Artist Resume Example & Writing Guide

As an artist, there’s no doubt you’re immensely creative. And yet, you seem to run into creative blocks any time you try to write an artist resume.

Sounds familiar?

The truth is, no matter how creative you are, you’ll struggle to write an outstanding resume until you learn the key principles of resume writing. Once you know them, however, it becomes as easy as ABC.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of writing a stellar artist resume step by step. Let’s get started!

What Format to Use For an Artist Resume

First things first, you should use the reverse-chronological resume format for your artist resume to structure it properly.

As an artist, you certainly know the importance of composition. If you arrange the elements of your artwork the wrong way, it’ll look random at best. At worst, it may look confusing and drive the viewer away. Similarly, the resume format can make or break your job application.

The three standard resume formats are:

While you can use any of them to create an artist resume, the reverse-chronological resume format has many advantages over the other two. 

Not only is it ATS-friendly, but it is also a favorite among recruiters. It’s no surprise, given that this resume format is well-organized and places emphasis on your work experience.

Artist Resume Layout

After choosing the right format for your artist resume, it’s time to work on its layout. Make sure to get it right before filling in the contents of your resume, as fixing it once you’re all done can be quite a hassle.

So, here’s what you need to do:

Artist Resume Sections

Any resume, including that for artists, must include these five sections:

You should also include artistic achievements, such as residencies.

Moreover, depending on your professional background, you can also include your:

Sounds like too much work? Not with our resume builder! 

To create a job-winning artist resume with our builder, all you have to do is fill in the suggested sections. You can skip formatting your resume altogether or customize its design to your liking with a click of a button. It’s that simple!

How to Add Contact Information to Your Artist Resume

No matter how impressive your artist resume is, you won’t land a job if recruiters can’t get in touch with you. So, make sure to list your up-to-date contact information in the header of your resume as soon as you’re done formatting your resume.

Here’s what you should include:

While this is optional, you should ideally add a link to your professional website or portfolio. After all, these show exactly what you’re capable of to the recruiter. You can also mention your LinkedIn handle and professional title (e.g., “Sculptor”).

Your contact information should look something like this:

How to Write an Artist Resume Objective/Summary

There’s a reason why Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is one of the most influential paintings of all time—it captivates the audience from the get-go. Similarly, your artist resume should grab the recruiter’s attention in the blink of an eye. To do this, you need to place an impactful resume objective or a resume summary at the top of your resume.

While these are both short statements that act as a description of your artist resume and professional background, there’s a subtle difference between the two. 

Essentially, you should only write a resume objective if you’re an aspiring artist or an art student with little to no experience. 

In this case, you can follow this simple formula to create an eye-catching resume objective:

In all other cases, you should always write a resume summary since it does a better job of highlighting relevant skills, experience, and achievements.

Here’s what you should include to write a compelling resume summary:

Now that you know which of these statements you should opt for, let’s see some examples.

Emerging Artist Resume Objective

First off, here’s a poorly written artist resume objective:

Now, check out this effective resume objective that follows the formula mentioned above:

As you can probably tell, there’s a stark difference between the two. Unlike the first example, the second one is more detailed and focused on the company instead of personal gain.

Established Artist Resume Summary

If you’re planning to write an artist resume summary, here’s what you should not do:

Instead, you can follow this example of an attention-grabbing resume summary:

See the difference?

While the first example is very vague, the second one highlights the candidate’s experience and achievements by utilizing numbers, as well as specifying skills and awards.

Artist Resume Professional Experience

Now, let’s discuss the most significant part of any resume—the work experience section.

To maintain consistency throughout your artist resume, list each entry in the reverse-chronological order. Start with your latest position and include:

Regardless of the type of artist you are, you should make every effort to stand out in a competitive job market. 

If you follow the guidelines above, you’ll end up with a relatively good work experience section. However, you can take it to the next level with these tips:

Artist With No Experience

Writing an artist resume with no experience may seem a tad daunting, but it’s much easier than you think.

Chances are, you have some relevant experience that you can leverage to craft a powerful artist resume. It can be virtually anything—volunteering, internships, or maybe a previous job that allowed you to flex your creative muscles.

Here’s an example of how to do it right:

Experienced Artist

Here’s a brilliant example of a work experience section on an experienced artist resume:

Freelance Artist Experience

If you’re a freelance artist, here’s how you can present your work experience to prospective employers:

Artist Resume Education Section

Next, you should add an education section to your artist resume.

As a general rule, you should keep it brief, especially if you’re a self-taught artist. If you have a college or university diploma, feel free to leave out your high school.

That said, if you graduated from a prestigious art school or have some prominent academic accomplishments, make sure this lands on your artist resume. You can even move this section up to emphasize your academic background.

Again, you should start with your latest degree first and list the following details:

Here’s what your education section should look like:

Artist Resume Skills

If you’re looking for a job as an artist, recruiters will pay particularly close attention to two things: your work experience and your skills.

For this reason, you should mention your skills throughout your artist resume, including your resume summary/objective and work experience.

Here’s a good example:

That said, your artist resume should also have a dedicated skills section. There, you need to separately note down your hard and soft skills. 

Ideally, you should list your hard skills along with your proficiency level like this:

Now, the trick is to focus on the skills the employer is looking for, as this will increase your chances of passing the ATS check and landing an interview. 

You can do this by scanning the job description and picking out any skills they mention that you possess. Be honest, though, as recruiters can easily find out whether you’re a real artist or a fraud!

Artist Hard Skills

Which hard skills your artist resume should include? The answer largely depends on the type of artist you are. Obviously, an animator will need a different skill set than a sculptor.

That said, here’s a list of hard skills you should consider putting on your artist resume:

Artist Soft Skills

Here are some soft skills that’ll enhance your artist resume:

Artist Resume Other Sections

Here are some additional sections you should consider adding to your artist resume:

Awards

Only list your awards in a separate section if they are truly impressive. Otherwise, you can mention them in your education, work experience, or another appropriate section. 

Exhibitions

Has your art been featured in exhibitions? Perfect!

Here’s what you should list:

Personal and Collaborative Projects

Including personal and collaborative projects on your artist resume is a great way to show your passion for art and stand out from other candidates.

To do it, just list the year and title. If relevant, add the name of the venue and collaborators.

Conferences/Lectures

Still have some white space left on your artist resume after completing the must-have sections? Consider filling it up with any conferences, lectures, and workshops you’ve attended (or given!). 

Include the title of the lecture/conference, venue, location, and year.

Publications

If your artwork has been featured in print or online publications, list the name of the author, the title of your work, as well as the title and date of the publication to correctly add it to your artist resume.

Languages

If you speak any other languages besides English and they’re relevant to the position you’re applying for, make sure to list them on your artist resume alongside your proficiency level (e.g., Native or bilingual proficiency, limited working proficiency, etc.)

Other Artistic Achievements

Last but certainly not least, you should add other artistic achievements—residencies, grants, collections, commissions, etc.—to your resume. 

You should list these separately and, depending on the purpose of your artist resume, you can even move them to the top of the page to draw more attention to them. For instance, if you’re applying for a residency program, you might want to highlight your previous residencies.

Here’s an example of how these sections could look on an artist resume:

Should You Write a Cover Letter as an Artist?

You should always write a cover letter when applying for a job as an artist. This can give you a winning edge over your competitors, as most candidates skip this step unless they’re asked to attach a cover letter to their application.

However, by writing a cover letter, you can further expand on your professional background and highlight your greatest achievements. It’s also your chance to mention anything valuable you left out of your artist resume to maximize your chances of landing an interview.

On top of that, you can also impress the recruiter with your attention to detail by using matching cover letter and resume templates!

3 Pro Tips for Crafting an Artist Resume

Here are three useful tips that’ll help you polish up and perfect your artist resume:

How to Cite a Piece of Art

If you want to cite a piece of your art on your resume, simply list the title and the medium as such:

Artist Resume Example

Use this example

Before you start working on your resume, check out this outstanding artist resume example to get inspired.

Closing Thoughts

By now, you probably see that writing a resume is an art in and of itself. To bring your artist resume from average to show-stopping, you should follow these simple rules:

And remember—when it comes to resume writing, numbers are your friends!