How do you summarise your life as an artist in a CV or resume for galleries, exhibitions and potential employment?

Do you understand the difference between ....
  • an artist's CV,
  • artist resume and
  • a bio
  • ​a social media summary
....and how to write them?

If you don't, this site has information, advice and guidelines for you.
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It is estimated that you have about 30 seconds (or 90 words) to grab the reader’s attention and convince them that your application is worthy of further scrutiny. 
​The Creative CV Guide

​This site provides links to various helpful and informative articles about:
  • how to write an artist's CV, an artist's resume and an artist's biography,
  • the sort of information each should contain,
  • what records you need to keep and
  • how to tackle specific issues

The CV, the resume and the biography
​

There are DIFFERENT WAYS of summarising the facts and content of your artistic work life.

The College Art Association reminds that there is a difference between a curriculum vitae and the "artist resume."

In most countries CV and résumé  are interchangeable terms but they are different in the USA.
How to summarise your Life as an Artist

The most confusing aspect of all of this is that different organisations seem to use these words interchangeably to mean the same thing. It's REALLY CONFUSING!
​
  • INTRODUCTIONS - what you say when you meet somebody - in one sentence
  • The CURRICULUM VITAE is a record of all of your professional activities and is intended for use in academic situations.
  • The ARTIST RESUME is an abbreviated document that is used in conjunction with commercial galleries, the search for exhibition opportunities, and certain grant applications. It is typically one to four pages in length.
  • The BIOGRAPHY (or bio) relates to the wider context of your life in general
  • The SOCIAL MEDIA SUMMARY is the way you present yourself as an artist on social media - and the number of words vary depending on the platform

Links in caps are to dedicated pages on these topics

Different summaries for different purposes
​

Different summaries for different places
When you need to produce one of these always check what sort of document the receiving organisation is expecting.

You might understand the difference - but they may not!

Understanding the differences between an artist's CV, resume and bio
You have to provide statements about you are all over social media. So you also need to perfect:
  • the very short bio for Twitter
  • the slightly longer statement for Facebook (and don't forget the links!)
  • the full statement for your website and/or exhibition catalogues
ART-WRITE: The Writing Guide for Visual Artists
by Vicki Krohn Amorose 
For today's artist writing skills are essential to self-promotion, connection and ongoing career opportunity
RECOMMENDED: Rated an average of
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars by 83 customer ratings (USA)
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars by 109 customer ratings (UK)
The aim of the book is to teach the reader how to write about art. 

Part One covers how to develop and write an Artist Statement. 

Part Two focuses on other types of writing related to having a career in art e.g.
  • writing to make connections
  • filling out forms and writing proposals
  • biography, cover letter and resume
  • writing to impress the press - how to write a press release
Paperback: 126 pages
Publisher: Vicki Krohn Amorose
Date: January 11, 2013

BUY THIS BOOK

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