We have become fluent in the dialect of capital, but illiterate in the language of meaning. We spend our youth chasing wealth, only to spend our wealth chasing back the years we lost to that pursuit. And when someone dares to opt out, to live slowly, modestly, unbranded, we call them naïve.

And this is where patronage matters. This is where we remember that while money may be tangled in systems of power, it can also be a conduit for possibility. Historically, the greatest works of art, literature, and music were not birthed in a vacuum of self-sufficiency. They were financed, supported, and protected by those with means – Medici... See more