patronage would be an example of the latter. 

Many of Western tradition's most enduring and beautiful cultural artifacts were created through patronage. Notre Dame Cathedral was built (and rebuilt) with the support of various patrons. Pope Julius commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, among many other commissions. Bach and Handel composed music with the assistance of a variety of patrons, as did Mozart a century later. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird with the help of her friends’ generosity. As a system, the patronage model is capable of having significant cultural impact.

PATRONAGE IN THE CURRENT MOMENT

Traditional art patronage still exists in today’s culture, but it has changed significantly since its heyday during and following the Renaissance. For example, Italy at the time of the Renaissance was composed of a powerful and wealthy upper class, a middle class, and a large lower class that composed the majority of the population. The middle class and lower classes were not significant players in the world of patronage, unless they were upwardly mobile and became rich merchants. Today, the wealthy upper class certainly still exists, but we have a powerful and large middle class with access to wealth unprecedented in history—ripe grounds for supporting and patronizing the arts. Additionally, following the Reformation and the fragmentation of the church into different denominations, the church’s influence in the world of patronage has decreased. Finally, government subsidies in the world of art have changed the patronage landscape, as has the advent of corporate patronage.

Patronage exists today in the form of foundations offering grants, individuals commissioning artists, producers and private investors backing films and other projects, the government funding artwork installations and architectural projects, and groups of individuals crowdfunding through platforms like Substack, Patreon, and Kickstarter. Through these and other forms of patronage, we may find that cultural renewal is more than mere wishful thinking; it provides a concrete method for building on and expanding our Western heritage.

STRENGTHS OF THE PATRONAGE MODEL

One of the current weaknesses of the world of art and culture is that creators spend a significant amount of their time performing tasks that are not the techne of their craft itself. That is, an artist who wants to “make it” must divide his attention between practicing his craft and posting on Instagram. To survive, an artist frequently must be not only an artist but also a marketer, editor, videographer, publicist, and social media expert. Often, they must perform all these tasks in addition to a day job to pay the bills. In some circumstances, art patronage could be the answer to this problem.

Consider Harper Lee. While she had written several short stories and shown promise, she had her hands tied making ends meet by working as an airline reservation attendant. Until her friends pooled their money together and gave her the gift of a year’s salary, she did not have the time to hone her craft and write her manuscript. The gift—a form of patronage—enabled her to pursue the craft of writing alone, unhampered by diversions.

Additionally, artists, authors, filmmakers, and other creators are often incentivized to create something that conforms to the culture’s current standards and desires rather than confronting it. If an up-and-coming filmmaker wants to get another gig, he might find that challenging the current cultural zeitgeist in one project closes the door to future projects: a career suicide. Shaping culture often means creating something that is not palatable to the greater population. Unfortunately, we have seen this work all too well in the shifting Overton window of popular entertainment, and it is easy to find things on the typical Netflix show that would have shocked and enraged former generations. Under a model of patronage, an artist finds a form of protection from the currently compromised pop culture industry and is able to push the Overton window in a more suitable direction.

"...with the right patron or patrons and skilled creators, we may find that patronage is a powerful engine for shaping culture and creating something beautiful for not only our current communities, but our children and our children’s children."

THE ROLE OF THE PATRON

Patrons must not be mere passive check-writers, banks from which artists pull a monthly allowance. The traditional patron has a strong vision and is able to not only inspire others to participate in that vision but also execute projects at a large scale and oversee many moving pieces and players. Patrons not only financially back the artist but also provide access to a network of talent, resources, and other support that would not be available to the artist otherwise. This is crucial for the obsessive artist who spends every waking moment on their technical skill. A patron with a strong vision can direct that artist in a way that has a high impact on culture. This gives us the following formula:

Patron(s) with a strong vision + obsessive artist = High cultural impact

This patron exhibits the virtue of “magnificence” described in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. A magnificent man is not only able to give generously on a large scale, but the project, building, or event he funds inspires the broader polis to virtue. A merely generous man who gives at a large scale can create a public library, though it may resemble a shoebox. A magnificent man can build a library and create an architectural jewel that beautifies the town, with oak shelves, knowledgeable staff, and a vast yet curated selection of fine books. The cultural impact of a “magnificent” patron can and should inspire the whole of his community to virtue.

SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLE OF PATRONAGE

Scripture offers examples of patronage models in the creation of Solomon’s temple and the Tabernacle. Let’s examine the elements of the Tabernacle.

Bezalel was filled “with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 31: 3-4), and Oholiab and other skilled workers assisted him. Bezalel is an obsessive artist with great technical skills. The Lord instructs Moses on what the tabernacle must contain, and it is beautiful, rich, and fitting—this is the strong vision of what the end result will look like. The Israelites funded the building of the tabernacle so zealously that they were “restrained” from giving more offerings to the project (Exodus 36), perfectly illustrating a zealous group “crowdfunding” this project.

A POWERFUL ENGINE

I am not saying the patronage system is flawless. For example, an artist may shirk their duties once they get a grant or steady pay with less scrutiny on their output. Perhaps a patron’s vision is damaging to culture, and the artist is tempted to participate in that damage. These and other issues will surely arise—examples of both already exist. 

But all told, with the right patron or patrons and skilled creators, we may find that patronage is a powerful engine for shaping culture and creating something beautiful for not only our current communities, but our children and our children’s children. With a patronage model, our culture can redeem movies, enable writers to craft literary masterpieces, build art galleries, commission paintings, fund composers, raise statues, and, yes, build cathedrals.