Who do you want to be when you grow up?

Question

Accepted Answer

If your answer involves supporting the arts and crafts community, here’s how you can make a difference at different levels:

Guest
•	Basic: Explore and find items for sale, either online or in person.
•	Better: Connect with the artist or retailer—sign up for their email list, follow them on social media, or engage with their work.
•	Best: Share information about the art, crafts, artists, and retailers with your network to help spread the word.

Customer
•	Basic: Purchase art or crafts directly from the artist or retailer.
•	Better: Buy with the intention of supporting the artist and forming a connection.
•	Best: Purchase, connect, and actively share your experience with others.

Patron
•	Better: Become a repeat customer who not only supports but also shares and promotes the artist’s work.
•	Best: Contribute to the artist’s or business’s growth—either directly or through preferred channels.

Retailer
•	Basic: Sell the artist’s products and maintain a good relationship with them.
• 	Better: Actively support the artist’s mission through your business practices.
•	Best: Help the business reach its goals by creating and nurturing more artists, customers and patrons.

Each artist and retailer may have specific steps or incentives for supporters at different levels. At higher levels of involvement, you may even gain special privileges as a thank you for your support.

When you choose to support a commercial artist or small business at the level that feels right for you, you’re doing something meaningful. By connecting, sharing, and buying arts and crafts as directly as possible, you also help reduce the influence of gatekeepers—those who often take a disproportionate share of resources from artists and small businesses.

The world is full of gatekeepers, from large companies demanding unfair terms to smaller entities with significant fees. By using preferred channels and supporting artists and retailers directly, you ensure your efforts go where they matter most.

In doing so, you may find that you’re not just supporting the arts—you’re becoming the person you’ve always wanted to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who do you want to be when you grow up?