Costa Rican Contemporary Art | What we can Expect in 2026 as Tourism and Institutional Attention Converge

As major US museums mount ambitious Latin America Art surveys and Costa Rica's tourism market stabilises toward growth, 2026 presents an opportunity for the country's contemporary artists to continue building towards international recognition.

The institutional art world is paying attention to Latin America Art in 2026. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opens "Frida: The Making of an Icon" this January featuring five generations of Latin American artists. The Museu de Arte de São Paulo continues its "Historiás" series dedicated to excavating the region's artistic narratives. The LA Art Show debuts its first-ever Latin American Pavilion, curated by Marisa Caichiolo, who was simultaneously selected to co-curate Chile's Venice Biennale pavilion. Major exhibitions from Tate Modern to New York University spotlight the region throughout 2026.

For Costa Rica—whose contemporary art scene has operated quietly compared to better-known Latin America art capitals—this surge of institutional attention creates critical context. When museums and curators look south, Costa Rican artists deserve to be part of that conversation. And for the first time in recent memory, the conditions to make that happen are aligning.

Tourism Momentum Creates Collector Base

Costa Rica's tourism sector weathered volatility in 2025 after welcoming a record 2.66 million international air arrivals in 2024. Early 2025 saw softness, but recent data signals recovery: November 2025 arrivals jumped 12% over November 2024, and the country ended 2025 with over 3 million total visitors. More significantly, industry forecasts project continued growth as Costa Rica ranks among the cheapest international destinations from the US, with average fares of $239.

The tourism market is forecast to grow 7.49% annually through 2030, while the BBC named Costa Rica one of 20 best places to travel in 2026. These visitor statistics represent potential collectors discovering Costa Rica through biodiversity and beaches, then encountering a contemporary art scene they didn't expect.

Simultaneously, Costa Rica approved 12,799 new housing units in early 2025—a 12.6% increase—with luxury projects dominating Guanacaste's Papagayo Peninsula. High-profile visitors like Jimmy Fallon have brought international visibility to the region, sharing their Costa Rica experiences with millions. When that cultural attention intersects with expanding residential development and stabilising upscale tourism, art sales opportunities multiply.

Market Conditions Favour Costa Rica's Strengths

These local opportunities align with global market shifts. The Art Newspaper reports 2026 will see the art world "prioritise sustainability over extravagant growth," with Venice Biennale's theme "In Minor Keys" emphasising craft and authenticity over spectacle. Flashy stunts (such as Maurizio Cattelan's banana!) will disappear while domestic imagery proliferates. Artsy notes "the table, and the food on it, is now a place for self-expression, mirroring the contemporary appetite for comfort, nostalgia and meaningful connection in real life."

Costa Rican artists are deeply attuned to exactly this: meaningful connections to place, whether through landscape-informed abstraction, the daily rhythms of domestic life or materials sourced from their surrounding environments. Their practices embody sustainability as inherent approach—working with what surrounds them, responding to immediate environment and grounding creative work in lived experience rather than conceptual posturing.

Market analysts note collectors gravitating toward "work that is unmistakably made—marked by intuition, risk and the imperfections that signal authorship." Where high-end auctions remain volatile, mid-tier works show stability, and collectors "are taking their time" with "more attention to artists with a clear, long-lasting language."

Critically, galleries worldwide are adapting to changing collector behaviour through digital strategies. Recent surveys show that 43% of galleries plan to strengthen their online sales presence, with Artsy research confirming that 59% of collectors purchased art online in 2024. The message is clear: successful galleries in 2026 operate digitally and physically, expanding reach beyond geographic constraints.

Building the Scene Collectively

At MÍRAME Fine Art, we've spent 2025 adapting our strategy to these realities. We've focused on relationship-driven sales, commissioned work for private residences, and partnerships with interior designers and architects. Our recurring Andaz Art Week pop-up exhibitions at Andaz Peninsula Papagayo—benefiting local children's charity Creciendo Juntos—have shown us the appetite amongst international hotel guests and local homeowners for Costa Rican contemporary art. The conversations we have and the sales we generate during these events help position Costa Rican art firmly within the broader Latin American art dialogue.

But we've also recognised what Costa Rica's art scene lacks: the critical documentation and curatorial discourse that establishes artists as internationally significant rather than regionally decorative. When institutions mount Latin American surveys, Costa Rican artists risk being overlooked without this infrastructure. This is why we're developing content examining Costa Rican contemporary practice within global conversations, as necessary discourse that doesn't yet exist in sufficient volume.

This infrastructure can't be built by individual galleries alone. Costa Rica's small gallery community—from San José's Museum of Contemporary Art and Design to scattered coastal spaces—needs to work collectively to create momentum. Every gallery that produces sophisticated catalogue texts, every curator who contextualises practices rigorously, every dealer who professionalises international logistics contributes to elevating the entire scene. We feel strongly that the collectors arriving in 2026 through BBC features and affordable flights deserve to encounter a cohesive, professional ecosystem that validates their interest.

The 2026 Window

Artists like Miguel Hernández Bastos, Priscilla Monge and Lorena Villalobos have developed rigorous practices for decades. The convergence of institutional validation, tourism momentum, residential growth and market recalibration creates Costa Rican contemporary art's clearest path to international recognition in decades—if galleries execute collectively with the seriousness the moment demands.

We invite you to engage with Costa Rican contemporary artists by visiting MÍRAME online, subscribing to our weekly newsletter, and following our journey through 2026. With Costa Rican contemporary art gaining increasing international recognition especially within the wider context of Latin America art, this is a great moment to begin a collection or acquire significant works from an art scene on the rise.

2026 forecast | Latin America art | Costa Rican Contemporary Art