Standards and Guidelines
Artist Résumé: Recommended Conventions
Adopted by the CAA Board of Directors, February 1999.
General Comments
The artist résumé conventions presented here are designed primarily for use with commercial galleries. While its length, one to four pages, is similar to the “short curriculum vitae,” or “short cv,” it is not intended for academic situations.
Avoid making the artist résumé complicated. It is meant to be short and simple to review. Galleries may receive dozens of applications per week, so you will want to make it easy on the eye. Select fonts and font sizes that facilitate reading. Use the white spaces well. Do not submit your artist résumé on a computer disk or CD-ROM unless it is specified.
Sample Artist Résumé (with Commentary)
1. Name (in bold or larger font)
Preferred mailing address:
Phone Number(s):
Work:
Studio:
Home:
Fax:
Email:
Personal Website: (if appropriate)
Comments: If a gallery gives you a show or takes you in as a stable artist, they may eliminate much of the information in this category. They will probably remove your address, phone numbers, etc., and provide your date or place of birth. This is a common practice because the gallery wants the potential buyer to contact them directly regarding any inquiries about your work.
2. Education
MFA 1998 Sculpture University of Kansas
BFA 1995 Studio Art University of Oklahoma
BA 1992 French Southern Methodist University (cum laude)
Comments: List all of the academic degrees you have earned (noting honors). It is not uncommon to have studied art at a university without completing the degree. You may want to list these periods of study after the list of degrees earned.
3. Grants/Awards (Grants/Fellowships, Awards/Honors, etc.)
1998 New York Council for the Arts Fellowship
4. Solo Exhibitions (One-Person Shows, Solo Shows, etc.)
1998 New Work, Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, New York
1999 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Kansas
Comments: As your career progresses, it is likely that you will use the heading “Selected Solo Exhibitions.”
For artists in certain time-based media, an exhibition might be referred to as a “Screening.” In that case, the heading might read “Exhibitions/Screenings” or “Exhibitions/Screenings/Performances” instead of “Exhibition Record.” For performance artists, the heading “Performances” may be adequate. Others may require the heading “Exhibitions/Commissions.”
For those doing digital or technological art as well as video or performance art, please note whether or not the work is collaborative. If it is, develop a simple method for identifying individual contributions.
5. Group Exhibitions (Group Shows)
1998 New York Fine Arts Association National Competition, Utica, NY
Sculpture Carved and Forged, Tampa Museum of Art,
Tampa, FL
1997 They Landed in Lawrence, Lawrence Art Association, Lawrence, KS
6. Commissions (if applicable)
7. Collections (Public, Private, Corporate)
Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
Lawrence Art Center, Lawrence, KS
Comments: In the case of private collectors, be sure to have permission to list their name(s). Some private collectors like to keep a low profile because of security reasons.
8. Bibliography (Selected Bibliography)
Diane Terrel, “New Work in Central New York,” Sculpture 17, no. 1 (January 1998): 63.
Comments: If you are in need of a style guide for listing articles and reviews about you, you might consider using the Art Bulletin Style Guide.
The inclusion of your work in books, magazines, major newspapers, and important catalogues is important for major galleries. Exhibition announcements and reviews in newspapers of smaller communities are less important.
9. Current Employment
Visiting Assistant Professor, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Comments: It is not necessary to list your entire employment history. In the case of an individual who has taught at several major art institutions, it may be useful.
10. Current Gallery Representation
Submitted by the CAA Professional Practices Committee: Michael Aurbach (chair), Frederick Asher, Whitney Davis, Linda Hults, Dennis Ichiyama, Annette Weintraub, and Richard West. Special thanks to Ellen Konowitz.
