“In the art scene there is a special sensitivity to spirituality”

The life of Martha Ramírez Uribe is shaped by diplomacy, art and travels between Spain and Latin America.

Based in Valencia, she currently represents painting artists, a sector in which personal contact is crucial in order to find spaces and establish successful relationships.

Martha discovered faith in Jesus 23 years ago and learned to trust in God's provision and guidance in difficult moments.

For this art dealer, the world of artists is a “more open” space than others to develop conversations that point to the Great engineer, architect and designer who is God.

 

Question. How did you get into the art world from diplomacy?

Answer. My training was always related to diplomacy, and that is how I got involved in the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I was Chancellor of the Colombian embassy in Guatemala and I began to have some contact with artists, through activities that took place in the embassy.

Later, when I moved to Spain for personal reasons, I became interested in the art scene in Valencia, where I lived, and began to patronise painters.

At that time, some 30 years ago, the artistic movement in the city was starting to develop, since almost everything was concentrated in Madrid or Barcelona. But I began, little by little, to move around and have contact with artists and sectors of culture.

 

Q. What is business like in such an “artistic” sector?

A. It is a competitive and exciting sector, with many ups and downs.

A. My story is maybe a bit different from others, because I retired completely for a while, just when I met the Lord.

I discovered a totally different world, and at first I felt I had to stop. I withdrew for five years and some people around me said "what are you doing?" But for me it was a necessary time, where I found my nourishment in the Bible. I felt I needed to know Jesus Christ, because what He made me feel was beautiful.

Some people think it is crazy, but others can understand it. For example, the painters I was in contact with, they could understand some of what was happening to me, because they have a sensitivity to spirituality.

At that time, what I was doing was discovering the great masterpiece of the Father, a Jesus who is truth, goodness, justice.

 

Q. How was your life during those five years?

A. At that time I experienced what it was like to have no money, but the Lord fed me, and there even were people who did not know me who prayed for me and helped me.

But in the church many people did not understand my profession, they thought that the art scene is something corrupt or immoral.

Artists are called “bohemians”. That is a mistake! The artist is an engineer, he is an architect, he is the designer of his work and for that he has to research and work long hours.

 

Q. That is when you decided to start patronising artists again. How did it happen?

A. The way it happened was very different from what I imagined.

The pastor with whom I was meeting at the time introduced me to a young artist who came from the world of communication and had just finished his degree in Fine Arts.

He was commissioned to be trained as an artist, and he was in my congregation, so that the pastor said to me: "Martha, we have to make this brother a painter".

"I have met great entrepreneurs with a spirit of humility, knowing that everything we are and have is because of Him and for Him"

I told him that that was not how the sector worked, that it was a process and I did not have the money to promote him at the time. It was the worst time. But the pastor asked me: "Do you have faith?" I said to myself: "I am going to do it, even if it is counter-intuitive".

Interestingly enough, I then got a call from a big European hotel group, who was looking for an artist to meet. So we went in faith with the works to make a presentation, with a lot of doubts, because Antonio, the artist, was very perfectionist and he also knew that in the art business, criticism is harsh.

That artist, Antonio Camaró, is now an internationally renowned artist. I had the honour of participating in his launch, accompanying the presentation of his work, which has been extraordinarily well received. So I was able to see the hand of God, proving that He was going to use me even when I had nothing, as an instrument for His glory.

 

Q. Does your relationship with God impact all aspects of your life?

A. Yes, and I live by clinging to God's promises, I believe in His Word and His eternal power, that has sustained me in difficult times, as well as when I have encountered misunderstanding or mistrust.

It has also taught me to change, because I came from living a life in which I trusted in my strength, my studies, my ability... I have been a Christian for 23 years, but it is really about ten years that I have been praying to God that every day I may know him a little more and may rest in Jesus, the pillar of my life.

 

Q. How do you see your future, in such a difficult sector as art?

A. I am now representing a painter, Francisco Sánchis Cortés.

We are working hard to be able to present his work, and we are preparing it very carefully, because we will not only show the visual richness of his pictorial work, but also the experiential power of the music.

His work has many links with the music of Wagner or Bach, and we would even like to combine it in such a way that it can also reach children, so that they can discover the beauty of classical music and art.

 

Q. How was your experience attending the Christian business leaders group meeting in Valencia?

A. It was a beautiful experience!

At first I did not really want to go, because I do not like the usual groups of businesspeople who give a kind of pyramid marketing training, but what I found there was something else.

I was also able to meet special people, even great entrepreneurs, but all with a spirit of humility, knowing that everything we are and have is because of Him and for Him. It has been a very good experience and I hope to continue participating.

This article was produced for the Líderes Empresariales section of Protestante Digital, an initiative of the Gospel, Economy and Business (Tres-E) group in Spain.