--- title: Creating your profile description: "Set up your Artsume profile: handle, headline, what you do, location, disciplines, contact links, photo, and artist statement. Plus privacy and progress." date: 2026-07-07 updated: 2026-08-25 author: Artsume Team tags: - artist - profile - getting-started url: "https://www.artsume.com/docs/creating-profile" type: docs --- # Creating your profile # Creating your profile Your profile is your home on Artsume. It's what organizations see when they review your applications, and what other artists and organizations see when they come across your work. There's no separate "publish" step. Your page goes live the moment you claim a handle during setup, at your public address `/a/your-handle`. Every edit you save shows up there right away. To see exactly what visitors see, open the **···** menu on your profile and choose **View as public**. ## Where you edit Your profile has two faces. **Profile** in the left rail is where you make changes. The public page at `/a/your-handle` is what everyone else sees. Your profile is organized into tabs: - **Portfolio**: your projects. This tab appears once you turn on Artist in **What you do**. See [Building your portfolio](/docs/building-portfolio). - **About**: your artist statement, a details summary, featured work, and your recent CV. - **CV**: your professional history, plus a short bio. See [Creating your CV](/docs/creating-cv). The identity fields live in one place: the **Edit profile** button in your profile header opens a single dialog for your headline, what you do, location, contact links, and handle. Your artist statement and your bio are edited on their own tabs, covered below. ## The line under your name Your header prints two short lines. The first is drawn from your picks in **What you do**: one discipline and one role when you have both, or up to two from whichever side you have. A sculptor who also teaches reads **Sculpture · Art Teacher**. ![Your profile card, with your practice line under your name.](https://www.artsume.com/images/docs/demos/profile-card.png) The second is your **headline**, in your own words. Pick nothing in **What you do** and the first line simply does not print, leaving your headline under your name on its own. [Artists and arts professionals](/docs/artists-and-professionals) covers the control itself and what each pick turns on. ## Choose your handle Your handle is your unique username and the address of your public page (`/a/your-handle`). **The rules:** - Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens (-), and periods (.) only - Between 3 and 30 characters - Must be available (no one else is using it) Open **Edit profile** and type into the **New handle** field. Artsume checks availability as you type and shows a checkmark when the handle is free. When you save, your profile URL changes to match. You can also change it from Settings → **Account**. > ⚠️ **Handles change once every 30 days:** Changing your handle updates your profile URL, and your old links stop working. Because of that, you can change it once every 30 days. The handle you claim during setup doesn't start that clock, so your first choice is free. While the 30 days run, the field is replaced by a note telling you how many days are left. ## Headline, what you do, and location The **Edit profile** dialog holds these in order: - **Headline**: a short tagline shown on your profile, like "contemporary painter exploring identity." Up to 100 characters, with a live counter. - **What you do**: turn on **Artist**, **Arts professional**, or both. Each switch opens a list of its own, and a live preview under them shows the exact line your public page will print. - **Location**: search for your city. Your location appears on your profile and helps organizations and other artists find you. Your **disciplines** live inside **What you do**, in the list the **Artist** switch opens. Select up to **5**, or type your own and press Enter to add it. Lead with your primary practice, because the first one is what prints under your name. ## Contact and links The same dialog holds the ways people can reach you, under **Contact & links**: - **Contact email**, with an **Email visible to** choice of **Anyone**, **Your connections**, or **Only me**. New accounts start at Your connections. - **Phone number**, with the same three choices under **Phone visible to**. New accounts start at Only me. - **Website.** Type it without the protocol (for example `example.com`) and Artsume adds `https://` for you. - **Social links.** Pick a platform, then type your username. Artsume prints the rest of the address for you, and pasting a full profile URL fills both in. Up to 10 links. Only add links you're happy for organizations to see. If your personal accounts are casual, consider keeping separate handles for your practice. ## Add your photo and cover Your profile photo is the picture shown wherever you appear across Artsume. Select the camera button on your photo to open **Edit photo**, which has two tabs: **Upload** for a new file, and **Your portfolio** to reuse an image you've already added. Square images work best. Artsume takes JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, and AVIF files up to 25 MB, and crops whatever you give it. If you don't add a photo, Artsume draws your initials on a color picked from your account, so you're never a blank gray circle. To take a photo back off, use **Remove** in Settings → **Account**. Your **cover** is the wide band at the top of your profile, and it comes with the artist side of your account. Select the camera button on it to open **Edit cover**. Wide images work best, around 1500 × 500. **Remove** clears it and the band falls back to a color drawn from your account. A studio shot or a strong piece of work both make good covers. ## Write your artist statement Your statement introduces your practice in your own words. It lives on the **About** tab and comes with the artist side of your account. Select **Add statement** (or the existing statement) to open the editor. You can write up to 2,000 characters. **What to include:** - What you make - Why you make it - How you work: your materials and process - The ideas that drive your practice Write in the first person and be concrete. "I build large-scale installations from found textiles" says far more than "I explore themes of memory." Revise it as your practice evolves. ## Add your bio and biographical details The **CV** tab has a short **Bio** block, separate from your artist statement. Everyone gets one. Select it to open **Edit bio**, where you can add: - **Bio**: a brief description written for grants and applications (up to 500 characters). Where the artist statement is about your ideas, the bio is the tight, factual paragraph a jury expects. - **Birth Year** and **Birthplace**: optional context that appears on your CV, and part of the artist side. Artist CVs traditionally open with "Born 1988 in Toronto, Canada." Leave either blank to keep it off your CV. ## How you appear elsewhere Away from your page, Artsume prints you as a compact row: your photo, your name, and a detail or two. ![An identity row: photo, name, and details at a glance.](https://www.artsume.com/images/docs/demos/identity-row.png) The same row carries you through search results, network lists, an organization's roster, and the applications a jury reads. It draws on the same fields, which is why a photo, a location, and a clear first discipline are worth the two minutes. ## Track your progress A completion card sits in the right rail of your profile, and below the tabs on a phone. Everyone starts with the same four steps: **Profile photo**, **One-line intro**, **Location**, and **Links**. The artist side adds four more: **Discipline**, **Artist statement**, **Portfolio**, and **CV / Resume**. The arts-professional side adds **Your roles**, **About you**, and **Positions**. If you also own an organization, its own profile joins the card as a step of its own. The card shows your next three steps, links straight to each one, and disappears once you're done. Nothing on the list stops your page from being live. It's a guide. ## Control who sees what Your profile is visible at `/a/your-handle`. There is no public-versus-hidden switch on the page itself. What you control is the content: hide any individual project or CV line and it comes off your public page everywhere (see [Building your portfolio](/docs/building-portfolio)), and you can block someone to stop them tracking or messaging you. **Browse privately** lives in Settings → **Privacy & visibility**. It's reciprocal. When you turn it on, you're not named as a viewer on profiles you visit, and in return you can't see who viewed yours. Leave it off to appear in other people's viewer lists and to see your own in [Insights](/docs/insights). > ℹ️ **No public / private / unlisted tiers:** Artsume doesn't have a three-way profile visibility ladder. Your page is live at your handle. The setting above shapes viewer attribution, not whether your page exists. ## Manage notifications Artsume sends four kinds of email, and each has its own switch in Settings → **Notifications**. Push alerts are a separate, shorter list. [Settings](/docs/settings) covers both, and everything else in the panel. ## Frequently Asked Questions **Q: Do I need to publish my profile?** A: No. There is no publish button. Your page is live at /a/your-handle as soon as you claim a handle during setup, and every saved edit appears there immediately. Use View as public in the ··· menu to preview it. **Q: I can't find an available handle.** A: Handles use lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and periods, and run from 3 to 30 characters. If your first choice is taken, try adding your discipline or city, like @maria-sculptor or @maria-nyc. Availability is checked live as you type. **Q: How often can I change my handle?** A: Once every 30 days, and the handle you claim during setup doesn't count. Changing it updates your profile URL and breaks your old links, so the wait protects people who have already saved or shared your page. **Q: Can I approve who tracks my work?** A: No. Tracking is always instant and there is no private-account mode. You can hide individual projects and CV lines, and you can block someone entirely. **Q: Can I hide who I've viewed?** A: Yes. Turn on Browse privately in Settings → Privacy & visibility. It's reciprocal: you won't be named on profiles you visit, and you also won't see who viewed yours in Insights. **Q: Do I have to use a photo of myself?** A: No, but a photo has to be a photo. Artsume no longer offers illustrated avatars. Leave it blank and your initials show on a color drawn from your account, or upload a picture of your work instead. ## Next steps - **[Artists and arts professionals](/docs/artists-and-professionals)**: what each side of your account adds - **[Building your portfolio](/docs/building-portfolio)**: add the projects that anchor your profile - **[Creating your CV](/docs/creating-cv)**: build your professional history and bio - **[Sharing your profile](/docs/sharing-your-profile)**: get your page in front of the right people