Despite the testing economy everywhere, art patrons in Singapore continued to contribute to the arts, and it has been reported that the sponsorships have come to about $30.5 million which was a little lesser than the $37.4 million which was given the previous year.

The number of patrons has increased this year by about 10 per cent when compared to the number of avid art activists in the previous year. Another significant thing is that interest in art is growing as the number of people who had bought tickets to watch the performances have also increased by about 3 per cent.

Many art patrons were recognized for their sponsorships and awarded on Thursday at National Museum in Singapore. Most of the awardees were seasoned donors while there were about 21 people who were first time recipients of the award for various contributions to arts under many categories.

All people who had contributed more than $50000 were honored and many awards were given depending on the contribution. Among the many famed people and organizations that were recognized were MediaCorp and Jet Airways, who have been long-time contributors to the field even during the troubled times.