INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINED CREATIVITY
“As a working contemporary artist, I know that artists give to the well-being of others and are the pillars of freedom of speech in our devotion to lifelong learning. Yet our viability as specialists in society seems to be continually misunderstood and undervalued. Because of these pressing issues, we have created the Institute for Sustained Creativity, a service organization devoted to sharing transparent pathways toward sustaining creative lives.”
The Institute for Sustained Creativity (ISC) is a peer-to-peer service organization for artists and arts organizations. We provide guidance, micro-strategies, and match-making among disparate stakeholders to address the myriad issues facing artists today.
Sharon Louden Leading a Professional Practice Workshop, UCSD
2020
MISSION:
We provide pragmatic solutions that empower artists to build and maintain sustainable creative lives. We also connect and collaborate with educational organizations, nonprofits, government entities, businesses, and other like-minded partners to foster a brave, open and generous arts ecosystem—one that that supports and benefits artists and enriches the communities in which they live and work.
WHAT WE ADVOCATE FOR:
The Institute for Sustained Creativity challenges arts leaders and community partners 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.
WHAT WE PROVIDE:
Services that connect museums, academic institutions, nonprofits, artist-run spaces, galleries, and non-art organizations to share resources on how artists contribute to societal well-being.
Central hub and think-tank that gathers data on pathways to sustainability in order to publish reports disseminated to stakeholders and the general public.
Identifying, mapping, and sharing lists of community leaders in the arts globally.
Collaboration with academic institutions to help propagate best practices of Professional Development programming.
Keynote speaking at conferences, artist talks, informal get-togethers, remote meet-ups, etc.
Messaging and education about the arts industry to non-art centric entities and communities.
HOW WE SERVE ARTISTS >
HOW WE SERVE organizations >
HOW WE SERVE the general public >
Workshops & Engagements Videos:
”The Mechanics of Sustaining a Creative Life”
EXCERPTS:
Appearance before Arts Administrators as part of the Colorado Creative Industries Summit, Crested Butte, CO
June 1, 2023
”Building a Sustainable & Creative Career in the Arts”
EXCERPTS:
University of California San Diego
San Diego Community College District
Yale University (2/20/20)
Students & Faculty in Visual Arts, Theater, Music, History & Literature
February 27, 2020
PAST ISC WORKSHOPS:
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.
DEAI focus:
All information and initiatives are 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.
To join our journey and contribute to our efforts, please support us as a fiscally-sponsored entity with RedLine Contemporary Art Center: