The State of the Art. Overview and Background in Italy

The survey was based on a questionnaire distributed to all the 7,844 artists that participated in the first two editions of the Terna Prize. The number of questionnaires that were returned was very high: of those returned, 1,998 were considered valid and complete; a percentage much higher than the average in this type of surveys. The elaboration of the responses to the questionnaire allowed clearly focusing on the characteristics of the artist in Italy today. After having surveyed the social and demographic aspects, working methods were analyzed, the types of languages used, relations with the art world and the market, territorial rooting and expectations regarding the future of art. The responses indicate precise trends for each one of these areas: by crossing over the data, we attempted to see how these areas are inter-related among each other in order to grasp if and how the training model conditioned future choices, or if and how the fact of living in small towns or in cities has any bearing on the profession, or if and how the intensity of relations with the territory allows building a significant market, and so on.