Young arts patrons

(Moris Moreno for The New York Times)

Lin Arison, the Miami arts patron, with her granddaughter Sarah Arison, president of the Arison Arts Foundation.

Interesting piece in the New York Times about young people becoming arts patrons by taking over their family foundations that are dedicated to the arts. What I got from this article: running a foundation is far from glamorous and requires a great dedication to supporting the arts, but what you get in return is the opportunity to "witness creation." This kind of private support for the arts is critical to the survival of the arts and in turn the survival of humanity. I don't have gobs of family money, but I want to be a witness to creation so I seek out creative ways to become a patron of the arts. Anyone can do it.

While a previous generation of women turned to philanthropy because their career options were often limited, today’s young women (and men) have far wider horizons. Writing checks and attending benefits are a pretty easy sell for those who can afford it, but beyond that, full-time arts patronage means life in the nonprofit trenches. It is not necessarily something everyone wants to do.

“Real funding is not about parties,” said Patsy Tarr, a tireless dance advocate through 2wice Arts Foundation, which supports art, film, dance and performance through grants and charitable gifts, and publishes a magazine by the same name. “Real funding is about attendance, about sitting in the back of the theater during rehearsals and performances, about witnessing creation.”

Mrs. Tarr’s daughter, Jennie Tarr Coyne, knows her way around benefits; most recently she served as a co-chairwoman of the Dance With the Dancers gala at New York City Ballet (her first time at the helm). But she is also learning, as she puts it, that in order to be a true patron, “You have to be the real deal.”

This means drudge work like paying bills, fielding phone calls, answering mail and going to rehearsals to become more fully informed about an artist or choreographer. “I believe passionately that philanthropists are handmaidens to the art they support,” said Mrs. Tarr. “We do not see ourselves in the world of philanthropy at all. We see ourselves in dance and museum education.”