BC Business
At 1.1%, B.C. has the highest concentration of artists per capita in Canada
$24,304 Median annual salary for a B.C. painter, sculptor or visual artist in 2016
337 B.C. galleries, studios and cooperatives listed in the Galleries West database
Metro Vancouver/Whistler corridor: 178
Victoria, Island and Sunshine Coast: 89
Interior: 59
North: 11
Share that are public: 65%
400,000 sq. ft. Estimated loss of artist studio space in Vancouver over the past decade due to residential and commercial conversion or redevelopment
$22.80/sq. ft. Median reported annual rent for artist studio space in the City of Vancouver, not including taxes or triple-net lease
$17.65/sq. ft. Average rent for industrial space
US$67.4 billion Value of the global art market in 2018
Leading countries by market share:
U.S.: 44%
U.K.: 21%
China: 19%
In 2019, British Columbians imported $29,328,878 worth of original paintings, drawings and pastels from 47 countries
Exports: $23,663,131
83% of exports by value went to the U.S.
4 Canadians made the 2019 ArtNews Top 200 global art collectors list:
3 work in real estate
1 (Bob Rennie) is from B.C.
The Rennie Collection includes about 2,100 works by 370 artists
Purchase price of the first piece of artwork Bob Rennie bought (a Norman Rockwell print, in 1974): US$375
Purchase price of Untitled (Red, Black, Green) by Kerry James Marshall, which Rennie bought in 2011-12: US$26 million
B.C.’s highest-grossing art auction, which took place in Vancouver in 2007, totalled $23,033,925 in sales
Highest-priced painting by a B.C. artist sold by Vancouver-founded Heffel Fine Art Auction House: The Crazy Stair (The Crooked Staircase) by Emily Carr, selling for $3,393,000 in 2016