Who are these people? (wink)
Is it possible that they pursued a life path that was no interest in other people lives, so they did not see any reason to provide for these so called artists?

Nature does not provide free meal. So do people.

Ergo: You either do some portraits, concerts, speeches, etc. to fund your experiments in art, or find a wealthy patron that fancies collecting spurs of your "ingenuity".

One cannot expect the community to provide for him, just because he called oneself "an artist".
Otherwise I will make sitting on my arse an art. ;P