Plenty of instances are using Patreon for this. Seems to be working well for them, though the huge explosion in users over the past few weeks might change that.

Here's the Mastodon.art one for example (they have two other crowdfunding services as well, linked on their about page): https://www.patreon.com/mastodonart

I think it's going to be OK. People who migrate to Mastodon are the kind of people who understand why it's good to contribute to your instance if you can afford to do so.

I've seen a few Mastodon instances using https://opencollective.com/ which seems like a pretty reasonable way to cover ongoing costs and the like. Here's an example: https://opencollective.com/libreops

I'm curious why don't join another instance and simply follow people on mastodon.art - Is the local timeline that important for users? I'm genuinely asking since I'm on my own single user instance but follow plenty of people to give me enough content to consume.

TBH, i don't know entirely, it just "feels" like i want the instance i'm most interested in. Yes, local timeline is neat and a feature i'd like to be able to use, but the Social aspect of Mastodon (vs email) means i tend to view the domain as indicating primary interest. It feels like a badge of community/interest.

Not sure if it makes sense, just trying to explain what's going on in my head. As i have debated that exact question myself, internally.

Discovery: You'll tend to discover what other local users have already found or subscribed to. (Local timeline, hashtag search.)

Culture and rules: In this case this means how nudity is handled, whether anyone will care if you post spiders or gore without warning, some specific rules about AI-generated art, etc.

I can confirm that mastodon.art feels cozy and well-moderated, been there for years, also a financial supporter. Another sign that they care is that they've closed registrations, instead of trying to instantly moderate 3x the users. They've recently silenced mastodon.social, which again is mostly about calming down the local discovery features (you can still follow/be followed). They are blocking instances that encourage copyright violations, etc.

If you want an .art account, IMO right now you should start on one of the other instances they recommend, and move your account later. You can browse the local .art timeline and their view of hashtags without an account.

I think that the local timeline is the only decent way to have native discovery in Mastodon (especially if you're in a topic-specific instance). I know some people specifically don't want things like algorithmic recommendations, which is fine, but for others this means expanding your following is relatively hard.

Say you’re into several disparate topics. e.g. always into a tech area, a sports team, a type of music, a local city. Then you may have time based interests that come and go yearly. It doesn’t seem to make sense to me that you have to choose one as the primary discovery zone, even if one interest was dominant.

Presumably the artists are smart folks and can switch instances if they feel the rules are too limiting [1]. mastodon.art's policies are too restrictive for my tastes, and so...I don't use them, and wouldn't encourage others to use them, either, unless they really liked them.

But, I don't see why we have to assume this is the instance admins having an "agenda" and trying to "pressure other instances to limit users' freedom". Maybe they just want to run their instance their way -- the ultimate freedom!

[1]: I think I may have stumbled across the mastodon instance that you use. I can see why you might feel strongly about mastodon.art's policies.

You're a right I had to be more precise about my arguments, I found the post describing why they have silenced .social/.online https://www.patreon.com/posts/silencing-social-74474015, .social/.online can federate with mstdn.io, an instance banned on mastodon.art, silencing .social/.online will not change anything in defending their users but only to pressure these instances and quote: "I am, of course, hoping that maybe by us silencing them, we can initiate some kind of change in the moderation there.". You say: "Maybe they just want to run their instance their way -- the ultimate freedom!" but it is clear that they are trying to moderate the instances of others according to their own vision.

Here is some background about silencing mastodon.social, and what it means: https://www.patreon.com/posts/silencing-social-74474015

I don't think it's about pushing an agenda. Each instance can only set the rules for their own community. Dozens of art-related instances have popped up like mushrooms overnight, so there is a good chance people will find one where they agree with the rules of the house. And it's easy to move to another instance later.

This post confirm that silencing and blocking moderated instances is more about pushing an agenda than protecting their users. They silenced .social/.online because they federate with mstdn.io, an instance banned on mastodon.art, so silencing these instances will make no difference in protecting their users and quote: "I am, of course, hoping that maybe by us silencing them, we can initiate some kind of change in the moderation there.". The pressure against instances with an open federation policy or in general against instances that dare to even federate to instances blocked on .art for political reasons is quite clear. I think people don't like the term "agenda," which is misused many times, but I think it describes the situation in this case quite well.

What other credible art instances are there in your eyes? I'm having trouble finding them, so search terms (or tools?) would be useful as well :)

(I say credible, as in not just a tiny instance with no idea on longevity)

Credible? Most new instances are literally just a few weeks old.

Welcome to the fediverse, where not everyone is on the same big server: There is wandering.shop if you're into writing. If you're into dinosaur paintings, go to sauropods.win. If you like math-art, it's very much on-topic on mathstodon.xyz. Try inkblot.art if you like non-conventional instances. Or genart.social if you like algorithmic art.

Those are just the ones I discovered by accident recently, without trying. Try picking a general instance you trust, and browse an artistic hashtag there. Also, most general instances are okay with art (try the #mastoart hashtag).

(Also the three instances recommended by .art when you try registering there. Probably not for you if you don't like .art.)

Not sure about that, but i'm mostly just interested in the local community.

That said if the cost was a bit lower i was mildly tempted to standup a Blender community. However that seems like a lot of work, in addition to being a bit expensive.