Top 12 Gallery Assistant Skills to Put on Your Resume
In the whirlwind of gallery life, a standout Gallery Assistant blends craft with care, admin with artistry. Show your range. Show you can keep the floor humming, the back office tidy, and the visuals crisp. Spotlighting twelve core skills on your resume signals you understand the rhythm of the role and can push the gallery’s mission forward.
Gallery Assistant Skills
- Photoshop
- InDesign
- Art Handling
- Customer Service
- Inventory Management
- Salesforce
- Social Media
- Microsoft Office
- Art History
- Bilingualism
- Event Planning
- QuickBooks
1. Photoshop
Photoshop is the workhorse for image editing and graphic composition. Clean up artwork photos, craft invites, polish wall labels, and prepare visual assets that actually do the art justice.
Why It's Important
Great visuals sell the story. Photoshop lets you refine images for promotional pieces, catalogs, and the website so artworks appear accurate, compelling, and consistent across every channel.
How to Improve Photoshop Skills
Hone the fundamentals that matter in a gallery setting—clarity, color fidelity, and efficient workflow.
Master core tools: Selections, masks, brushes, and healing tools for quick, precise fixes.
Work smart with layers: Group, label, and use masks; keep edits non-destructive.
Adjustment layers: Nail color, contrast, and tone while preserving originals.
Retouch responsibly: Remove glare, straighten frames, correct perspective—always true to the artwork.
Compositing basics: Build clean event graphics and exhibition banners from multiple elements.
Typography: Pair fonts wisely; balance hierarchy and whitespace for labels and postcards.
Actions and presets: Automate repetitive resizing, sharpening, and export tasks.
Color management: Use proper profiles so print and web outputs match expectations.
Community and critique: Learn from tutorial platforms and forums like Reddit’s Photoshop community.
Practice on real assets: Rework past show images; create before/after references to measure progress.
Build a nimble toolkit and keep iterating. Speed plus fidelity beats fancy tricks.
How to Display Photoshop Skills on Your Resume
2. InDesign
InDesign is for layout that looks intentional—brochures, catalogs, press packets, gallery guides, and sleek PDFs for collectors.
Why It's Important
Exhibition materials live or die by clarity. InDesign organizes images, text, captions, and credits into cohesive, polished documents that stand up in print and on screen.
How to Improve InDesign Skills
Learn core layout practices: Grids, margins, columns, and baseline alignment for clean structure.
Styles everywhere: Paragraph, character, and object styles to keep typography consistent and edits fast.
Master links: Use linked assets, preflight for missing images and overset text, then package for print.
Color and export settings: CMYK vs. RGB, bleed and slug, press-ready PDFs with proper compression.
Interactive touches: Build clickable PDFs and simple interactive brochures when needed.
Template library: Create reusable templates for checklists, wall labels, and show sheets.
Aim for documents that read smoothly and reproduce faithfully—on paper and pixels.
How to Display InDesign Skills on Your Resume
3. Art Handling
Art handling covers packing, moving, installing, and storing works safely. White gloves when needed, soft hands always.
Why It's Important
One slip can be catastrophic. Proper handling preserves condition, value, and trust—between artist, gallery, and client.
How to Improve Art Handling Skills
Technique first: Train on handling different media—works on paper, canvas, sculpture, time-based pieces.
Right tools: Gloves, corner protectors, glass suckers, soft blankets, carts, and custom crates—all in good repair.
Environmental control: Understand light, humidity, temperature, and how to monitor and document them.
Installation methods: Use appropriate anchors, hardware, and hanging systems; mind ADA and safety clearances.
Follow industry standards: Learn from communities like PACCIN and conservation guidelines from professional organizations.
Documentation: Condition reports before transit and after install; clear photo records.
Slow is smooth, and smooth keeps artworks safe.
How to Display Art Handling Skills on Your Resume
4. Customer Service
Customer service means welcoming every visitor, reading the room, and guiding conversations—sometimes breezy, sometimes deep—about the art and the space.
Why It's Important
Memorable visits build reputation. Visitors return, collectors engage, artists feel supported. Word spreads.
How to Improve Customer Service Skills
Know the program: Artists, themes, materials, price points, upcoming shows—be ready with context.
Listen sharply: Let questions lead. Mirror back what you hear. Offer tailored paths through the space.
Personalize: Suggest works that match a guest’s taste or budget, and follow up thoughtfully.
Manage moments: Handle complaints with calm; de-escalate, solve, and document.
Collect feedback: Short comment cards, quick post-visit notes, and team debriefs to refine the experience.
Practice presence: Warm greeting, tidy desk, tidy speech. Professional, never stiff.
Make the gallery feel generous, not intimidating.
How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume
5. Inventory Management
Inventory management is the spine of gallery operations: tracking, cataloging, locating, and documenting every piece, every movement, every status change.
Why It's Important
Accuracy protects value and saves hours. You avoid misplacements, prevent condition surprises, and keep sales moving without scramble.
How to Improve Inventory Management Skills
Adopt a reliable system: Use dedicated art inventory software or a well-structured database with rigorous standards.
Consistent taxonomy: Standardize fields—artist, title, medium, dimensions, year, provenance, location, status, price.
Label and tag: Barcodes or RFID for high-traffic works; clear shelf and crate labels that withstand handling.
Routine audits: Cycle counts and periodic full audits; reconcile discrepancies immediately.
Photo records: High-quality images for each work with neutral lighting and scale references.
Chain of custody: Log every movement—on view, on loan, at fair, at framer, sold, shipped—with dates and contacts.
Secure, visible storage: Logical placement systems; minimize double-handling.
Cloud backups: Redundant, access-controlled storage for data and imagery.
Clarity in the back room translates to confidence on the floor.
How to Display Inventory Management Skills on Your Resume
6. Salesforce
Salesforce is a cloud CRM that tracks people, preferences, and conversations. For galleries, it ties together clients, artworks, offers, and deals.
Why It's Important
Better records, better relationships. You can personalize outreach, monitor pipelines, log offers, and never lose the thread with a collector.
How to Improve Salesforce Skills
Customize for art sales: Tailor objects and fields for artworks, editions, consignment terms, provenance notes, and viewing history.
Automate wisely: Use Flow (retiring older Process Builder automations) for follow-ups, task creation, and status updates.
Integrate systems: Connect inventory tools and email marketing so data syncs and reporting is holistic.
Dashboard clarity: Build reports for active offers, recent interactions, fair leads, and closing probability.
Data hygiene: Deduplicate, standardize naming, and enforce required fields to keep records trustworthy.
When it mirrors how your gallery actually sells, Salesforce stops being heavy and starts being handy.
How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume
7. Social Media
Social media is your public square: show openings, artist voices, behind-the-scenes prep, shipments heading out into the world.
Why It's Important
It builds audience and momentum. More eyes on the work, more visitors in the door, more conversations that turn into relationships.
How to Improve Social Media Skills
Mix formats: Photos, reels, carousels, stories, live chats. Let the art breathe; keep copy tight.
Engage for real: Reply fast, ask questions, use polls, reshare visitor posts with credit.
Hashtags with intent: Niche plus local; avoid spammy stacks.
Collaborate: Partner with artists, curators, and neighboring spaces; cross-post thoughtfully.
Track and tweak: Use built-in analytics or tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to learn what sticks.
Schedule smart: Maintain a steady cadence with planners like Later; leave room for spontaneity.
Teach as you share: Offer context—materials, process, influences—without jargon.
Consistency wins. Authenticity keeps it human.
How to Display Social Media Skills on Your Resume
8. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office (now often branded within Microsoft 365) covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more—everything from loan forms to price lists to collector decks.
Why It's Important
These tools are the daily drumbeat: correspondence, data tracking, presentations, schedules. Reliable, shareable, familiar to everyone.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Templates on hand: Standardize labels, checklists, consignment forms, and newsletters for consistency.
Excel fluency: Pivot tables, lookups, data validation, and protected sheets for inventory and sales tracking.
PowerPoint polish: Clean layouts, high-res imagery, accessible color contrast, and speaker notes for client presentations.
Outlook organization: Rules, templates, shared calendars, and categories to wrangle events and follow-ups.
OneNote or similar: Centralize meeting notes, artist bios, and installation checklists in searchable notebooks.
Quiet competence here frees time for the art itself.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
9. Art History
Art History examines artworks in their cultural, social, and material contexts. It’s the map behind the show, the why beneath the what.
Why It's Important
With context, conversations deepen. Visitors understand influence and intent; collectors hear resonance; artists feel seen.
How to Improve Art History Skills
Structured learning: Take online courses or lectures spanning periods and movements, from antiquity to now.
Read across genres: Monographs, catalogs, critical essays, and theory—mix breadth with focused dives.
Museum time—virtual and in person: Train your eye; compare curatorial choices and installation language.
Podcasts and essays: Add contemporary voices that connect past to present practice.
Write and discuss: Draft labels, short essays, and tour scripts; workshop them with peers.
Analyze works directly: Formal analysis plus historical and social framing; practice until it flows.
Curiosity is the engine. Keep feeding it.
How to Display Art History Skills on Your Resume
10. Bilingualism
Bilingualism means you can bridge worlds—welcoming more visitors, fielding press, and supporting international artists and collectors with ease.
Why It's Important
It widens access. Conversations open up, misunderstandings drop, and opportunities multiply across borders.
How to Improve Bilingualism Skills
Daily conversation: Language exchanges and informal chats; keep it lively and real.
Professional vocabulary: Learn terms for materials, techniques, and sales—gallery-specific phrasing included.
Media immersion: Films, podcasts, and books in your target language; shadow transcripts to sharpen listening.
Workplace practice: Draft emails, labels, and short guides; present mini-tours to colleagues.
Native feedback: Quick corrections from fluent speakers to iron out nuance and register.
Apps and courses: Use tools like Duolingo or Coursera, then graduate to real-world tasks.
Aim for clarity and warmth, not textbook stiffness.
How to Display Bilingualism Skills on Your Resume
11. Event Planning
Event planning spans openings, talks, walkthroughs, pop-ups, and fairs—smooth logistics wrapped in a memorable experience.
Why It's Important
Events amplify visibility and sales, strengthen community, and make the program feel alive.
How to Improve Event Planning Skills
Start with intent: Define outcomes—attendance, press, VIP engagement, sales—and build backwards.
Timeline and budget: Work from a detailed run-of-show with owners for each task; include permits and insurance where relevant.
Team and vendors: Assign roles; confirm caterers, A/V, photography, and security early.
Promotion plan: Coordinate email, social, and partner shout-outs; stagger reminders.
On-site flow: Signage, check-in, coat solutions, crowd paths, and accessibility—no bottlenecks.
Debrief and iterate: Survey attendees, tally outcomes, log lessons, refine the playbook.
Good events feel effortless. That’s the work.
How to Display Event Planning Skills on Your Resume
12. QuickBooks
QuickBooks handles invoicing, expenses, sales, and reporting—clean books that keep the gallery solvent and sane.
Why It's Important
Accurate financials support decisions on consignments, marketing, staffing, and growth. You see reality, not guesswork.
How to Improve QuickBooks Skills
Art-ready setup: Use custom fields for artist, medium, edition, and commission terms; map chart of accounts to gallery needs.
Automate routine: Recurring invoices, payment reminders, and categorized rules reduce manual errors.
Integrate tools: Sync with inventory and CRM systems or use automation platforms to keep data consistent.
Reconcile regularly: Match bank feeds and merchant payouts weekly; close months on schedule.
Reports that matter: Sales by artist, margin by show, aging receivables, taxes—dashboards you’ll actually check.
Tidy books, fewer surprises. Everyone breathes easier.
How to Display QuickBooks Skills on Your Resume
