Colombian Art Market Survey Reveals Stagnant Sales, Fragmented Income, and Ideological Shift (2019-2025)
From February 2019 to July 2025, esferapública carried out five surveys regarding artistic employment in Colombia using Instagram. The primary art market exhibited little growth: in February 2019, 85% of artists earned between 1-15 million pesos annually, and by May 2024, 62% still fell within that income bracket. Sales avenues remained consistent, with direct commissions at 52% and fairs at 48%. By 2024, 23% reported earnings of 30-60 million pesos from various positions. As of June 2025, 73% lacked artist contracts, and among the 27% who did, 59% were educators. A significant 89% felt they could recover training expenses through side jobs, while by July 2025, 70% believed art job opportunities were nonexistent. Participants consisted of 55% women and 45% men, mainly aged 25-34.
Key facts
- esferapública conducted five surveys on artistic labor economics in Colombia from February 2019 to July 2025 via Instagram.
- In May 2024, 62% of those selling artwork earned 1-15 million Colombian pesos annually, showing stagnation from 85% in February 2019.
- By June 2025, 73% of respondents had never had a work contract as an artist.
- Among those with contracts, 59% were as teachers, 19% as artists, 17% as managers, and 5% as curators.
- In May 2019, 47% reported never being paid fully when selling through a gallery; 43% learned the gallery's commission only after sale.
- Income fragmented into four nearly equal sources: sales plus non-art work (28%), sales and teaching (26%), self-management (25%), curatorial/institutional work (21%).
- In July 2025, 50% said art is made while living from parallel jobs; 70% denied a labor outlet specific to art.
- Artistic exceptionality declined: in May 2024, 40% saw art as 'a job like any other', while time to create (39%) and economic stability (38%) were top values.
Entities
Artists
- William Contreras-Alfonso
Institutions
- esferapública
Locations
- Colombia