Project Gifts
Some Looking for Arete gifts are private, while others are public. Regardless, a Looking for Arete artwork is deeply personal for me to make and give. Hopefully, it is just as meaningful to receive.
Private Looking for Arete gifts are mainly for participants who choose to remain anonymous. When posted online, the artwork gift is only identified as a Private Arete Gift from E. In some cases, the artwork is not shown online at all. Patronage supports my capacity to give private gifts.
Public Looking for Arete gifts are not anonymous; the recipient is identified when I post the artwork online. I also collaborate with the gift recipient on a crowd-gifting campaign, which transforms the artwork into a group gift. Raised funds are shared between the artwork recipient and myself, and are used to support our arete. Crowd-gifting supports my capacity to give public gifts.
Collaborative Looking for Arete gifts involve some aspect of collaboration, and the collaboration process itself is the gift. Collaborative work is funded by patronage and crowdgifting, grants and partnerships, and direct sales.
Looking for Arete also entails giving my time and artistic expertise to specific causes and non-profit organizations.
Patronage
There is a long history of wealthy benefactors offering financial support and influence to artists. This still holds true, but thanks to social media and online platforms, arts patronage is no longer just limited to the wealthy. Look at The Project on Patreon section for more information about patronage.
Crowd-gifting
In crowd-gifting, money given by a group of individuals is pooled together to give a collective gift to someone. This gift can be in the form of a physical and/or monetary present. Look at The Project on Patreon section for more information about crowdgifting.