INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINED CREATIVITY

The Institute for Sustained Creativity (ISC) is a service organization, communication hub and research think-tank producing real-life, pragmatic solutions and tangible pathways for artists to sustain their creative lives.

MISSION:

Our focus is to share transparent and effective problem-solving strategies that can provide clear pathways for artists to sustain their lives in ways that benefit the communities in which they live and work. In the process of collecting, analyzing, creating and sharing usable solutions for artists, we aim to strengthen and connect educational organizations, nonprofits, governmental entities, and artist communities together in an open and generous arts ecosystem.

WHAT WE ADVOCATE FOR:

The Institute for Sustained Creativity challenges arts leaders and community stakeholders to create forward-thinking policies and pedagogies that elevate the importance of the arts — and artists — in all sectors of the economy. By combining grass-roots artist and administrative experience with strategic communications and community building, we advocate for the following:

• Making transparent the pathways by which artists can sustain creative lives.

• Strengthening the message that artists give to the well-being of others.

• Connecting siloed organizations and community leaders to facilitate collaboration.

• Breaking down historic myths into real-life messaging of artists’ lives today in the 21st century.

• Sharing accurate reports and recommendations of contemporary practices in pedagogy and micro problem-solving for individual artists to sustain their lives.

• Artistic expression as essential for freedom of speech.

• Building arts throughout our education systems.

• Transforming the messaging about artists — ie: there is no such thing as a “day job" or a “teaching artist”; artists come from abundance and not a deficit, etc.

WHY ISC IS IMPORTANT NOW:

Currently, there is no single organization solely committed to providing specific and pragmatic information that helps artists sustain creative lives. Services and programming that is currently missing from arts networks include:

1. No central hub collecting data about pathways to sustainability.

2. No entity identifying, mapping, and disseminating lists of community leaders throughout the country.

3. Transparent recommendations on how artists can sustain their lives are not being shared in arts channels.

4. Collaboration between academic institutions providing Professional Development pedagogy is non-existent.

The Institute for Sustained Creativity provides guidance, micro-strategies, and match-making among disparate stakeholders to address the myriad issues facing artists as they navigate their lives. These services are also provided to organizations whose aim is to support artists (and the arts): nonprofits, museums, academic institutions, governmental entities, etc.

For instance, in parts of the country where artists do not have access to such information and hands-on guidance, the ISC communication hub provides an important resource of support. Opportunities for intergenerational learning are currently limited across arts communities, and ISC is an invaluable conduit for developing new relationships between age-groups. Because many contemporary methods to sustain a life as an artist are opaque to not only artists themselves, but to the general population as well, ISC unmasks and makes normal the realities of who artists are today, revealing their contributions to communities and how integrated they are in everyday life — particularly how they contribute to the well-being of others.

HOW WE SERVE ARTISTS:

The ultimate measure of our success comes with creating, identifying and expanding opportunities for artists: sharing/making transparent/recommending standard practices for contemporary professional development programs and curriculums; facilitating exhibition opportunities, speaking engagements, and intergenerational collaborations; emphasizing interdisciplinary cross-over; creating jobs; and acting as a catalyst for many other sustainable practices. We want to see artists valued beyond one central art world, working, freely expressing, garnering opportunities and further integrated in society.

Our services to artists are focused in three main areas:

1) PRAGMATIC PROBLEM-SOLVING PROGRAMS FOR WORKING ARTISTS

At ISC, generosity is at the forefront of all interactions and conversations, including Professional Development guidance to artists which yields ready and future opportunities:

• Consultation, education and advisement to individual artists from generous mentors. These mentors are leaders in academia, arts journalism, small arts organizations, regional nonprofits & museums, and other diverse sectors (medical, administrative, corporate, etc).

• Peer-to-peer town hall forums, workshops and individual artist sessions identifying and resolving artists’ needs and wants.

• Catalytic “match-making” between artists and arts organizations, community builders, and different sectors.

• Training for artists as community arts leaders.

• Access to database of contacts, including mentors, thought leaders, and others with specific expertise.

• A comprehensive website to support all inquiries when asked for advice and/or content.

• Participants become part of a shared, accessible community (with permission to include their contact information).

• Essential follow-up and continued conversations.

Why it’s needed:

Although Professional Development for artists has been growing over the years, we have found deficiencies that need addressing:

1. Much of the information being disseminated is not pragmatic.

2. Many schools do not teach models of sustainability.

3. Underrepresented areas of the country lack an arts infrastructure that provides access to opportunities to sustain a creative life.

We bring to our advocacy more than 10 years of grass-roots data, which is based on solid, concrete research collecting and addressing artists and arts organizations needs and wants.

Sustaining a creative life includes meeting the financial, emotional and physical needs of artists. Identifying these needs and bringing communities together results in increased opportunities that enhance and grow creative lives.

2) PARTNERSHIPS

The ISC Partnerships Program fosters diverse partnerships that are critical to pollinating new ideas and relationships, out of which ultimately spring sustainable opportunities for individual artists and the partners themselves. Contributors are selected by their values, needs, and commitment to further integrating working artists into society.

We serve as a match-maker, connecting like-minded organizations who can benefit from working together. For example, we might introduce a small community college to a large state school to create an exhibition exchange program. Or like-minded organizations might share simple resources such as mailing lists and curriculum, all focused on building out a new arts industry framework based on pragmatic solutions to helping artists sustain their lives. Partnering usually transcends monetary exchange and we’ve found many overlapping initiatives exist that can be strengthened through collaboration. We are currently working with over 60 partners in the effort to create a transparent community of like-minded, value-driven, grass-roots, academic and nonprofit organizations in the US and abroad. If you have an interest in joining us, feel free to contact us.

Key Components:

• Facilitating a fluid exchange of pragmatic information between diverse groups of organizations with shared values and attention to rural and underprivileged/underserved communities.

• Catalytic “match-making” between academic institutions and arts organizations to incubate solutions.

• Convenings with academic institutions and other organizations.

• Membership — partners that participate in ISC receive hands-on data and access to our network, advice, and direction.

• Connecting with university and college Career Development departments to provide sustainable pathways and current professional development to share with their students.

Why It’s Needed:

In the visual arts, no central place exists for institutions to exchange ideas and resources focused on sustaining artists’ lives. By connecting organizations to each other who normally would not be aware of similar issues being faced across sectors, we are leveraging the power of collaboration to address the abundance vs. scarcity paradigm. Although the arts are increasingly interdisciplinary, ISC provides the DNA to connect the tissue between siloed organizations in music, theater, dance and the literary arts that can lead to untraditional opportunities for creators of all stripes. Our shared networks are essential to increasing sustainable options between our partners. By sharing resources and contemporary pedagogy, our programs allow academic institutions to receive objective, current information outside of their own often isolated departments.

Partners with whom we are in conversation:

As a result of previous partners programs Sharon Louden has built, she amassed a wide network of more than 60 institutions and organizations she worked with at Chautauqua Visual Arts: Augusta University, Austin Peay State University, Bunnell Street Arts Center, Eastern Tennessee State University, Erie Art Museum, Florida State University, Foundwork, Georgia Southern University, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality, International Sculpture Center, California State University - Northridge (CSUN), Marshall University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Ohio University, Penn State University, Ringling School of Art and Design, Schweinfurth Art Center, Sheridan College, Tyler School of Art, University of Central Arkansas, University of Florida and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to name a few.

We are focused on public institutions, community colleges, and public universities in rural areas of the United States where marginalized communities may benefit most from the resources and networking we offer.

3) PUBLISHING: RECOMMENDED PRACTICES

ISC will provide substantive and accurate scholarly research that will support ground-breaking policies aimed at improving current practices in pedagogy, hiring systems, outreach, and professional development in all of the arts. We will become a center for the ongoing collection of professional development curricula taught in academia and other institutions in order to find threads between, and to make recommendations on, best practices. All of our publishing will support and inform every aspect of our focused areas. As we collaborate with partners, we will provide current research to share with each. We will make real-time data available on our website to support our consulting and resource-connecting efforts. And all of our advocacy strategies will be backed up by past, current, and future studies, reports, and data sets.

Key Components:

• Identifying, mapping and growing a database of generous arts community leaders to share and distribute.

• Culling data from grass-roots efforts.

• Leveraging our partnership collaborations to exchange and publish research findings.

• Gathering recommendations by selected ISC mentors.

• Sharing recommendations to elevate and expand arts journalism in regional hubs, thereby strengthening published writings in smaller communities (artists writing on artists’ works and their lives, alternative ideas of art criticism, etc.).

• Collecting Professional Development curriculum from every academic institution and organization across the US to analyze, make recommendations, publish and distribute widely.

• Providing nuanced and detailed Professional Development curriculum to all artists.

• Leveraging our website to distribute reports, findings, and other important resources.

Why It’s Needed:

Although the arts research landscape is generally well-funded, there is a need to share the micro-pathways that are helping to sustain careers in the arts. Collecting and publishing professional development curriculum in a central database hub will allow comparisons between the old and the new, unveiling connections previously missed. Based on meetings of thousands of artists in person over the past 10 years, we have learned how important it is to collate data from the front lines of the arts ecosystem.

Identifying important arts leaders is also essential in community building and will contribute to making the arts landscape more transparent. No other entity has compiled this type of data, and ISC will build upon what has been gathered to collaborate with other grass-roots organizations and their findings.

DEAI Focus:

All information and initiatives will be transparent and shared with artists of color, different abilities, women, and those who reside in underserved and underrepresented communities in order to create tangible, pragmatic solutions for sustaining their creative lives.

ISC LEADERSHIP:

With decades of experience as an artist working in academia, the non-profit sector, grassroots organizations, and the corporate world — coupled with Board memberships and organizing countless informal artist community gatherings, Sharon Louden has accumulated a vast trove of personal and professional networks that she activates to help connect individuals and organizations throughout the country.

A natural extension of these efforts is this nascent organization she is launching that will provide the resources to scale nationally.

Informed by collaborations and conversations with gallery owners, museum professionals, critics, curators, 501 (c) (3) organizations, residencies, academics and others in different art communities, her vantage point puts her in a unique position to identify and build relationships between siloed organizations that help to assist in programming initiatives and realizing individual missions.

Sharon’s primary goal as an artist-advocate and communicator is to create opportunities and partnerships for artists and community leaders. Her passion is to bring artists front-and-center to amplify their voices. By focusing on each community’s “needs-and-wants,” she generously shares resources that will lead to sustaining creative lives.

Professional Practice Videos:

PAST ISC WORKSHOPS:

To learn more about The Institute for Sustained Creativity, please contact us here.

Thank You!