Description:

Sharon Louden
New York, (b.1964)
Untitled, 2009
gouache, gel medium, and metallic ink on paper
Exhibited: Gallery Joe, Philadelphia.

Excerpt from an article in The New Yorker: Louden, who moved to New York in 1991 after completing her MFA at Yale University, started to wonder why no one talked about how to make a career in the arts viable. Despite the passion she had for her burgeoning career, showing in galleries and museums in and beyond New York, she found herself plagued by worries about whether "it was the right path." A life-long connector and teacher, Louden was drawn to educational roles, mentorship, and community work even as her pieces were sought after across the art world. As she built a career that focused as much on artist advocacy as it did her studio work, the worrying fell away, and her mission became clear. "I want to share and give as much as I can in the short life I have," explains Loudon, from her Brooklyn studio. The artist went on to write the first two books in a series titled Living and Sustaining a Creative Life, both collections of essays about working artists—a group of diverse creative individuals who work with a wide range of media, all of whom generously reveal how they make their iteration of the artist's life possible.

Louden's many successes have catapulted her far beyond the worries of her early days in New York's nineties art scene: her glistening sculptures and sparse, linear paintings are held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In January 2024, she had a solo show at Signs and Symbols gallery in downtown Manhattan, and her book, Last Artist Standing, which highlights artists over the age of 50, will be published later in the year. But when she works with other artists, she first focuses on the basics that plagued her back then. Sustainability begins with healthcare, a steady income, and a place to create, she explains. "The myth that artists can live from gallery sales is just a myth," she says. "It's only one piece of the ecosystem." Grants, non-profit organizations, and teaching roles are ways to supplement their income, and financial solutions, such as those from Lincoln Financial Group, can help protect and grow their savings. Lincoln Financial, who supported our video of Louden's studio, offers annuities, life insurance*, and other products that allow artists like Louden to continue to support their passions.

  • Dimensions: 5"H x 5"W(paper), 9 1/2"H x 9 1/2"W(frame)
  • Medium: gouache, gel medium, and metallic ink on paper

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April 26, 2025 11:00 AM EDT
Indianapolis, IN, US

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