Artist CV: Examples & a Ready-to-Use Template (20+ Tips)

You’re an artist in academia, the struggle is real. The agony of years spent grinding away to build a reputation. 

Know-nothing critics and gallery owners. Grant applications. Lecturing gigs.

But—you know your talent. Your ‘Automaton Desecrating a Fragment’ puts anything by Tracey Emin in the shade.

As for your expertise in 19th-century bronzes—it’s second to none.

After all the pain, your time to shine in academia has come.Whether you’re applying to a top University, for prestigious grants, or academic admissions, one thing links them all—

You need an artist CV to prove your academic credentials.

But—how to convey the breadth and brilliance of your abilities? This one document could make or break your academic career.

Fear not. We’ll show you an artist CV example that you can adapt to win the most prestigious academic posts. 

This guide will show you:

• An artist CV template worthy of the Turner Prize.
• How to write an artist’s CV that selection committees will love.
• The best way to summarise your career and credentials on a CV for artists, with examples.
• How to describe your experience on a curriculum vitae for artists so you can achieve your academic goals. 

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This guide covers writing an artist CV for academia, but we also have a guide with more general advice for writing a CV for academic purposes.

What’s the Best Artist CV Template?

First, what’s an artist CV?

Artist CV is a record of your professional experiences and artistic achievements used to apply for juried exhibitions, grants, awards, gallery shows, commissions, and residency programs. As such, an artist CV is much more detailed and way longer than a typical CV for other types of work.

Pro Tip: As an artist in academia, you may still be asked for a ‘short CV.’ It’s limited to 3 or 4 pages in length and usually leaves out professional service and non-academic experience. You can also save space by only including ‘selected’ exhibitions and bibliography entries. More on that later.

Putting length considerations aside—

Above all, you need to keep your artist CV format simple and readable. This isn’t the time to get all avant-garde.

The first person to read your artist CV could be an academic administrator with no real art expertise. That’s why you have to make sure it’s easy to follow and understandable even by a layperson. Here’s how:

• Start with good CV formatting. Use white space to improve readability and highlight each section of your CV. 
• For your CV font, go for a simple sans serif like Calibri. It’s modern, readable, and renders on most systems.
• For the CV file format, use PDF. It won’t mess up your careful formatting. But, some employers and institutions will insist you don’t use PDF. Be prepared and save a copy of your artist CV in another format like DOCX.

And what exactly to include in your artist CV?

Artist CV Template

Include the following sections in your CV for artists:

1. Contact Information
2. (Optional) CV profile
3. Education
4. Professional appointments
5. Grants and awards
6. Exhibitions
7. Commissions
8. Collections
9. Bibliography
10. Publications as author
11. Representation
12. References
13. Additional sections (including non-academic experience, professional service, and professional organizations)

Less experienced artists might not need all of these sections. Also, feel free to skip any section that isn’t relevant to you.

The order isn’t written in stone either. As a rule, put the most impressive artistic achievements first. Here’s an example: if you have an amazing and prestigious bibliography but limited awards, feel free to swap them around.

So you’ve just seen the full list of the necessary sections for your artist CV. Now, let’s show you how to write each section to highlight your artistic achievements and skills:

1. Contact Information

It’s so obvious that it’s easy to forget. So make sure you include full contact information.

In your artist CV contact information section include:

• Full name
• Professional title and affiliation
• Institutional address (if writing for academic purposes and you already hold a post)
• Your home address
• Email
• Telephone number
• LinkedIn profile (optional)

Now that’s covered we can move on to the all important content of your artist curriculum vitae.

2. Optional CV Profile

This point is as controversial as Andres Serrano.

For a standard CV for a jobbing artist we’d say, yes absolutely include a profile. 

For an academic artist CV though, a profile is not always 100% in line with academic standards. The College Art Association’s guidance doesn’t specify that you include a profile but neither does it advise against using one. It’s a grey area.

In certain situations we’d still recommend using one. In particular, when you’re applying for a straightforward academic job like a lecturer. Including a profile statement on your CV for artists will give it that extra little bit of flair and set you apart from the competition. So get drafting!

And bear in mind that:

• Your artist CV profile should be a summary of the CV that follows. Use it to catch the reader’s eye and keep them reading.
• You need to tailor it to the particular institution and job you’re applying for. No copy-paste laziness here!

In this artist CV sample profile we’ll discuss a profile written for a lecturer role:

Artist CV Example—Profile

The first artist CV profile is laser focused on a specific role. It details the applicant’s area of speciality and emphasizes their status as an active artist. It also includes performance metrics and mentions winning a prestigious award.

The second? Lots of colour, but no detail. There’s minimal effort in targeting the role and selling the applicant.

Discover more tips and tricks for writing a great opening statement in our guide: How to Write a CV Personal Profile

When making a CV in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your CV here.

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When you’re done, Zety’s CV builder will score your CV and tell you exactly how to make it better.

3. Education

You’re targeting academia. Think Claude Monet, not a cheesy Thomas Kinkade.

Here’s how to do it right.

Start off by making a list of your degrees and arrange them in reverse chronological order (most recent first, followed by the one previous to it and so on.)

Include:

• Year of completion or expected completion if still pursuing
• Degree type
• Department and institution
• Honours, but only if they’re a first or a 2:1
• Dissertation/Thesis title and advisor

Here’s a sample:

Artist CV Example—Education Section

Why include the BA in French when it’s a non-fine arts degree? Well, in a CV it pays to include all your education. This artist CV example could show you’d be a prime candidate to assist with a study abroad programme. 

It’s these extras that make or break your chances in the hyper-competitive field of academia.

4. Professional Appointments

In this section of your artist CV you have to list your teaching, academic, and related work experience. Again, follow the reverse-chronological format as you did in your education section.

Unlike a standard CV, this section in an artist’s CV is a simple list of academic positions you have held so far. Start with dates, followed by your position and finish with institution and location.

Use a table to separate dates from the remaining information. It helps to make the formatting of your artist CV clearer.

Pro Tip: Be precise with your academic title. There are important differences between associate professor, assistant professor, lecturer and so on. If the school doesn’t use ranks and distinctions, you can use ‘faculty’ instead.

Artist CV Example—Professional Experience

But don’t include your non-academic work experience here. In artist CVs, it is covered in a separate section. 

5. Grants and Awards

Now is not the time to be shy.

Anyone can claim to produce great art but few are recognized as great artists. 

Whatever the purpose of your artist CV—academia, juried exhibitions, gallery shows, commissions, or residency programs—it pays to list the accolades you’ve received.

The greater your achievements, the more your artist CV will stand out from the competition.

Important:

Don’t forget to include short listings as well as prizes you’ve won. A short listing is still a prestigious acknowledgment of your artistic talents.

Again, make use of formatting to improve clarity. Use italics for the title of the piece or exhibition like on the artist CV sample below:

Artist CV Example—Grants and Awards

Pro Tip: Take time and list your grants and awards. Keep a master list and add to it every time you receive a new accolade. This will make your life (and artist CV writing) easier. 

Time for another key section of your CV for artists.

6. Exhibitions

This section of your artist CV is of paramount importance. If you had an academic career in literature, you’d use this section for your publication record. It’s that big.

Follow our lead below:

• Format as a table for neat layout. 
• Start with the year, no month or date required.
• List type of exhibition, name of exhibition, venue and location. 
• Add any other relevant info if necessary.

Once again, the key here is to keep it simple and readable. Artists earlier on in their career may wish to use one heading—‘Exhibitions.’ 

Those with more extensive experience may wish to divide this section of their artist CVs into subheadings. We'd suggest ‘Solo Exhibitions,’ ‘Group Exhibitions’, etc.

Use clear and consistent formatting and italicise exhibition titles. Here’s an example for your CV for artists:

Artist CV Example—Exhibitions

If your record of exhibitions is more impressive than your awards list, then definitely put this section first. It carries a lot of weight. 

Pro Tip: More experienced artists should be selective and choose the most important exhibitions in your career. Do so by using the word ‘selected’ to preface your heading. Also, note that adjudicated or refereed exhibitions hold more weight with academic administrators. Be sure to include these.

7. Commissions

If applicable, include a commissions section in your artist CV. A commission from a government body, large corporation or notable individual will add more threads to the rich tapestry of your artistic career.

For very accomplished artists it may be useful to divide these into sub-categories: public, private and corporate.

Here’s an example—again, take note of the formatting:

Artist CV Example—Commissions

 8. Collections

If your work is part of a collection then you should include a separate section on your artist CV to note this.

Again, if your list is long, feel free to use sub-headings. As with commissions, private, public and corporate are a good start.

However, the formatting here is slightly different. You don’t need to use the reverse chronological format as with the preceding sections.

Instead, list the collector, city, and state, and arrange these in alphabetical order.

Artist CV Example—Collections

9. Bibliography

In an artist CV, a bibliography is a list of mentions of you and your work published in print or the media.

This includes publications in traditional academic journals, newspapers, magazines, television, Internet and radio, as well as published photos of your works.

When citing online sources make sure you insert the link into your text. Always make sure it’s clickable and the page is still live.

Keep readability in mind. It’s best to stick to reverse chronological order here, too. Also, place the first name of the author before the last name. It scans better.

Artist CV Sample—Bibliography

10. Publications as Author

This artist CV section focuses on published material that you’ve authored. For an academic artist CV template, this helps to cement your subject matter expertise.

Include reviews, essays, journals and blogs and, again, use the reverse chronological order. Also, don’t forget to insert links where appropriate.

Artist CV—Publications

11. Representation

This will only be relevant to the most experienced artists. If you do have representation, also known as gallery affiliation, then include it as a separate section of your artist CV.

You just need the gallery name and location:

Artist CV Example—Representation

12. References

You’ll know the person by the company they keep. In the art world, this parable is ever more true.

Aim to list between three and five people who can serve as professional references if needed. Choose a mix of supervisors, instructors and mentors from your studies and your employers. 

Make sure they’re happy to be used as a reference and make sure they’re going to give positive feedback on you as an artist.

When listing references on your artist CV, you should include their:

• Full name
• Title/position
• Work address
• Telephone number
• Email address

See the example:

Artist CV Example—References 

13. Additional Sections

So, by now we’ve added the final brushstroke right? 

Not necessarily. 

There are other sections you can add to transform your artist CV into a true masterpiece.

Non-Academic Experience on Artist CV

This section is useful for recent graduates with limited artistic experience. If you have work or art-related experience that you feel is relevant then list them here.

Think art internships or volunteer work. Use the same style we showed you for professional experience.

Professional Service on Artist CV

For some schools, evidence of community service is a must. If you serve on a board, sit on a committee, consult for projects or volunteer for events this is the place to put it.

For formatting, go for year, your title, organization, city and state. Here’s a brief example:

Professional Organizations on Artist CV

Mention the art bodies you’re a member of. List them alphabetically.

For example:

There are other additional sections you may wish to add to your artist curriculum vitae. Think of this as a bespoke commission. It will vary depending on your own unique skill set and experience.

Here are some suggestions for additional sections on an artist CV:

• Technical abilities
• Consultancies
• Exhibitions juried and/or curated
• Foreign languages
• Gallery affiliations

For more ideas about what to add, check out our expert guide: What to Include in a CV: Must-Have CV Sections

Key Takeaway

The arts are a highly competitive discipline. So there’s no room for complacency when writing an artist CV.

Make your artist’s CV a masterpiece with these tips:

• Use clear and consistent structure and formatting.
• If you’re applying for a lecturing job, write an artist CV profile to set you apart from the outset.
• Regardless of whether your artist CV is for an academic post, grant program, residence or exhibition you need to let your talent shine. Do it right by listing your awards, exhibitions, commissions, collections and bibliography.
• Show off your artistic credentials with a polished list of publications.
• Add the finishing touch with relevant additional artist CV sections that showcase the entirety of your talent.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Got more questions about our artist CV example and guide? Not sure if a specific additional section is worth including? Let us know in the comments section and we’ll give you the answers. Thanks for reading.