How to Write an Arts Administrator Resume (With Template)

Updated 15 February 2023

An arts administrator usually works in a cultural centre conducting a variety of tasks to coordinate its effective daily operation. Showcasing your technical skills to align with the employer's requirements can increase your chances of securing an interview. This can be done by writing an effective arts administrator resume. Learning how to write an effective arts administrator resume can increase your chances of securing an interview. In this article, we summarise the role of an arts administrator, list steps for how to write a resume for this position, share beneficial skills to include and provide a resume template and example.

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.

What is an arts administrator?

An arts administrator manages an art or cultural facility, including its projects, events, policies and employees. They usually possess high-level organisational abilities, an art or business-related qualification and a genuine interest in the culture and the community. They may work in a range of environments, including museums, art galleries, theatres and exhibition centres or they may gain employment through various events, for example, music concerts and cultural festivals.

An arts administrator's exact job description can depend on where they work and the seniority of their position. Generally, they conduct administration work, venue and budget management, human resources coordination, fundraising and marketing initiatives and artist liaison. An arts administrator typically works full-time or contractually during an event and may work irregular hours depending on the programs and productions of their employer.

How to write an arts administrator resume

Below, you can find a guide to writing an arts administrator resume that can engage hiring managers:

1. Make a list of relevant information and keywords to include

Hiring managers are likely to use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to help them shortlist the resumes of the most suitable candidates. A good way of increasing the chances of your resume being noticed by an ATS is to ensure its relevancy to the advertised role. This can involve ensuring your resume includes keywords you see mentioned in the job advertisement. For a role as an arts administrator, these keywords might be Bachelor of Arts, organisation skills, business acumen and vendor network.

2. Start your resume with a professional heading

A professional way to begin your resume is with your contact information. Starting your resume this way can make it easy for hiring managers to identify your resume and locate your phone number and email address if they wish to contact you. Consider beginning with your first and last name. After this information, you may include the name of your arts related degree if you've obtained one. Underneath this, you can include your contact information, such as your phone number and professional email address, along with the city and state where you reside.

3. Emphasise your suitability for the role in a professional summary

Adding a well written professional summary to the top of your resume, underneath your contact information, is a good idea. It offers the hiring manager a summary of you as a candidate and can help them quickly determine whether to invest further time in reading your resume and learning about you. Your professional summary can highlight your top employment attributes. These may be your experience in the arts industry, your arts related qualification or other skills that make you an ideal candidate for excelling in the fast-paced and varied role of an arts administrator.

4. Detail your professional experiences

If you're applying for the arts administrator role, you will likely have had previous experience working in the industry. Including the details of these experiences on your resume can impress hiring managers and give them confidence in your practical, on the-job knowledge. For example, you may have worked as an assistant arts administrator or a gallery associate. You can include related jobs like these, along with the dates of your employment, names of your employers and some tasks you frequently performed.

5. Showcase your most impressive skills and attributes

When reviewing the job advertisement in step one, you likely determined some key skills the hiring manager seeks in an ideal candidate. If you have those skills, along with other relevant skills you have, on your resume to highlight your suitability and uniqueness for the open position. You can include your skills in a bullet point list, or one after the other on the same line with a pipe character in between each, so they're easy to read. Some skills you might include on a resume for an arts administration job are organisation skills, communication skills and negotiation skills.

Related: Hard Skills vs Soft Skills

6. Highlight your educational accomplishments

While a formal education isn't always a requirement for an arts administrator position, adding your education to your resume can increase the competitiveness of your candidacy. For example, you may have completed a Certificate IV in Arts Administration or Bachelor of Art. Sharing this information on your resume can indicate to hiring managers the depth of your industry knowledge and also your commitment to your career. Consider including the name of your degree, diploma or certificate, along with the name of the awarding institution.

Skills for an arts administrator's resume

Below, you can explore some skills that hiring managers may find impressive on a resume for a job as an arts administrator:

Customer service skills

As an arts administrator, a large part of your role is likely to involve managing customer enquiries and feedback. Often, you're not only representing the cultural centre or company you work for when delivering customer service, but also various artists, exhibitions and events. Hiring managers typically favour arts administrator candidates who have strong customer service skills, such as empathy, adaptability and self-control.

Art knowledge

Your role as an arts administrator is likely to require you to have art knowledge and skills specific to your chosen field, for example, music or dance. Having artistic knowledge, for example, of fine arts, can help you liaise with artists, interact with customers and promote events when working for an art gallery. Having artistic abilities that relate to the arts administrator role you're applying for can be a key feature of your candidacy.

Collaboration skills

Arts administration is a highly collaborative role that requires frequent interaction with a range of artists, customers, colleagues and sometimes venue directors or owners. Collaboration skills encompass a range of abilities, such as communication, active listening, accountability and inclusivity. Adding collaboration skills to your resume can highlight your ability to perform successfully in a team environment.

Resume template for an arts administration job

Below, you can explore a resume template for an arts administrator job:

[First name] [Last name], [Degree or certification, if applicable]
[Phone number] | [Email address] | [City], [State or Territory]

Professional Summary
[Two to three sentences highlighting experience, relevant skills, education or certifications and achievements as a professional.]

Experience
[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [State]

(Strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results.
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]
[Job duty]

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [State]

(Strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome or quantified results.
[Job duty]
[Job duty]

Education
[Degree and major], [Name of school or university]

Optional
[Certification name], [Host organisation], [Year completed or expiration date]

Example resume for an arts administration job

Here, you can find an example resume for a job in arts administration:

Angie Adams, Bachelor of Art 042 2222 1212 | aadams@email.com.au | Sydney, NSW

Professional Summary
A dedicated, inspired, culturally diverse, degree-qualified arts administrator looking for a new and exciting experience working among a passionate team of professionals. Seeking the role of arts administrator at Lou's Gallery where I can put my organisational abilities, excellent collaboration skills and love of fine arts to the most beneficial use.

Experience
Arts Administrator | Jan 2021-current
Adam's Fine Arts | Sydney, NSW

Co-ordinating gallery administration, including database management and gallery record maintenance for the efficient running of daily operations
Developing and implementing marketing initiatives to promote the gallery's programs and events
Scheduling building maintenance and coordinating contractors to ensure venue health and safety compliance
Recruiting, onboarding and training new employees in alignment with human resource policies and procedures
Liaising with artists to organise exhibitions, functions and other community events

Gallery Associate | Oct 2019-Dec 2020
Henley and Harrison | Sydney, NSW

Greeted art gallery visitors to welcome them and ensure they have a pleasant gallery experience
Assisted the arts administrator with the creation of marketing materials for exhibitions and other events
Provided professional service to collectors and artists to maintain the gallery's relationships

Education
Bachelor of Arts, West Side University