Artist CV Example

Applying for an academic position requires a variety of experience not typically required in a normal resume. For an artist, that means showcasing your education, work as an artist, and professional teaching experience all in one impressive document.

There’s a lot to include, but we cover it all with our artist CV template, and then provide a couple tips to make sure your CV is ready to start sending out to universities and institutions.

Artist CV template to copy and paste

Artist CV Template

Name and contact information

First and Last Name

Email: youremail@email.com | Phone number: (xxx) xxx-xxxx | Address: City, State Zip Code
Linkedin: Linkedin/in/yourprofile | Portfolio: www.youronlineportfolio.com

Education

Year graduated, degree name & major, honors/distinction, Institution Name, City, State

Professional Experience

Year-year          Professional Title, Institution Name, City, State

Awards & Grants & Fellowships

Year          Name of Award/Grant/Fellowship, Granting Institution, City, State

• You can include scholarships and residencies in this section as well.

Exhibitions

Year          Solo/Group Exhibition, Title of Exhibition, Location of Exhibition (gallery, museum etc.), City, State

• If you have a lot of exhibitions to list, you can break them into smaller categories (solo exhibitions, collaborative projects, group exhibitions).
• If your exhibition includes a catalogue, collaborators, a juror, or curator, mention this in parenthesis after the location.

Commissions

Year          Commission type (public, corporate, or private), Name of Commissioned Work, scale, method, Commissioning Entity, Location, City, State

Bibliography

Author first name last name. “Title of Article.” Name of Journal volume, no. issue (month/season year): page range of article. DOI if applicable.

• You can use MLA, Chicago or APA formatting, just be consistent (the example above uses Chicago).
• Rather than listing your bibliography alphabetically, list it in reverse chronological order.
• Author names can be formatted by first and last name, instead of listing the last name first.

Publications (as an author)

“Title of Article.” Name of Journal volume, no. issue (month/season year): page range of article. DOI if applicable.

• You can use MLA, Chicago or APA formatting, just be consistent (the example above uses Chicago).
• Rather than listing your publications alphabetically, list them in reverse chronological order.
• Since you are the author, you can omit your name (make sure to include any co-writers, etc.).

Lectures, presentations, workshops

Year          “Title of Lecture or Presentation”, Title of Panel, role (e.g. panelist), Name of Conference, City, State, Month, Date(s)
Year          Lecture Title, Name of Institution, City, State, date
Year          Workshop Title, Name of Institution, City, State, date(s)

Collections

Year          Collector name (private collector, museum, university, etc.), City, State

• Make sure to get permission from private collectors before including them on your CV.

Here are some additional sections to consider including if they are relevant:

• Professional Service
• Technical abilities
• Consultancies
• Professional Organizations
• Gallery Affiliations
• Juried or Curated Exhibitions
• References

1. Make sure the content of your CV is easy to understand

CVs don’t always end up in the hands of a Department Chair, and even if they do, there’s no guarantee that the Chair is well-versed in your area of expertise. Chances are that your CV will be looked at by someone who is not an expert in your field.

To make your artist CV easy to read and jargon-free, read it over when it’s finished. Look for terminology that can be simplified, and simplify it.

Finally, ask a friend (in a different field) to look over your CV and point out anything that they can’t understand.

2. Keep your CV formatting simple

Academic artist CVs need to include a lot of information, and as a result can be overwhelming and difficult to skim. If your CV isn’t well-formatted, hiring managers will have trouble finding the information they’re looking for in your application.

To make sure your CV doesn’t look too busy, follow these CV formatting tips:

• Choose clear, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial or Georgia.
• Keep your font at or above 10 pt.
• Make sure the sections are spaced out.
• If you have a dense section of text, consider changing the text spacing to 1.25 or 1.5 pt.
• Avoid using bullet points or numbered lists.
• Keep your formatting consistent and uniform across sections.
• Use a simple design.
• Leave out what isn’t relevant.