Well, it turns out the Studio Display will not arrive tomorrow as originally scheduled.
Why? Because it arrived today at 11:30 am. I have it set up now. I have been able to retire a few peripherals, one being a still very effective 2008 Logitech 2.1 stereo soundbar incorporating a 3-port powered USB 2.0 hub. The other retiree (other than the cheap display) is a 4-port Thunderbolt 4 hub/dock. I had only used one of its ports with Thunderbolt, the other three had various USB-C cables used to connect external drives or my iPad Air5.
The Studio Display has three downstream USB-C ports connected to the Mac Mini via the included Thunderbolt cable. If I were to use the display with the MacBook Air, that Thunderbolt connection would also charge the laptop at up to 96W.