Professional Development for Working Artists

WORKSHOP: Professional Development for Working Artists

A three-part series with Ace Lehner

Thursdays, September 24th, October 1st, & October 8th, 6 – 8pm, 2026
(pricing below: join a single session, or save by signing up for all three)

Most artists have written a hundred half-finished bios, aren’t sure if their CV is helping or hurting them, and have a drawer full of rejected applications with no idea why. This three-part seminar series is built to fix all three problems.

Led by Ace Lehner, working artist and Assistant Professor of Art and Art History at the University of Vermont, these sessions sit somewhere between a seminar and a workshop: expect real instruction, group discussion, live Q&A, and hands-on work you’ll leave with. Each builds on the last. Together they’ll give you a working artist statement, an up-to-date CV, and the tools to actually get your work in front of the right people.

Sessions are held live over Zoom, run 2 to 2.5 hours each, and are open to artists at any career stage.

About the instructor: Ace Lehner is an interdisciplinary artist, art historian, and visual culture scholar whose work engages identity and representation through photography, installation, and performance. Lehner has taught at the International Center of Photography, the Museum of Modern Art, Parsons School of Design, and UC Berkeley, among others, and is currently Assistant Professor of Art and Art History at the University of Vermont.

Session 1: Writing Your Artist Statement

(Thursday, September 24th, 6-8pm)

An artist statement, that short, first-person paragraph explaining what you make and why, is one of the most notoriously difficult things a working artist has to write. It’s also one of the most used: your website, grant applications, gallery submissions, and residency packets all ask for one.

This session covers why artist statements exist, when and where you’ll need one, and how to actually write one that sounds like you. The second half is devoted to live workshopping.

Come prepared with:

A draft of your own artist statement (even a rough one)
One or two examples of artist statements you admire

Session 2: Building Your CV

(Thursday, October 1st, 6-8pm)

A Curriculum Vitae, Latin for “course of life,” is the detailed record of your academic and professional history as an artist. It’s a core part of any artist’s application packet, and it needs to stay current as your practice grows.

This session walks through how to organize a CV properly, covers a few different style approaches, and gets you working on your own document in real time. You’ll leave with a functional, up-to-date CV.

Session 3: Submitting to Open Calls

(Thursday, October 8th, 6-8pm)

The more you apply, the more likely you are to get in, that’s the honest math behind every working artist’s advice to apply, apply, apply. This session covers the general landscape of open calls (residencies, exhibitions, grants) and what each type is actually looking for.

You’ll leave with a working submission packet, ready to send.

Pricing

Full series (all 3 sessions): $150 ($135 for VCP Members)

Individual sessions: $60 each ($54 for VCP Members)

Signing up for the full series saves you money over paying per session, and it’s the best way to get the full arc: statement, CV, and submission strategy, built to work together.