Weapon giving artist support (6)
I believe the answer is:
rapier
'weapon' is the definition.
(rapier is a kind of weapon)
'giving artist support' is the wordplay.
'giving' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'artist' becomes 'ra' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'support' becomes 'pier' (pier is a kind of support**).
'ra' put next to 'pier' is 'RAPIER'.
(Other definitions for rapier that I've seen before include "A thin double-edged sword" , "Narrow sword with two-edged blade" , "Long slender sword" , "Thin sharp sword" , "A small spring flower" .)