I see little value in demeaning direct connections by hiding these indirect ones amid free-market jargon. Government's role in the arts stays conservative, too, however. It does not matter that the NEA, contrary to myth, rarely endorses art. It funds local groups to promote teaching, audiences, and art yet unmade. Still, every elite knows what it wants, and the arts can pander to it, just as to the masses.
Money stands for power.
Private purchases or government grants, each permits freedom and yet each carries weight. Of course that weight can bury people. All support for the arts carries weight, and each weight tugs in its own way. Contrast not two distinct realms, but many connections. This summer's exhibitions show all too well the ambivalent connections between private and public support for art.