Productive 2025 Ahead!

Writing on January 1st of any year is always invigorating, while also providing a time to pause and reflect.

This upcoming year, though, is a particularly exciting one to look forward to, including:

Women’s Studio Workshop Team!

Last September I was selected to be only the third Executive Director in the history of the esteemed 50-year old nonprofit, Women’s Studio Workshop. Founded in 1974 in Rosendale, NY (Hudson Valley), WSW’s mission is to work towards a “vision of a society where women’s visual art is integral to the cultural mainstream and permanently recorded in history.” We provide facilities for etching, letterpress, papermaking, book arts, silkscreen, 3D work, ceramics, and photography, as well as community-oriented arts programming year ‘round. WSW is truly a historic institution, and I couldn’t be more proud to lead this organization going forward.

Cover image by Jaq Chartier

I am also beyond thrilled that the third book in my trilogy of artist essay books in the “Living & Sustaining a Creative Life” series will be published this year.

“Last Artist Standing shares the essays of the lives of 31 artists over the age of 50, how they have sustained their creative lives, what paths they have led, and shows who contemporary artists are today. They are mentors to other artists, having learned how to thrive and be creative through decades of life's travails.”

We are already planning an extensive book tour, so stay tuned for a “Live / Sustain” conversation in a neighborhood near you!

You can pre-order both at the University of Chicago Press website as well as at Amazon. Thank you!

(Clockwise from top left) Patricia Waller, Ariane Lignier, Hrag Vartanian (Photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki for Rabkin Foundation), and me!

Finally, I will be appearing on this lovely panel, Wednesday, January 15th, from 6:30-8:00pm, at C24 Gallery in Chelsea, NYC:

Child’s Play: An Investigation of Violence, Desires, and Taboos Through Art

An exhibition and panel discussion exploring the methods and materiality of addressing challenging topics through artistic expression.

The Gallery’s current solo exhibition, Child’s Play, by Berlin-based crochet artist Patricia Waller will serve as a jumping-off point for a conversation about the use of unconventional methods to address inconvenient, difficult topics, including violence against children and animals. The artist will be present and joined by Hrag Vartanian (Editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic) and Ariane Lignier, (Communications Officer for the UN's Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict), and the panel will be moderated by Sharon Louden (Artist, advocate, community builder and Executive Director of Women's Studio Workshop).

You can register to attend the panel discussion here.

Hope to see you out there at any of these events upcoming in 2025!

THANK YOU.

Busy Winter and Spring!

The past few months have been bustling and I’ve been meaning to share three news items regarding what I’ve been up to since my solo exhibition at signs & symbols in NYC concluded in early February.

—> I was given the opportunity to be profiled in a paid video post that is appearing on The New Yorker website for an entire year. In it, I talk about artists sustaining creative lives and the role that mentorship plays in our community. The producers were kind enough to embrace my ideas for this piece, which included bringing in other artists to share their stories. I was also able to mention our new Institute for Sustained Creativity (ISC) that we’re in the process of developing and putting into the world.

On my Instagram page, I speak more in-depth about the process in which this came about on. Enjoy!


Profile of Sharon by The New Yorker Brand Studio focused on her mentoring initiatives, models of generosity, and ISC. 
February 2024

Accompanying interview on The New Yorker can be viewed here.

—> Vinson and I were lucky to be invited on the long-running “Bad at Sports” podcast, hosted by the inimitable Duncan MacKenzie. We were in Sheridan, Wyoming when this interview took place, where we were helping to facilitate a state-wide grant for artists (mentioned in the next item below).

As always, the conversation with Duncan was hilarious (it was all his fault!). We discussed our new ISC, how we were helping artists in Wyoming, and my elation with finally finishing the manuscript to my third collection of essays by artists (this time over 50!): Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life Over 50. More on the new book later this summer.

“Live from WY! The return of art world mega force Sharon Louden and music Impresario Vinson Valega! We talk Sustaining your Creative Life and the Institute for it! Always working to better your artistic life! Get your Art World hustle on.”
— Bad at Sports

To learn more about Duncan and his jolly cohorts at Bad at Sports, please visit their website, which has been producing hundreds of these podcast interviews with artists for more than ten years!

—> Last but definitely not least, as a consultant since December I have been helping facilitate a state-wide grant in Wyoming that helps artists all across the state. Called the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), this impressive $1.1 million funding source is being used to build out the state’s creative economy by providing professional practice resources and mentorship to over 100 artists in five different cities. Vinson and I have been traveling throughout the state working hand-in-hand with Beth Venn, the Executive Director of the Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts, and her team:

“The grant doubles the state’s annual funding for the arts, provides artists with resources and makes significant ‘seed money’ available for arts-related entities. These will, in turn, continue to elevate the level of arts engagement here. It’s a win for everyone dedicated to the arts in Wyoming.”
— Beth Venn

We conducted workshops in Laramie, Fort Washakie, Sheridan, Powell, and Rock Springs between December and earlier this month. The amazing artists we have met in all disciplines (visual art, music, dance, theater, writing) have been truly inspiring. It has been an honor to help these 100 individuals strengthen their artistic practice through my efforts working with Beth’s team, as well as by assembling 34 mentors across Wyoming and the rest of the country that are helping them craft their creative enterprise proposals in the hopes of landing one of the 10 seed-grants worth $25,000 each.

There is a possibility the WIP grant will be renewed for next year, providing incredible resources for the next 100 Wyoming artists. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I just wanted to share a few photos of Neltjie’s home outside of Sheridan where we stayed for the week between workshops in Sheridan and Powell last month. Neltjie was an incredible artist herself, and only just passed away in her late eighties a few years ago. She helped so many artists in her 40+ years in Wyoming. You can learn more about her at her website.

One of Neltjie’s living rooms at her house, which is now the HQ of the Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts

Adjoining grounds.

Neltjie’s studio.

Solo exhibition, NYC: "Barriers to Entry"

I am very excited to show my newest work in my first exhibition in New York City in eight years. Running until March 2nd at signs & symbols Gallery in the Lower East Side (Manhattan), it is my third iteration of this site-specific installation using colored vinyl, highly-reflective aluminum, and drawings.

Barriers to Entry is a series of installations that reflect on the lack of inclusion within historically exclusionary spaces. Previous exhibitions took place last summer 2022 in Breckenridge, CO, and Kingston, NY.

As a part of the programming accompanying the exhibition, the gallery and I will host gatherings of artists entitled Needs, Wants and Gives. These workshops are open to the public and are aimed at building community and sharing opportunities. Thursdays in February, 6-8pm: 2/15, 2/22 & 2/29. More info here.

signs and symbols
249 East Houston Street
New York, NY
info@signsandsymbols.art
(917) 880-8953

Barriers to Entry
signs & symbols Gallery

Barriers to Entry (detail)
signs & symbols Gallery

Barriers to Entry (Detail)
Breck Create, Breckenridge, CO (June-Sep 2022)

Barriers to Entry (Detail)
Breck Create, Breckenridge, CO (June-Sep 2022)

Barriers to Entry (detail)
Artport, Kingston, NY (July - Sep 2022)

Art museums and institutions have historically posed barriers to entry (whether physical, financial, or psychological) to both artists and visitors who do not represent the dominant culture. Louden defies the historic exclusivity of this space by transforming its structure and topography, and through the presence and playful use of materials not traditionally associated with fine art. Rather than limit one’s field of vision, Barriers to Entry creates an infinite number of focal points with which viewers can engage, making room for as many perspectives as possible in an inclusive artistic act. — Avery Glassman, Curator, Breck Create

"Drawn" Group Show at Delaware Art Museum

Many decades ago, one of the most important figures in my life came to my Center Street studio in Manhattan (early 1990s). Wynn Kramarsky was a HUGE supporter of both established and emerging artists during his lifetime. Thus began a long mentorship (and friendship) with Wynn.

In 2009, he and his wife decided to start gifting their collection to museums around the country:

Drawn celebrates the important gift of contemporary drawings from Sally and Wynn Kramarsky. These patrons have championed artists and works on paper, specifically, through their collection development, New York City exhibitions, and generous donations. In 2009, the Delaware Art Museum joined a list of public institutions throughout the United States to receive gifts from the donors. This selection brings together artists separated by generations and genres, grounded in the foundational practice of drawing. The distinct artistry of each work exemplifies the diversity and range of non-representational contemporary works on paper.

I am honored that this old drawing is now on exhibition there until the end of the year:

“Tight” (1993)
Ink and graphite on double sided mylar,
11 × 8 1/2 in

I still miss Wynn to this day, and think about him often.

Community on view at the National Gallery of Art

I am delighted to share that a painting from my 2013 series entitled, Community, is currently on view in the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art through September 10th in an exhibition entitled “The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions,” organized by Molly Donovan, Curator of Contemporary Art. This painting joins one of my drawings and animations of that are already a part of the National Gallery of Art permanent collection.

Community
Oil and enamel on stretched paper, on panel
20 x 28 x 1.5 in

March 17 - September 10, 2023

“The Interior Life: Recent Acquisitions displays a selection of artworks that have been added to the National Gallery’s collection of contemporary and modern art over the last three years. Through allusions to the body, community, and everyday spaces, as well as in more abstract works, these twenty-five artists creatively draw upon their interior lives to offer rich perspectives on life’s challenges and possibilities.”

East Building, Mezzanine

For more information, please visit the NGA website.

THANK YOU!

New Exhibitions Currently On View!

It’s been a great while since I’ve posted here on my news page, and what better time to do so, to share a bit of news!

I’m thrilled to share that I’m participating in two exhibitions for the first time in many years: “Our Solo Show” which is a collective effort expanding the idea of a traditional solo exhibition with Jean Shin, Hasan Elahi, Mel Potter, Miguel Luciano and Edgar Arceneaux at Engage-Projects through December 4, 2021 in Chicago; and “That was Then, This is Now,” group exhibition at Signs & Symbols in their brand new home located at 249 E Houston Street in the Lower East Side, NYC through December 21, 2021.

Both exhibitions include work never shown before:

—At Engage Projects, in collaboration with Owner and Director Jennifer Armetta, I have new paintings and glass sculptures, both inspired by the pandemic, going back to my roots in painting and glass installations I’ve been doing for years. “The Barriers” are comprised of works on paper, paintings and glass sculptures. Check them out!

—At signs and symbols, Mitra Khorasheh selected “Flaps,” my first digital print made at Massachusetts College of Art’s professional press with a master printer back in 1999. The work is of an installation of the same name made a few years before, and one of my very first installations. You can see the print here on my website.

I hope you’ll be able to check out both exhibitions either in person or online! Both are amazing contexts to the work with the brilliant curation of all of the strong women who run these two galleries. Many thanks to all!

The Barriers (2021)
15 5⁄8 x 10 1⁄2 x 2 1⁄2 in
Glass rods (60 clear; 47 colored)

The Barriers (2021)
16 x 12 x 1 in
Oil on panel

The Barriers (2021)
13 x 13 in
Oil on paper

Flaps (1999)
22 x 15 in overall (image size: 10 x 8 in)
Inkjet digital print on Somerset paper

News, thoughts and opportunities

Hi there! How are you doing today? I hope you’re feeling well and enduring this time of uncertainty and the seemingly never-ending pandemic. I’m looking forward when we can all see art, people, experience restaurants, community engagements and performances to name a few things, hopefully in the near future! In the meantime, I’m very grateful to be in your company here today. Thanks for visiting this page and my website!

Continuing what I shared in my last newsletter, I have a few things to announce which may be of interest to you!:

—Have you checked out the artists, critics, curators talking about their lives as a part of the Chautauqua Visual Arts Lecture Series? I have loved meeting and hearing so much about the luminaries we are honored to have share their lives and work with us. I hope you can look and listen in every second Tuesday evening of every month. Check out recordings from past talks and upcoming ones here.

—We just put up a ton of Resources to access on my website anytime including some interesting reads including this article. I wondered: what if galleries could do this? It’s a wonderful idea and model of giving.

—Are you writing letters regularly as I do? Well, if you are, you may want to check out these amazing artists making gorgeous stationery. Some of my favorites are Foglio Press, Sapling Press, Huckleberry Press, LetteredWest, CardCraftUS and Green Bird Press to name a few. I’m also obsessed with stickers for the envelopes by many artists which I will share soon. If you have some great suggestions of lovely stationery, feel free to comment and suggest here. I love supporting independent presses. Thanks!

—Consistent with the work I do with my books and advocacy for artists, I’ll be sharing profiles of artists who inspire me, who I have met along the way during my book/conversation tours, who are amazing how they are generous to other artists in partnership with SpeakEasy on Monday, February 22nd starting at 6pmPST/9pmEST. REGISTER HERE.

—Community building and empowerment is what happens when we all get together for the Creative Capital workshops I’m honored to direct. I’m performing another 4-part series that will start in March. REGISTER HERE.

—Have you applied to the Chautauqua School of Art Residency Program? If you’re 21 years of age without any educational restriction, love being an artist, want to experiment, explore, learn and enjoy at Chautauqua, why not join us? Applying is a win/win: anyone who does not receive acceptance into our program will receive a response and brief feedback on their application. In addition, we will host a Zoom gathering with those who did not receive admission into the School of Art residency program with an offer to take a Masters Session with one of our Lead Faculty. It’s so important to me that EVERYONE who applies for an opportunity receive something back from the process. APPLICATIONS CLOSE ON MARCH 2. APPLY HERE.

—Want to know more about residency programs? Join us for this panel on February 24 at 2pm hosted by the New York Academy of Art.

Thank you again for visiting. I hope to see you soon!

Warmly, Sharon

News, Resources, Exhibition and Signs of Solidarity

Hello, there! How are you? I hope you’re feeling well today. Thanks for stopping by here! It’s lovely that you would.

I’m excited to share with you more of the Chautauqua Visual Arts new website. Wow: not only do we have a lot of resources to share, we have galleries that will host interviews, conversations, opportunities for artists to share their work YEAR ‘ROUND. Chautauqua Institution is a nonprofit organization that promotes an inclusive, wide-ranging program of art and artists. I hope you’ll check it out, say hello and visit often!

We also have a blog to share news, articles and topics of interest. Here’s our first blog post.

I’m excited about yet again organizing a new lecture series, this time for the Chautauqua Visual Arts. This year, we have 9 lectures of thought leaders visiting each Tuesday evening from 6:30-8:30pm. Be a part of it: watch, learn, participate! You can find our lecture series on the Virtual Porch: porch.chq.org. Our next lecture will be with Salvador Jimenez-Flores on Tuesday, July 7, 6:30-8:30pm. Look out for a video of Mitra Khorasheh’s talk yesterday! It was wonderful. I’ll be sure to post it on social media and the CVA website soon.

On a personal note, Cheryl Numark & Cheryl Numark Art Advisory is hosting a solo on-line exhibition of 10 years of my paintings and drawings. I’m grateful to be working with Cheryl again, as we are dear friends and we have always collaborated so well together. Cheryl and I worked together while her gallery was in operation for over 10 years and have stayed in touch since. If you have a chance, check it out and her website full of projects and various art work she has placed. And say hello!: info@numarkartadvisory.com

Inspiration of late: Protesters all over the country, Mitra’s signs and symbols store, Hrag’s podcasts and Sarah Cooper’s performative sketches among many other things. How about you? Where are you finding inspiration lately? I’d love to know.

Finally, during a few walks around an empty Chautauqua, I’ve seen some signs of solidarity. I will be adding to them as soon as I have a chance to take another walk.

Thanks for reading, saying hello, being in touch! Hoping you’re safe and well.

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Funding and Opportunities in the age of COVID19

Hi there! How are you? I hope you’re feeling good despite what is happening in the world.

I don’t know about you, but since I have been at home due to the COVID-19 crisis, I have been worrying about health, health of my community, sustaining a creative life, money, lack of opportunities and the future unknown on a daily basis. But some resources and projects have given me some hope. I thought I would share of few of them with you here. Thanks for reading and supporting one another during this time of uncertainty:

NYFA.org: Emergency Grants
Creative Capital: COVID-19 resources, April & May Opportunities
National Endowment of the Arts: COVID-19 Resources for Artists and Arts Organizations
H/T: Samantha Fields: Biomythart, 4TH WALL AR APP, Play Music on the Porch Day
H/T: Jillian Steinhauer: COVID-19 & Freelance Artists

The Common Field convening starts on April 23! This is an opportunity to connect, learn from and be a part of a community of artist community leaders from all over the country. Registration is open now! Click here for more information. The convening is FREE.

I recently led this workshop, which I hope will happen again in the fall. Each time I conduct this workshop, I share information passed along by others. Who knows what our communities will look like then, but I’m happy to listen, receive and share. If you have anything to pass along, I’m happy to receive it and share with others.

For both artists and administrators, you may want to check out this webinar I was happy to conduct with artist Julia Bloom on mentorship for the Americans for the Arts. I learned a lot from Julia and grateful for the opportunity to work with her as well as the generous people at the Americans for the Arts.

Finally, thank you to all of the health-care workers, the volunteers, and the leaders in our own communities for all of the amazing efforts on our behalf right now. It’s such a strange and fragile time, and I am very grateful for those who are lifting up others.

Wishing you the very best,

Sharon

Oklahoma City, OK
February 2020