NURAIN BINTE TAHA U091225X Art Patronage is Not All About Age Have you sometimes ever wondered

why your parents and your taste in music? Most teenagers I believe would just claim it as an effect of generation gap. I have to agree with that. Even then, there are times when I find myself liking the songs that my parents used to listen to when I was young. I might not understand the lyric then, but the songs are stuck in my head and I like them. So, where do we place this generation gap that supposedly differentiate the kind of art that my parents and I patronize be it in music, theatre or paintings? I think the factor that really affects the art that each different age group patronizes is: exposure. When someone is exposed, they have the potential to be influenced by what they hear or see. Each individual will respond differently to various art forms; but what matters is the possibility of them liking it. Exposure also ensures that the kind of art patronized is constantly changing as one have faces different experiences in life. Different kinds of factors affect exposure: financial, time, education and social circle. Patrons are restricted within these factors and with the coming of age; each factor affects their patronage differently. Age of Finance Money makes the world goes round, we need money to get what we want which includes our consumption of the kind of art that we would like to listen to or watch. Almost everything comes with a price now, including art. The kind of art we consume are affected by how much we are willing to spend or can spend. Naturally, those with bigger income have bigger spending ability. They are the ones who can afford to spend tickets on concerts at Esplanade or at theatres. Based on the National Arts Councils (NAC) statistics in the year 2005, the percentage of population who had attended at least one art event in the past 1 year is higher among the middle range to upper range monthly household income ($2000 $8000).1 Working adults have the spending ability that teenagers or children do not have. For students, they are still dependent on their parents to provide for them. Hence, their ability to patronize certain art forms, especially the ones that we would consider high art is dependent on the pocket money that their parents give to them. However, it was also noted in the statistics that one of the barriers for the poor attendance in art events were not about them being too expensive. What affects the poor attendance then? The lack of time is often the reason given when one is unable to attend art events. However, I think that this factor is more applicable to the working adults. More often than not, working hours stretched over despite the 5 working days week. Due to a variety of reasons, people place more emphasis on work than on attending art events which some consider as novelties. Hence, even if they are able to afford it, they will not patronize these art forms, as they do not see the importance in making time to attend them.

National Arts Council, Arts and Cultural Attendance and Participation, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, 2008, http://www.nac.gov.sg/static/doc/sta/_a__arts_and_cultural_scene.pdf (accessed April 1, 2011).
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Education Exposes At a young age, some children might already be seen as patronizing the art. The kind of art that they patronize is dependent on their parents. Some parents believe in exposing their children to art performances since they are young. This might be due to the parents own interests in those art forms or merely out of the wanting to educate their children through visual art forms. Hence, we do find parents at times bringing their children to concerts, open theatres and cultural performances. Education in music also starts at a young age for some children. Some parents have their children take music lessons (whether on Thai or Western instruments) as an attempt to make those children more sophisticated and refined. This decision to go with Thai or Western music indicates different attitudes linking sophistication and refinement either with modernity or with traditional Thai culture. 2 Some parents believe that playing classical musical instruments does upgrade ones social status; hence their children are sent for music lessons training in piano, violin or the flute. This factor affects the childrens art patronage as they might become involved in patronizing classical music due to this exposure. All the above situations, however, depends on the financial capabilities of the parents themselves. As tertiary students and undergraduates, I feel that we become more aware of the art scene, especially the local and our cultural ones through our education. Once again, it is a matter of exposure. Education allows for the exposure to different forms of art that we never knew or used to be less concern of. Development and concern over art patronage to me becomes more critical at university level. The campus itself becomes one of the biggest platforms that encourage this patronage for undergraduates. Our education provides the basis for this art appreciation and patronage. In university, our course exposes us to a variety of art forms. In universities, artists are being tenured, and greater number of students are interested in making and performing art as well as studying the histories of the arts. 3 As a Southeast Asian major, I have developed greater interest in Southeast Asian art forms. With my professors themselves actively engaged in art forms like the Balinese Topeng Keras Dance and Wayang Kulit, it is hard not to get sucked into it. On the surface level, people are more aware of various art forms and patronize them with this newfound realization of their identity and appreciation for them. I think it is at this age where individuals try to trace back their cultural roots. By engaging ourselves in these art forms or just patronizing them, there is a sense of pride of our own identity derived from it and at the same time, it feels like we, as the privileged university students are doing our part to preserve our own culture. What the Teens Like When it concerns the teenagers however, art events like classical music at Esplanade or theatre shows might be less appealing. With what little amount of money that they can get from their parents are spent on a different kind of art that is more inclined to
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Deborah Wong, Sounding the center: history and aesthetics in Thai Buddhist performance (Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2001), 293 3 Marjorie Garber, Patronizing the Arts (Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2008), 179 2

popular culture popular music, concerts and movies. These are the kind of art that creates the buzz in the teenage world. Motivated by advertisements in popular magazines like Seventeen, Teenage etc. teenagers are able to find out more about their favourite bands, artists and movies. New albums released are also published in these magazines that further instill this obsession for the popular culture art forms. Media plays a huge role in this, as they become the platform for the dissemination of art forms that are packaged attractively to appeal not only visually, but also aesthetically to the teenagers. Fashion promoted by singers and celebrities in movies or dramas becomes a trend to be followed that also visually attracts the teenagers to patronize them. In the teenage world I believe, it is about being cool, fun, glam and unique. It is not surprising considering they are at the adolescent age of searching for their selfidentity. Popular music genres available in the market like Reggae & Blues, Pop, Rock, Rap and Punk Rock are more appealing to these teenagers as they provide a template of identity that the teenagers can choose from. Furthermore, this music is something that the teenagers can relate to in their everyday life experiences based on the lyrics for example. It is about love, friendships, teenage angst and heartbreaks. These do not only appeal to the teenagers but are also more familiar to them. The People Around Us The Social Circle I have to say that while all of the above factors are important factors that shows us how different age groups patronizes different forms of art, people are most influenced by their social circle. Also known as reference groups, they have a strong influence on the involvement and attendance patterns of individuals. Reference groups can refer to direct family members or close acquaintances. People "are influenced by groups to which they do not belong to.4 This is due to the need to cultivate a sense of acceptance. Working adults, especially those elite socialites tend to patronize high culture art forms like classical music and ballet for example. Their patronage becomes a social status symbol that helps them to blend with those around them. More often than not, their background forms the basis of this patronage. These people have also been exposed to such art forms from a young age. A study of Clevelands cultural patrons in 1985 shows that instruction or education in the arts during childhood is a powerful factor in shaping future attendance patterns as those who received such instruction are much more likely to patronize those art forms as adults.5 It might have been the influence of their parents whom themselves are art patrons or owners of art foundations. Such family background nurtures and prepares these young adults for their place in the society. Teens including undergraduates are also not free form the clutches of the social circle. Often, we find ourselves going to an art event because our friends are going. Popular music becomes a meeting point to find a collective identity. It is hard to deny that even the craze over Korean pop culture is influenced not only by the buzz created by the media, but also by word of mouth and encouragement from friends.

Philip Kotler, Standing room only : strategies for marketing the performing arts (Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business School Press , c1997), 72 5 Ibid. 73
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Conclusion However, there is a need to realize that all the above factors are interlinked to one another. Our financial status determines the kind of art that we can patronize. At the same time, this financial status also influences the education that the younger generation can receive with regard to art forms that influences their patronage. What they have been exposed to from young may or may not change. But for those from affluent families, they have the ability to pursue high culture art forms that might later influence their patronage in the future. In contrast, those from middle-income families patronize art forms that are within their financial capabilities and the education they receive. Individuals like 23-year-old Sarah Arison, granddaughter of the guest of honor and president of the Arison Arts Foundation in Miami, despite her young age engaged herself in this art patronage because it had been passed down to her. Hers is a classic example of how age also influences the kind of art one patronizes. Initially, she had thought of artists like her mom as slackers. It was only through her experience and trip to France to retrace the steps of van Gogh and the Impressionists with her grandmother, she started appreciating an artists life and so begins her involvement in continuing her grandparents foundation. Arison had the financial capabilities that allow her to patronize this art form although she is young. Her family background and education exposure ensured that she is able to continue on this art patronage. 6 There is no form of consistency that really depicts clearly how each factor determines art patronage amongst various age groups. This is because the factors are intertwined. What I am sure of is that although age does matter in allowing us to understand certain art patronage, it is not a determinant factor. The fluidity in art patronage affected by financial, time, education and social circle factors makes dilutes the age demarcation that indicates a clear association between age and patronage of a particular art form. Bibliography Garber, Marjorie. Patronizing the Arts. Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2008. Kotler, Philip. Standing room only : strategies for marketing the performing arts Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business School Press , c1997. National Arts Council. Arts and Cultural Attendance and Participation, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, 2008, http://www.nac.gov.sg/static/doc/sta/_a__arts_and_cultural_scene.pdf (accessed April 1, 2011). Wong, Deborah. Sounding the center: history and aesthetics in Thai Buddhist performance. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2001.

Kathryn Shattuck, Arts Patrons, the Next Generation, The New York Times, June 29, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/arts/design/29shat.html?_r=1 (accessed April 4, 2011).
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