Throughout the ages cultural activities of all sorts have been largely made possible by patrons of one sort or another - the church, the nobility, the wealthy, and more recently the local and national state.

It's an imperfect way, and it has shaped (and at times distorted) what has been produced and handed on to us - but without that patronage we'd wouldn't have all kinds of wonderful creations.

And that has been true of "folk arts" as well as "high arts".