We trade art in order to stay afloat (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
tread water
'stay afloat' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'we trade art in order' is the wordplay.
'in order' is an anagram indicator (the letters in a new order).
'we'+'trade'+'art'='wetradeart'
'wetradeart' anagrammed gives 'TREAD WATER'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tread water that I've seen before include "just survive" , "unwilling to go with the flow?" , "fail to make progress!" , "Mainly make no progress" , "Stay afloat" .)