This is a topic that can't even begin to be summarized in a HN comment.
In the past, it was far more common to subsidize the training of artisans, or at least ensure they were economically subsistent, because the culture recognized the value of aesthetic beauty toward achieving civilizational goals.
Today, in 2021, this doesn't happen so much. Primarily for two reasons: aesthetic relativism ("Beauty is just an opinion and all opinions are equally valid") and cost ("Why design beautiful buildings when ugly ones are cheaper?") Rather than pay more money to ensure that the market for craftsmen is stable, we'd prefer to save $20 and buy some plastic junk. Ditto for other art forms.
In the past, it was far more common to subsidize the training of artisans, or at least ensure they were economically subsistent, because the culture recognized the value of aesthetic beauty toward achieving civilizational goals.
Today, in 2021, this doesn't happen so much. Primarily for two reasons: aesthetic relativism ("Beauty is just an opinion and all opinions are equally valid") and cost ("Why design beautiful buildings when ugly ones are cheaper?") Rather than pay more money to ensure that the market for craftsmen is stable, we'd prefer to save $20 and buy some plastic junk. Ditto for other art forms.