Resumes for Fine Arts
< Design

If you are applying for a position in college teaching, or for a grant, people may refer to a "vita," a "curriculum vitae," or a "c.v." In other settings, they are more likely to refer to a "resume." These two documents have more similarities than differences. Usually vitas differ from resumes in that they are somewhat longer, do not include an objective, and are more understated. To prepare a vita for college teaching, see The Academic Job Search Handbook, available at Career Services for $5. For resumes for secondary teaching, see the Education Job Search Guide, available at Career Services.

Always include your name, contact information, education, exhibits, and professional experience. Optional sections include: objective, summary of qualifications, honors, works in collections, media, extracurricular, professional and community activities, professional memberships, foreign languages, computer programming competencies, and selective personal data. Choose categories which showcase your qualifications. Your name, address, and telephone number(s) should always be at the top of the page. After that, continue with whatever category is most relevant to your goal. In many cases, this will be "Education." Add categories in decreasing order of importance. Within each category, give information in reverse chronological order.




Name, address, e-mail address, and phone number(s).

Use only phone numbers which you are sure will be answered by a reliable message-taker, or better yet, an answering machine. If you will be available at a given address or number before or after a specific date, say so. Any time this information changes, print a new resume.

Objective.

This is usually omitted for galleries or college teaching positions. It can help focus your resume if you are applying for other types of jobs. It should answer the question, "What does this person want to do? An objective can specify a type of organization ("a museum"), the role you want to play ("position using experience in exhibit design"), or the types of issues you wish to be concerned with ("interest in introducing art to groups who have had little opportunity to appreciate it.").

Qualifications.

An optional category, it can follow, or sometimes replace, an objective. A well-written qualifications section can direct the reader to what you want him/her to focus on. Like the objective, it must be specific. Writing a good one requires you to think carefully about exactly what you are offering. For example: "Two years' experience in publications work, including layout and graphics. Experienced photographer. Knowledge of desktop publishing."

Education.

List graduate and undergraduate work in reverse chronological order. Include degrees, institutions, major courses of study, and graduation dates. Your grade point average is optional, often included only for undergraduate work, and only if it is strong. Omit high school. If you would like to include it so that alumni of the school will recognize it, include it in an "Additional Information" section. You may include the names of critics, particularly if they are likely to be widely recognized.

Activities.

These may be indicated under either graduate or undergraduate entries. If you were very active in school, give details about only your most impressive/interesting activities. If you want to discuss an activity at some length, it can also be included under the experience category. Students with substantial work experience many want to give less space to activities.

Honors and Activities.

Whether you use either of these categories depends upon how major a qualification they are for you. If you have received several prestigious awards, for example, you might highlight them with a separate section. Commonly known honors need no explanation, but others can be briefly explained. Foreign students may want to stress the degree to which an unfamiliar award was competitive. For example, "One of three selected from among 2,000 applicants."

Experience.

You may include any job, internship, or volunteer position which is relevant to your goals. This section is also written in reverse chronological order. If you have several different types of experience, you may wish to group them under subcategeories, thus calling attention to functional or content areas within your experience. For example, someone might divide experience into "Teaching Experience," "Curatorial Experience," and "Publications Experience". Emphasize material in proportion to its probable relevance to a particular audience of employers. To let an employer know that you have worked at other positions which you have chosen not to discuss because they are not related to your objective, use a phrase such as "Other positions as: taxi driver, clerk, and construction worker."

Pick a format and use it consistently. Include at least the organization with which you were associated, your responsibilities and accomplishments, and dates. List either your job titles or the names of organizations first, depending on which, on balance, sound most interesting and impressive: "NATIONAL GALLERY, Clerk," "MANAGER, Klein's Corner Drugs." Describe each experience so that the reader has a general overview of what you did, together with details about the most interesting or impressive aspects of your position. Stress what you accomplished and uniquely contributed. Use verb phrases and make every word count. "Curated exhibit 'The Geometry of Nature," is more interesting than "Worked on educational programs."

Exhibits.

This is a very important section if you are applying for college teaching jobs or submitting work to galleries. You might omit or condense it for high school teaching or for non-arts positions. This section will grow and become more impressive with time. As you exhibit more widely, you may divide the section between group and individual shows. Obviously juried or one -person shows, or shows at well-known galleries are the most impressive. At the beginning of your career, however, list what you have! Should you include all-student shows? Probably not if every students in the department was automatically included, and probably so if the show was selective in any way.

Works in Collections.

Include the name of the collection, the name of the piece, and its nature. A sample entry might read, "The Brice Museum, 'Tempo," Sculpture in copper and bronze."

Professional/Civic Activities.

You may include work with non-profit, civic, or professional organizations. You do not need detailed descriptions of these activities.

Skills/Media.

Use this section only if the techniques which you have mastered are a particular strength. Usually this section is in the form of a list.

Reviews.

If your work has been extensively reviewed, you may list the citations for the reviews.

Additional Information.

An optional section for interesting information which does not fit elsewhere, such as foreign languages, travel, and interests. It can humanize your resume and make an employer feel that you might be fun to talk to, as well as well-qualified. If you are willing to travel or relocate, say so.

If you have paid for much of your education through any combination of scholarships, work, and loans, you might make a statement such as, "Self-financed 75% of graduate and undergraduate education." Do not include birthdate, health, or marital status.

If anything on your resume may make an employer question whether you have U.S. work permission, for example, an undergraduate degree from another country, list U.S. citizenship or Permanent Residency if you have it. If you do not, but want to work in the U.S., make the most positive statement which you honestly can, for example, "Visa status allows for 18 months U.S. work permission."