17 September 2025

Exhibition Payment Guide

In this guide

Introduction

What is Exhibition Payment? 

Who is it for? 

Advice for artists

Advice for organisations

Exhibition Payment Framework – how to work out fees

 

Introduction

This guidance is to help you find information, ask questions and work out fair payment for exhibiting artwork. We talked to artists, commissioners, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and Arts Council of Wales to develop this guidance. While we can't cover all circumstances, the guide will help with a wide range of exhibiting situations. For specific guidance on fair exhibition payment in Northern Ireland, endorsed by Arts Council of Northern Ireland, please visit Visual Artists Ireland’s Payment Guidelines for Professional Visual Artists.

What is Exhibition Payment? 

Exhibition Payment is money paid to artists to recognise their creative input and professional role in making exhibitions a success. It:

  • is a fair and flexible way of supporting artists and promoting equality and diversity in the arts.
  • helps arts organisations treat artists well and supports artists’ careers.
  • ensures that the public gets to see a wide range of art, made by artists from a wide range of backgrounds.

What it isn't

Exhibition Payment is not about paying artists for tasks that should be paid separately, like commissions, talks, residencies, workshops or community projects.

It’s not meant to cover general running costs for organisations or to buy artworks or copyrights.

Who is it for? 

This guidance is for artists and organisations that receive public funding to exhibit visual art. This includes galleries, museums, art centres, studios, artist-run spaces and festivals.

Advice for artists 

Transparency

  • Make sure the organisation can see your professional experience – show them your CV, website or portfolio.
  • Ask them about their exhibition plans and whether they have a policy for paying artists. This helps you understand their size, scope and ability to pay fairly.
  • Simply ask “What’s your Exhibition Payment policy?”

Budgeting

  • Calculate your income needs before preparing budgets and proposals, or negotiating Exhibition Payment.
  • If you are asked to provide a budget as part of a proposal, use the Exhibition Payment Framework to decide what payment feels fair based on your experience, the type of exhibition and the organiser’s category.
  • When sending a proposal, include a clear budget. Make sure you list the Exhibition Payment separately from production or day rate fees like installation.
  • Best practice should mean an Exhibition Payment has been budgeted for by the organiser, and is paid to you. If you’re offered non-cash benefits, these should be clearly recorded in the budget
  • If you're also being commissioned to make new work, you should still receive an Exhibition Payment, so check what’s covered by the commission fee.

Negotiating

  • Discuss the Exhibition Payment first. Don’t agree on everything else and leave payment until last or you might end up wasting your time.
  • You can negotiate the fee up or down, depending on your budget, experience and the type of exhibition.
  • If the offer feels unfair, talk to the organiser. Can they increase the fee or change the exhibition scope to match the budget?
  • If you're being offered non-cash benefits (like accommodation or promotion), check what they're worth and decide if that's acceptable.
  • Understand that some organisations have restricted funding, so open negotiation helps make the best of the situation.
  • Don’t be afraid to say no if there's no payment, if the offer doesn’t cover your costs, or if you’re being asked to financially support the exhibition.

Written confirmation

  • Once you've agreed on terms, confirm them in writing. This could be a formal contract or a simple letter of agreement. Download an Easy Read Artist Contract template.
  • The agreement should include:
    • What you’re doing and when (timeline and responsibilities)
    • How much you’re being paid and when
    • Any non-cash benefits and what they’re worth
  • If the organisation doesn’t send written confirmation, you can write up what was agreed and share it with them.

This whole process is designed to help avoid misunderstandings and ensure a respectful, professional relationship. If a problem comes up, raise it with the organiser. If a problem becomes impossible to resolve, you may want to speak to their board or advisory group.

Advice for organisations

Transparency

  • Be open about how you work with artists and what you pay them. Publish your Exhibition Payment policy on your website or have it ready to share with artists, funders and stakeholders. Read Modern Art Oxford’s Artist Fees policy.
  • You can include your Exhibition Payment information in other documents like your fair pay or diversity policies. Read LUX Scotland’s Fair Work policy.
  • Transparency also means sharing information such as:
    • How many exhibitions you do each year and what kind
    • The types of artists you work with and why
    • How your exhibitions are usually funded. Read Artsadmin’s Ethical Fundraising Policy.
    • Your annual exhibition budget and how much you pay artists.
  • Which category your organisation fits into (see our Exhibition Payment Categories).
  • If you only pay fixed fees, say so – make sure artists know the amount from the beginning.
  • When approaching an artist, explain the scope of the exhibition, how it’s funded and how much funding is confirmed or still pending.
  • Ask artists to send you a proposal with a budget that includes their Exhibition Payment.
  • Show you’re following best practice by including Exhibition Payments in reports to your board, funders and stakeholders.

Budgeting

  • Use the Exhibition Payment Framework to decide on a fair payment based on your exhibition budget, the type of show and the artist’s experience.
  • Every exhibition should include a budgeted Exhibition Payment.
  • If an artist chooses to waive or reduce the payment, record it in your budget as their financial contribution.
  • Keep Exhibition Payments in a separate budget line from production costs like materials, transport, installation, tech support or other activities like workshops or print edition sales.
  • Provide a separate budget for access needs, and consider staggering Exhibition Payments if this is useful for an artist’s cash flow or in relation to disability benefits, Access to Work payments, etc.
  • Non-cash benefits (like free accommodation or promotion) should be clearly recorded in the budget and be genuinely useful to the artist.
  • If you’re commissioning new work, you may still need to pay an Exhibition Payment – it depends on your policy. Confirm with the artist what the commission fee includes.

Negotiating

  • When you meet with an artist, agree on the Exhibition Payment before discussing production costs. That way, the artist’s fee is clearly set aside from the start.
  • If you don’t offer a fixed fee, be ready to negotiate, especially if the artist has significant experience or your budget allows flexibility.
  • If the artist thinks the fee is fair, there’s no need to negotiate. If not, review what’s possible given your budget and the kind of exhibition you want to produce.
  • Every artist’s situation is different. Be open to having an honest conversation about their financial needs and how the exhibition can work for both of you.

Written confirmation

  • Once you've agreed on terms, confirm them in writing. This could be a formal contract or a simple letter of agreement.
  • The agreement should include:
    • What the artist will do and by when (timeline and responsibilities)
    • How much you’ll pay the artist and when
    • Any non-cash benefits and what they’re worth

Exhibition Payment Framework – how to work out fees

How it works 

The Exhibition Payment Framework divides organisations into four broad categories, based on their size and funding. Each category has a short description to help artists and organisations work out where they fit. For each category there are two suggested types of payment:

  • For new work: artwork that’s recently made by the artist and being shown for the first time (but not commissioned by the organisation).
  • For existing work: artwork that the artist made earlier, may have shown before, and was not created especially for the exhibition.

The payment amounts in the Framework are starting points for negotiation, not fixed rates. Artists and organisations can adjust them depending on factors like the artist’s experience, the budget and the scale of the exhibition.

All payment figures shown exclude VAT (if relevant).

Who it applies to 

This Framework is for any organisation that receives public funding to present visual art and runs on a budget of over £50,000 a year, including:

  • Galleries
  • Museums
  • Arts centres
  • Artist-run spaces
  • Studios
  • Art festivals

It covers both long-term (permanent) and short-term (temporary or project-based) organisations in England, Scotland and Wales.

Exhibition Payment Categories

 

These suggested fees are based on: 

  • Feedback from artist consultations.
  • Data from 166 publicly funded exhibition organisations.
  • A formula that factors in typical exhibition costs, organisation income and artist expectations (including career stage and practice costs).
  • The initial figures were based on research carried out 2016. They were updated in line with inflation in 2025.

Artist-led and project-funded

Organisations that run on small budgets (under £50,000 a year) and are artist-led or reliant on short-term project grants may not fit neatly into the payment categories above.

We recognise that artist-led and project-funded activities are different from the work of organisations with regular public funding, and that artist-led projects often demonstrate best practice when working with artists. The general points made in this guide should be applied where and when possible.

Use this guide alongside:

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