Art in Dialogue: "Last Artist Standing" Panel Discussion & Book Signing

"Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life" Panel Discussion and Book Signing

Join Sharon Louden, New York–based artist, educator, advocate, and community builder, for a timely conversation about sustaining a creative life over a lifetime, featuring artists included in the exhibition Here and Now: 100 Years of LUAG, 100 Local Artists. This public program will explore what it means to build and maintain an artistic practice across decades, with particular attention to aging, care, precarity, and the pivotal moments that shape creative lives.

This conversation is part of a national dialogue inspired by Sharon Louden’s recent anthology, Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life Over 50 (Intellect Books, 2025), which brings together personal narratives from artists who have continued to create well into the second half of their lives. In conversation with Louden, participating artists will reflect on their own experiences and extend the book’s themes through shared discussion.
Stay tuned for updated information about participating panelists.

Free and open to the public. Registration is limited. Please register in advance here.
 

If you require assistance filling out this form, prefer to share your registration information via email or phone, or have questions, concerns, or any accessibility needs, please email Elise at ejs421@lehigh.edu or call 610-758-6882.

Sharon Louden is a New York–based artist, educator, advocate, and community builder whose work centers on sustaining creative lives. She is the founder and director of the Institute for Sustained Creativity and the editor of the acclaimed Living and Sustaining a Creative Life book series. A committed changemaker, Louden amplifies artists’ voices, bridges communities, and creates meaningful opportunities for artists across disciplines, particularly those underserved within institutional structures.

Louden received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA from Yale University. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in major collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Her artistic practice spans writing, drawing, painting, sculpture, and large-scale, site-specific installations, and is rooted in collaboration, advocacy, and lived experience as a working artist.
In addition to her studio practice, Louden is a sought-after speaker, educator, and consultant. She has held leadership roles in nonprofit and academic institutions, including serving as Artistic Director of Chautauqua Visual Arts, and continues to teach, mentor, and advise artists worldwide. All of her work—whether artistic, editorial, or organizational—is grounded in building sustainable, inclusive ecosystems for artists. For more information about Sharon’s books please visit livesustain.org.

Art in Dialogue is a series of interdisciplinary conversations between members of the university and the wider community - reflecting the ways in which their work is dynamically engaged with other fields of inquiry.