In the summer of 1999 at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, I had the experience of creating Glow Town with a group of about 30 children. We worked together for an entire day building a Glow Town with cotton dental rolls, glue, cardboard, popsicle sticks, and luminous paint. The idea was to build a town that could transformed when the lights were turned off. This workshop was directly inspired by an installation I did at the Aldrich Museum entitled Tips.

Since then, I have conducted this workshop all over the country through the Education Departments of Museums including the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Katonah Museum of Art and the Birmingham Museum of Art. Participants of all ages have participated in my workshop, from young children to high school students to adults in corporate team building retreats. Glow Town is for all ages and meant to be an exercise to bring people together to create a fantastical world with simple materials, creating a wonderful experience along the way.

Kristen Greenwood, Assistant Curator of Education at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama wrote about Glow Town saying,

"Glow Town with Sharon Louden is absolutely the most exciting workshop for adults and families that I have ever participated in! Sharon's energy is contagious and it is fascinating to watch strangers emerge as teams as they work together to create their own glowing towns. Glow Town is a fun learning experience on so many levels- it promotes teamwork, it teaches people how to use the resources they have on hand, and the glow in the dark paint adds another dimension to this ultra-cool and ultra-fun workshop. Sharon makes each and every participant feel as though they have the power to create whatever they want and she is there cheering them on. I would recommend this workshop to anyone- it is something you will regret not participating in if you have the opportunity!"

November, 2008

GLOWTOWN AT THE 5.4.7 ARTS CENTER

This slide show is images describing 5 consecutive days of "Glow Town" workshops for elementary, middle and high school children in Greensburg, Kansas, from May 17-21, 2010, organized through the 5.4.7 Arts Center.

For more information about workshops and programs at the 5.4.7 Arts Center, please go to their website at www.547artscenter.org or email Stacy Barnes, Executive Director, at sbarnes@547artscenter.org.

For general questions and inquiries about "Glow Town," please email Sharon Louden at info@sharonlouden.com.

All images shown here are © Sharon M. Louden 2010.

• VIDEO INTERVIEW - WIAT 42, Birmingham, AL - 10/04/08
• "Building Glowtown," Dodge City Daily Globe, May 28, 2010

Special thanks to Golden Artist Colors, Inc., for their donations of luminous, phosphorescent medium paint to these workshops.