Veteran actors Shin Goo and Park Geun-hyung performed in the play "Waiting for Godot" last May without receiving any appearance fees, donating all proceeds to support junior theater artists.
The Arts Council Korea (ARKO) established the "Art Tree Theater Tomorrow Fund" based on the proceeds from that performance and is now operating the "Theater Tomorrow Project," an on-site retraining program for emerging and young theater artists.
ARKO announced on the 29th that, like this, donations from senior artists for future generations have continued throughout the year. The organization also explained that voluntary participation from fans and citizens who resonated with these efforts has led to the emergence of a new sponsorship culture in the arts and culture sector.
Shin Goo (right), Park Geun-hyung in the play "Waiting for Godot" performance scene [Photo by Park Company]
This sponsorship culture has spread across all areas of the foundational arts. In the field of dance, dancer Choi Hojong, who served as ambassador for the 17th ARKO Performing Arts Creation Center last November, donated the entire prize money from winning the 2025 Young Artist Award-an honor presented by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism-to the "Art Tree Dream Field Funding" initiative, which aims to expand foundational arts experiences for children and adolescents. After winning the Best Dance Award at the 12th Edaily Culture Awards on December 2 with the choreography "What I Saw in the Water" by Kim Bora, the National Contemporary Dance Company also decided to donate the entire prize money to Art Tree. A representative from the National Contemporary Dance Company explained, "We hope this donation will help lay the groundwork for a creative environment that continuously produces outstanding works."
In the field of music, pianists Son Yeol-eum and Sunwoo Ye-kwon donated all their appearance fees from the 2024 and 2025 "ARKO Night of Arts Patrons" events to the "Art Tree K-Arts Fund," expressing their hope that talented junior musicians would gain more performance opportunities and that these opportunities would lead to exchanges on the international stage.
Masters of contemporary Korean art have also joined the "Art Tree K-Arts Fund." Donations from artists Kim Yun-shin, Seo Seung-won, Lee Kun-yong, the Park Seo-bo Foundation, and the late Yun Hyong-keun will be used to help young visual artists immerse themselves in creative work in a stable environment and to strengthen their international capabilities through active overseas exchanges.
The donations made by artists are now spreading to fans and art enthusiasts. There has been a wave of voluntary support from fans of dancer Choi Hojong, and those who empathized with the donations of pianists Son Yeol-eum and Sunwoo Ye-kwon have continued their support by joining the regular sponsorship program "ARKO Arts Society."
ARKO explained that while there have previously been cases of donations to the foundational arts sector from popular artists and their fandoms-such as crossover group Liberante and its member Kim Jihoon, singer Henry, and the fan club of Shotaro from the group RIIZE-this year is notable for the emergence of foundational arts artists and their fandoms as new sponsors.
Jung Byung-guk, Chairman of ARKO, said, "It is meaningful that the main figures in the foundational arts field are stepping up to make donations for the arts community they belong to." He added, "When this cycle of giving leads to participation from fans and enthusiasts, and the accumulated support is used to help the next generation, our arts will become even more sustainable. We will do our best to ensure that a culture of supporting the arts takes deep root throughout society."
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