A Solution for Starving Artists

Artists aren't well known for their overwhelming monetary success. Rather, they're more notorious for being impecunious (I'm studying for the GRE- that's one of the words I've learned). Today's general method of dealing with starving artists is somewhere between overall disregard and parental assistance (or artist communes). Like the last post, I dug up a cultural gem while researching (JSTOR fun time) recently. Some social welfare geniuses in France circa 1849 came up with the idea of starting a lottery for their benefit:

Bulletin of the American Art-Union, Gleanings from Foreign Journals (1849):

Lottery in aid of poor artists in France

A lottery has been established to aid the suffering circumstances of the numerous body of young and less talented artists, who have been plunged into adversity by the unsettled state of the country during the past year. It consists of 100,000 tickets, at two francs fifty centimes each, making a capital of 250,000 francs, to be expended in pictures, drawings, &c. There will be 3,000 prizes, varying in value from 5,000 francs to 10 francs each. Every prize-holder above the sum of 100 will receive with his picture the receipt of the artist for the same. The choice of works is made by a committee, as they will be better able to appreciate the necessities and ability of the candidates who desire to avail themselves of these means to sell their works.

I really like this idea. The artists are working, producing art, and the lottery helps connect them with potential patron. Plus, the tickets are only two and a half francs. (I'm really not sure how much that is, since I've never seen or used a franc...still two and a half of them can't be that much right?) Are there things around like this now? I would way rather enter in an art lottery than the lottery-lottery. No one wins the real lottery. Especially not me or other people I've ever met. But if there's only 100,000 tickets, there's a legitimate probability that I could win one of the 3,000 prizes (I would know, since I've been studying probability and other math I haven't done in years, for the sake of the GRE).