Visual Arts and Crafts Professionals

Visual arts and crafts professionals create original artworks or functional objects using a range of traditional and contemporary techniques across media such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, textiles, jewellery, and mixed media. They work in studios, galleries, community spaces, or educational settings, producing works for exhibition, commission, sale, or public engagement. These professionals combine technical mastery of materials and processes with conceptual development and artistic vision.

Develop artistic concepts and design compositions through sketching, digital mockups, or exploratory experiments with materials. Select and source materials appropriate to the intended artwork, such as canvas, clay, metal, textiles, timber, or found objects. Prepare surfaces and grounds using techniques specific to the medium (priming, stretching, wedging, or treating). Execute artworks using specialised techniques such as painting, sculpting, hand-throwing pottery, screen printing, etching, weaving, or metalworking. Apply finishing processes including glazing, varnishing, framing, mounting, or surface treatments to protect or enhance work. Document artworks through professional photography and written descriptions for portfolios, catalogues, or online platforms. Maintain studio equipment and tools such as kilns, printing presses, looms, torches, or hand tools in safe working condition. Manage health and safety compliance in studio practice, including safe use of hazardous materials and proper ventilation.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

Income is extremely unstable and often low. Most artists cobble together money from selling work, teaching part-time, grants, and commissions. You'll likely need another job for years. Studio costs (rent, materials, equipment) are high and come out of your pocket. There's no salary progression. Many never earn enough to live on art alone.

Regional areas have fewer opportunities and smaller markets. Remote work doesn't apply. You need to be near galleries, studios, teaching institutions, and buyers to build a sustainable practice.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 2114, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Continuous Learning and Upskillingcore
• Digital Literacycore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Research and Analysiscore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Time Managementcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Community Development
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
• Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive)
• Invoicing and Billing Administration
• Negotiation
• Process Improvement Identification
• Record Management
• Team Collaboration

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 30 October 2026