Do Museums Really Pay Artists for Exhibitions? Facts, Numbers & Tips

If you ask a roomful of artists if museums pay for exhibitions, you’ll hear everything from grumbled “barely” to hopeful “sometimes.” While the common image of museum shows is all glamour and prestige, the reality of money — especially for artists — is a tangle of expectation, tradition, and modern demands for fairness. Some artists are shocked to discover that fancy exhibitions don’t always mean a paycheck. In North America, this issue sparks strong debates among everyone from up-and-coming painters to seasoned curators sipping espresso. In 2024, the scandal over the Brooklyn Museum’s lack of artist fees trended for weeks on social media, bringing old wounds back into public view.

How Museums Typically Structure Payments

Museum exhibitions aren’t all created equal, especially when it comes to paying artists. About 40% of North American museums regularly pay artists for solo shows, according to a 2023 Canadian Artists’ Representation (CARFAC) survey. That means more than half of museums still operate with the “exposure as payment” way of thinking — something that artists like myself hear way too often. Even in the 2020s, it’s not rare for an artist to ship a $20,000 sculpture across the country only to be compensated with a small honorarium or, bluntly, nothing.

Why does this happen? Tradition plays a part. Many big museums own historical collections and expect artists to see museum exposure as the “reward.” Smaller, artist-run spaces, by contrast, are often more likely to pay, even with tighter budgets. Payment structures vary. Some museums write contracts (contract? Just a handshake in some places!) spelling out a fee per exhibited work, per project, or as a flat rate for the show. In 2025, CARFAC’s recommended fee just for a solo exhibition sits at $2,500-$4,000 CAD per show — not exactly a windfall if you consider installation, transport, or production costs that sometimes eat up the majority of that fee.

Let’s look at this through the experience of a well-known Vancouver photographer: when she was invited to a major east coast museum, she learned the “fee” was a $300 travel stipend—no payment for three months of her photos on the wall. She accepted for the prestige, but said it took a lot of ramen to get through that spring.

Of course, things are a bit different in places like the UK, where the Exhibition Payment Right (EPR) has made paying artists law since 1979, though the amounts aren’t huge and even there, enforcement can be patchy.

So if you’re an artist hoping for a clear answer… sorry, the landscape is patchy, even within a single city.

Why Some Museums Still Don’t Pay—and Why That’s Changing

The old “prestige equals payment” model is slowly dying, but it needs a funeral. Even as museums boast billion-dollar endowments and million-dollar renovation plans, they’ll sometimes claim “tight budgets” as a reason not to pay. For blockbuster artists with galleries and auction buzz, a non-paying show at the MoMA might make sense as a career move, but for emerging artists, the math isn’t quite as glamorous.

Part of the problem? Museums tend to spend heavily on marketing, infrastructure, or collection acquisitions rather than artist fees. But don’t think artists are powerless—there’s been a fiery push over the past decade. Movements like W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy) in the U.S. are forcing museums to publish fee schedules and even hold them to public account. In Canada, CARFAC fought for nearly 50 years to secure artists' exhibition rights, and artists are getting bolder about saying “no fee, no show.”

Recent headlines show the tide may be turning. The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto committed in early 2025 to a transparent, consistent fee model. In New York, the Queens Museum’s artist contract template is being shared as an example nationwide: they set minimum payments and require a written agreement for every exhibition. Some organizations even structure payments with tiered models — bigger names or more complex installs, higher fees.

• 2024: At least 44% of Canadian museums reported increasing their artist fees compared to the year before.
• 2023: US survey showed only 29% of non-profit museums had a published artist fee schedule.
• Pressure from artists: Nearly 70% of artists surveyed in North America would refuse exhibition without any payment.

And don’t forget, with the explosion of social media, artists who aren’t paid don’t keep quiet. Just ask the institutions called out online with the #PayArtists hashtag: public shaming in the art world can be surprisingly effective at opening wallets.

Still, the fight goes on, so if you’re asked to exhibit, always ask direct questions about compensation. If the answer gets dodgy, beware.

The Different Types of Payment and What They Cover

It’s not just about the headline exhibition fee. Payments from museums can arrive in several shapes and sizes—none of them to be assumed. Here’s a breakdown:

• Exhibition Fee — This is the primary payment for showing your work in the museum, meant to cover time, skill, and selection of artwork.
• Production Fee — Covers specific costs if you need to produce new work for the show (materials, fabrication, studio time).
• Honorarium — A token payment, often for group shows or emerging artists, sometimes as low as $100–$200.
• Travel and Accommodation — Sometimes museums offer to pay, or at least partially reimburse, travel and lodging for opening nights or installation.
• Transport and Insurance — If expensive or fragile artwork is involved, museums may handle or cover transport and insurance, but never assume! Some artists have horror stories about broken installations with no compensation.
• Sales Commission — If museums have a gallery shop, some take a commission from sales of prints or merchandise; these terms can run from fair (25%) to eyebrow-raising (50%).

Artists have to be vigilant—sometimes what sounds like payment is in fact a reimbursement, or the museum expects you to invoice after the exhibition. A national survey out of Ontario in 2022 found that over 60% of artists weren’t clear on what their exhibition fee actually was until after the show… not a recipe for happy returns.

Some institutions let you apply for grants or artist residencies alongside an exhibition, which may boost your total take-home. Expect heavy paperwork and sometimes long waits, but these hustles can be worth it. I know local artists who’ve nearly doubled their fees with a Canada Council grant tied to the exhibition, but you have to stay on top of deadlines and proposal-writing.

Keep in mind: exhibition rights payments are generally taxable income in Canada and the US, and while they can look small, not reporting them can cause headaches come tax season.

How Artists Can Negotiate Fairer Exhibition Fees

Negotiation is tough—especially if you’re hungry for the prestige boost a big museum show can give your career. But there really is room to push, and museums expect questions. Here are realistic tips, tested by artists from Montreal to LA:

1. Get it in Writing: If you’re offered a spot, ask for a contract. Verbal promises are tempting but risky. Insist that every detail—fee, expenses, timeline—is spelled out.
2. Cite Industry Guidelines: Mention CARFAC (Canada), W.A.G.E. (U.S.), and other fee standards when talking numbers. Even smaller museums know these benchmarks.
3. Ask About Ancillary Fees: Transportation, installation, new production, insurance—don’t assume they’re covered. Get clarity to avoid eating costs out of a modest fee.
4. Point Out Precedent: If you know another artist was paid more, reference it. Museums don’t want to be called out on unequal treatment.
5. Bundle Multiple Costs: Propose a single number that gets you a fair rate when everything’s added up, rather than accepting multiple small honorariums or piecemeal reimbursements.

Sometimes you’ll be offered only “exposure.” If you’re early in your career, you might bite once, but don’t let institutions make you feel grateful for the chance to do unpaid work for them. The more artists refuse unpaid or underpaid labor, the more we shift the standard. In 2025, many artists publish their fees or even share their contracts online, making transparency the new normal. Plus, if you’re ever in doubt, reach out to peers or advocacy groups in your network — collective knowledge is a serious resource. If you need precedent, check W.A.G.E. Certified museums, which guarantee minimum artist payments.

Quick tip: Always save receipts and document your exhibition-related costs. If you have a pet like Simba, boarding can count as a travel-related expense when you're out-of-town for installation or opening events (I've done it, and it adds up fast!).

What the Future Holds for Artist Payments and Museum Practices

The last five years have seen more progress than the previous twenty, at least in public conversation if not in cash. Social expectations are shifting. As of summer 2025, several Canadian and European museums have announced pilot programs for flexible artist contracts, including percentage-based models that give artists a bigger stake depending on attendance or merchandise sales. Love or hate NFTs, digital art has pushed museums to rethink what “rights” and “payment” really mean when showing work outside traditional white-cube walls.

Major museum unions in New York and Toronto are now pushing for “artist payment floors” — guaranteed minimums regardless of budget. Tech is also helping. Artists and curators are building payment calculators, so both can estimate fair fees before negotiations even start. Quebec’s Artistes en Milieu Musée launched a payment transparency dashboard in January 2025, showing live reporting of fees for public view.

Yet, there’s also resistance. Whenever funding is cut (which happens a lot, especially to the arts), exhibition fees are among the first to shrink. Some museums grumble privately about “fee inflation” and complain that artist activism is making programming unaffordable. But the idea that museums can show artists’ work and pay nothing? That’s looking as old-fashioned as dial-up internet. Audiences, too, are starting to ask how their ticket fees and donations are shared. Some museums now post breakdowns at entrances showing percentages going directly to living artists.

Advice for artists? Stay vocal, join advocacy groups, and share information openly. Don’t be shy about pushing for your piece of the museum pie. Prestigious walls or not, the work is yours — and even in the fanciest galleries, “thank you” won’t always pay the rent.