How To Support Your Artist Friend Without Money

Here’s how you show up for an artist friend or family member if you are broke yourself.

This one is mine. Event Horizon, Digital art.

So you followed my advice and now your kid wants to study art, film, music, or design as a career. You’re excited for them, but you’re also a little nervous, too. Your own company dismantled its design department. Your neighbor’s kid graduated college 15 years ago with a degree in mixed-media and works at a coffee shop. You want to support your kid, but not support your kid. Your retirement account took a hit in 2008 and hasn’t fully recovered. You’re going through a divorce and a bankruptcy. Your elderly mother needs around-the-clock care. What should you do?

Or you have a close friend who was always a creative type. You want to show support but really can’t fund all those Kickstarter projects your friend seems to constantly have. You got your own bills to worry about. Is there something else you can do instead?

Yes, you can do something else.

In this Medium story, I’m going to use friend to represent the artist in your life, such as your spouse, your kid, your parent, your sibling, your roommate, your coworker, etc. I’m also going to use singular they as a gender-neutral term to refer to your friend.