Marketing your Work

Writing your Visual Artist’s CV

Sarah Searson

Your CV is for presenting factual information about yourself to the world

Always consider:– Your CV is like a calling card - how it is laid out,

organised and what it contains is the only information the people you are sending it to will have about you.

The difficulty in writing a good CV stems from the fact that there are no hard and fast rules.

The downer can be that each opportunity calls for different element to be highlighted more strongly in your CV, and different elements to be left out or toned down

There is no exact right and wrong way, but there are certainly things that artists would benefit from considering when composing their CVs.

Your CV will be composed over time – its best to keep a master CV and then any relevant info is all in one place, this master then can be edited as needed

Keep the design and layout of your CV very simple. Avoid elaborate fonts or designs

Use black ink only - CVs are often photocopied where you send them, and colour printouts might not turn out as well as plain black and white

Tailor your CV for the opportunity. Read the guidelines very carefully for whatever opportunity you are applying for, and include only relevant information.

What is the purpose of sending this CV? What am I applying for? What do they need to know about me? How can I best present myself?

For example, if you are applying for a residency include;

The other residencies you have done Funding you have received to take part in

residencies, References from people who run residencies, What else ....

Use reverse chronological order with dated lists of your experience; for example, in your 'Education' section, put your most recent qualification or course at the top of the list.

Keep your CV and the information you send

concise and relevant.

Don't include unnecessary information. If you have published lots or performed extensively pick out the key ones, rather than a huge list of blandness, that your reader will have to sort through.

Highlight the good stuff, ditch the irrelevant –

especially if your balancing two careers. This might be a bit scary – but remember you have

opportunities in the Biog and your artist’s statement.

Relevancy: For example, don't include any thing like farm manager in an exhibitions CV. However this might be relevant if you were going for a big commission where you are interacting or working on high level project management or it relates in some way.

If you are going for a residency work you have done in community context or with people maybe valid.

Include recent exhibition/ productions in a residency CV, as this gives more information about the level of your arts career, and therefore allows a better assessment to be made.

Keep thinking about how the information you are providing interrelates.

Include short courses you have done if relevant - for example, – Final Cut Pro training, – web authoring, – safepass, – child protection courses, – professional development, – also guest lecturing.

DON’T

Make your CV longer than it needs to be. It is not more impressive to have a long CV,

particularly if you are just starting out. Aim for one page max two pages of A4 at the most. Your master CV can be longer. Squash everything together. Give a lot of

consideration to composition and layout, and make sure it is really easy to read.

Get help from someone if you are not good at this.

More and more you will be emailing your CV – think about how it looks on screen – save it as a PDF this means its consistent in layout.

– Its not usual to use photographs of yourself or your work in a CV

Don’t use more than one font or typeface Always only ever use headings or bullet

points

If you have only recently started out in your career, or have not had many exhibitions, it is sometimes tempting to over do it by bigging things up in a way that might leave you exposed.

If you make stuff up - You are not helping yourself - people accessing your CV will very often have many years of professional experience – perhaps well beyond your – you will lose creditability.

A breakdown of the main sections contained in a good arts CV.

Always include the following sections:

NAME / CONTACT DETAILS

As well as your name, include where and when you were born and where you live and work. The essential information required here are your contact details: email, address, and contact telephone number.

– EDUCATION

Details of your educational history with most recent first. Only go as far as qualifications attained after secondary school: degree / postgraduate / etc.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS/ PRODUCTIONS

Any solo exhibitions/ productions you may have had, including year, name, gallery, location, publisher, venue.. (eg London). If you have had a lot of solo exhibitions, make the heading 'Selected Solo Exhibitions' and only include the most interesting and impressive

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Lay out the information as above, but for group exhibitions. Some artists choose to include the name of the curator, particularly if s/he is well known. Again, if you have had a lot of these, make the heading 'Selected Group Exhibitions' and include the most interesting and impressive.

COLLECTIONS

Has anyone bought your work? If so, your work is now part of their collection. Again, year (of purchase) first, followed by name of collector / foundation / company etc.

– AWARDS

Have you won or been short-listed for any awards? Give details of these.

PUBLICATIONS

Information on any publications that have written about you or your work, or information about any publications you have written for. It is best to include the name of essay / article, name of the publication, Issue / Volume number and date so it can be looked up. Include an online reference if there is one.

Depending on the opportunity, also include these sections - think about the opportunity you are applying for and the experience you have, and include only the relevant headings and information:

COMMISSIONS

Details of any work that has been commissioned for you to undertake. Commissions are important to include as they show the level of trust someone has made in you with their money. Include year, commissioner, and what the outcome was (eg, portrait, public artwork, etc)

RESIDENCIES

Details of any residencies you have taken part in, including year and name of residency. Where the residency was particularly impressive, include one short sentence outlining the sort of research you carried out.

– GALLERY EDUCATION

List any relevant experience you have and where and when you took part in specific projects. Include web links where you can.

PUBLISHED WORKS

Suitable for artists who produce publications as part of their practice (i.e. artists books). Information should be organised as above.

For all of the above, rather than write lots on information about each entry, include a website URL where possible so more information can be found.

Add more headings only if absolutely applicable.

Remember,

there is no universally right or wrong way to write a CV. Don’t worry if you haven’t had lots of exhibitions or won an array of prizes - make the most of what you have achieved.

A good, clear, concise 2 page CV is best - only include more information if the opportunity seems to require more, such as if it is for very established artists and they need to see more of your experience