Artist CV: Example & 25+ Writing Tips

What is an artist CV?

An artist CV is a document presenting an artist's background, skills, and accomplishments. It differs from a standard CV as it contains a list of artistic achievements and is therefore much more detailed and way longer.

Do you even need an artist CV or an artist CV?

Oh, very much so.

Whether you’re applying for exhibitions, residencies, grants, or art awards, selection committees will expect to see your art CV.

And in order to beat hundreds of other candidates, yours will have to be perfect.

In 7 minutes you’ll learn how to write an artist CV/CV like that.

This guide will show you:

• Artist CV examples better than most.
• How to describe your artistic experience to get jobs, grants, or commissions.
• The best way to write your artist profile or summary statement.
• Why picking the right few achievements is the #1 key to get hired.

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Need help with a different kind of CV? Explore our other guides:

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Haven't found what you're looking for? Check all our CV Examples for Any Job.

Artist CV Example You Can Copy, Adjust, and Use

Read on for step-by-step guidelines on how to write a good artist CV!

1. Use a Professional Artist CV Template

As an artist, you need different kinds of art CVs for different purposes. The main focus of your artistic CV will depend on what exactly you apply for.

But one key thing is always the same—

Your artist CV needs an elegant layout, template, and formatting. A poorly formatted CV might get your application rejected at first glance.

Artist CV Format Guidelines

1. Set one-inch margins on all sides.
2. Pick a good CV font and stick to it throughout your CV. Standard CV fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, and Georgia are best.
3. Use 10-12pt font size for all sections. Go for a slightly large typeface for section headings and your name.
4. Set single line spacing.
5. Left-align all contents.
6. Put an extra space before and after every heading.
7. When listing bibliography about your work or your own publications, be consistent with the citation style (APA, MLA, or Chicago).

Then, decide on the structure and the order of sections of your artist CV or artist CV.

Start with your contact information. Follow it with the education section so that the selection committee will be able to place you institutionally.

Further below, order your artist CV sections by competitiveness and prestige.

But remember to focus on what’s most important to the post you’re applying for.

If it’s an exhibition, put emphasis on the exhibitions you participated in. A residency or fellowship? These go further up on your art CV.

See the suggested layout of sections for reference.

Artist CV Template

1. Contact Information (with a link to an online portfolio or a professional website)
2. Artist Profile or Summary Statement (optional)
3. Education
4. Grants and Awards (including fellowships)
5. Exhibitions
6. Commissions (if applicable)
7. Collections (if applicable)
8. Bibliography (about you and your body of work)
9. Publications as Author
10. Professional Affiliations and Memberships
11. Other Experience (including teaching experience)
12. References (optional)
13. Current Representation (if applicable)

Expert Hint: Once you’re done writing your art CV, save it as a PDF file to keep the layout intact across all devices. But double-check with the opening if PDFs are accepted. If not, submit your CV in DOC.

Writing an artist CV for a full-time job outside of galleries or museums? For instance, a 3D artist CV or a freelance graphic artist CV?

Use a more compact artistic CV template highlighting your work history.

Artist CV Example (Non-Gallery, Non-Museum Applications)

1. Contact Information
2. CV Summary or Resue Objective
3. Work Experience
4. Education
5. Skills
6. Additional Sections

2. Write a Well-Crafted Artist Statement or Artist Profile

This section is optional.

Generally, use it only if applying for full-time art jobs, grants, or residencies.

Leave it off if you’re creating an award application or an exhibition proposal to a museum or gallery.

Think of your summary statement as a sales pitch for your artist CV. Summarise your most important professional achievements and explain the purpose of your art CV.

See what I mean in these two very different examples.

Artist Statement/Artist Profile Examples

Visual artist seeking residency at ABC Gallery to create art aimed at raising the public awareness of local housing problems. Awarded the 2016 Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change for a steel sculpture Runaway. Have participated in 20+ group exhibitions and 5 solo shows.

Award-winning visual artist seeking interesting opportunities for residencies. Have participated in many exhibitions in the US and internationally.

The good example gives value and precisely describes the candidate’s artistic objective.

The bad example, in turn, is as generic as it gets.

3. Describe Your Education the Right Way

On CVs for art applications, education section comes near the very top.

The good news? It’s very easy to create it.

Limit yourself to the highest degree you’ve earned. Unless you’re fresh out of school include only:

• Degree
• Honours
• Institution
• Graduation Date

Education on an Artist CV/CV—Example

Just finished your degree? You can add your GPA, plus your visual and written theses titles.

4. List Your Best Achievements: Grants, Awards, Fellowships

Imagine you’re Hito Steyerl… Would it be a good idea to focus on your most recent solo exhibition on your artist CV?

Hell no!

You would want to open with the #1 ranking in Art Review’s 2017 Power 100. (Well, alright, in that case writing “I’m Hito Steyerl” would do the job.)

Since you’re reading this, I’m assuming you’re not Hito. Yet.

So here’s a piece of advice on how to guide your career in the right direction.

Below the education section on your art CV, list your most impressive and competitive achievements: awards, grants, and fellowships.

How to List Awards on an Artist CV

• List your awards in reverse-chronological order.
• Begin with the year you received the award, grant, or fellowship.
• Follow with the name of the award.
• Include the name of the institution that granted it.
• Don’t add unnecessary descriptions, e.g. “this is a highly prestigious award.” That’s for the selection committees to decide.

Like in this example:

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5. Impress Decision Makers with Your Exhibitions

Below your awards, include your exhibitions.

Not much exhibition experience?

Include all your exhibitions in a single section. List solo, two-person, and group exhibitions. You should also add your thesis exhibitions.

If you’ve participated in a lot of art shows, divide your exhibitions into sub-sections:

• Solo Exhibitions
• Two-Person Exhibitions
• Group Exhibitions
• Collaborative Projects

And, if you have been instructed to make your art CV brief (e.g. no more than 2 pages), include only the most impressive of your exhibitions in a Selected Exhibitions section.

Whichever strategy you’ll opt for, remember these general guidelines for artist CVs.

How to Put Exhibitions on an Artist CV

• List exhibitions in reverse-chronological order.
• Include the year, the title of the show (in italics), the name and location of the venue.
• In parentheses, list the names of jurors and curators.

Like this:

Artist CV Example: Exhibitions

Easy, right?

6. Finish Strong With These Additional Sections

All of the above sections are must-haves on a good artist CV.

But—

Experienced artists might have more achievements to showcase. That’s what these additional sections are for.

If applicable, below your Exhibitions section, add sections for:

• Commissions
• Collections
• Bibliography about Your Work
• Publications
• Professional Affiliations and Memberships
• Conference Participation and Lectures
• Media Presence

It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a conceptual artist CV, a performance artist CV, or even an emerging artist CV.

All entries listed above will provide tangible proof of your accomplishments.

If you’ve held full-time positions, describe them in an additional Work Experience section.

Here’s how:

How to Make an Artist CV Job Description?

• List your jobs in reverse-chronological order. Start with the most recent one, follow it with the one before it, and so on.
• List your job title, institution name, and the dates worked.
• Under each position, add up to 5 bullet points.
• Don’t just list your responsibilities. Focus on measurable achievements.
• Use CV action words: “planned and revised curricula,” instead of “responsible for curricula planning and revising”

See these sample artist CVs for reference.

Art Teacher CV Examples: Job Descriptions

Art Teacher
Anytown University, Anytown, London
2014–2015

• Taught daily art classes to groups of 15 to 40 students.
• Planned, evaluated, and revised curricula, course content, and course materials.
• Explained and demonstrated artistic techniques: oil painting, watercolour, photography, and printmaking.
• Received 90% positive feedback from anonymous end-of-term student surveys.

2014 - 2015, Anytown University, Anytown, London
Art Teacher

Responsibilities:

• Teaching core curriculum art classes.
• Demonstrating various art techniques.
• Grading coursework.

If you’re currently being represented by a commercial gallery or a museum, in the footer of your artist CV you might want to add information on the current representation.

List the name of the gallery, address, and basic contact details. Like this:

Artist CV Temaplte: Current Representation

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Key Points

Here’s how to write an artist CV in 5 easy steps:

• Use an elegant layout and a legible template.
• Put link(s) to your online portfolio or professional website in the contact information.
• Start by including your education at the top.
• Order your art CV sections by competitiveness and prestige. The more impressive a given part of your CV, the higher it goes.
• List your experience in reverse-chronological order.

Need to learn more about writing CVs? Check these free resources:sample of cv for job application

• CS samples for (almost) every profession
• How to correctly format a CV
• CV templates to download and use
• CV vs Resume. What's the difference?

If you need further assistance or have more questions, drop me a line in the comments. I’ll get back to you right away.

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