Living and Sustaining a Creative Life – serie

In this day and age, when art has become more of a commodity and art school graduates are convinced that they can only make a living from their work by attaining gallery representation, it is more important than ever to show the reality of how a professional, contemporary artist sustains a creative practice over time.The 40 essays collected here in Living and Sustaining a Creative Life are written in the artists’ own voices and take the form of narratives, statements and interviews. Each story is different and unique, but the common thread is an ongoing commitment to creativity, inside and outside the studio. Both day-to-day and Big Picture details are revealed, showing how it is possible to sustain a creative practice that contributes to the ongoing dialogue in contemporary art. These stories will inform and inspire any student, young artist and art enthusiast, and will help redefine what ‘success’ means to a professional artist.

When Living and Sustaining a Creative Life was published in 2013, it became an immediate sensation. Edited by Sharon Louden, the book brought together forty essays by working artists, each sharing their own story of how to sustain a creative practice that contributes to the ongoing dialogue in contemporary art. The book struck a nerve – how do artists really make it in the world today? Louden took the book on a sixty-two-stop book tour, selling thousands of copies, and building a movement along the way. Now, Louden returns with a sequel: forty more essays from artists who have successfully expanded their practice beyond the studio and become change agents in their communities. There is a misconception that artists are invisible and hidden, but the essays here demonstrate the truth – artists make a measurable and innovative economic impact in the non-profit sector, in education and in corporate environments.The Artist as Culture Producer illustrates how today's contemporary artists add to creative economies through out-of-the-box thinking while also generously contributing to the well-being of others. By turns humorous, heartbreaking and instructive, the testimonies of these forty diverse working artists will inspire and encourage every reader – from the art student to the established artist. With a foreword by Hyperallergic co-founder and editor-in-chief Hrag Vartanian, The Artist as Culture Producer is set to make an indelible mark on the art world – redefining how we see and support contemporary artists. Louden's worldwide book tour begins in March 2017. More information and tour dates can be found online at www.livesustain.org.

This anthology, Storytellers of Art Histories, gives voice to those who are reshaping art histories: not only art historians and curators, but also archivists and artists.There is a special focus on gender, race (including Whiteness), class, sexuality and transnationality – all of which are often marginalized in dominant art histories. Each of the contributors in this book has provided short, often very personal, contributions describing how they began to become passionate about their practice. A particular feature of the collection is that there are twice as many contributions by women than by men.The contributors respond in a multitude of surprising ways, appealing equally to people enmeshed in the field through their work and to those simply interested in the field. The stories you will read take various forms – a letter written to a friend, a revisioned grant application, the pastiche of image and text, children’s fables, interviews, co-authored narrative, memoir, manifesto, apology. A number of the essays perform, through a combination of recollected early memory alongside scholarly research, the roots of the theories they explore through publishing, curating and archival work.Many of the contributors embody overlapping cultural diasporas that suggest the porousness of borders, challenging the field to understand itself as a product of regional art histories. Collecting this range of narratives born from different workplaces and disciplines speaks to our belief in the potential boundlessness of the art histories that shape the stories we consume.Storytellers of Art Histories brings together the first-person narratives of an international group of art historians, curators, artists and archivists. This much-needed book book fills a significant gap in the literature, showing how these practitioners’ works come together productively in the teaching and writing of art history. The anthology also illuminates the relationship between curatorial studies and art history.Primary readership will include artists, art historians, archivists, curators and educators. It will be a useful resource for educators and students connected with undergraduate courses in art history, contemporary art history and curatorial and museum studies.

Part of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, edited by Sharon Louden, Artists as Writers offers first-person narratives that explore the day-to-day lives of individuals who use writing as both a creative practice and a means of sustaining their daily lives.This collection features thirty-two chapters where writers share their insights, offering pathways for others to follow. They delve into how they balance multiple roles, the choices they made, the challenges they faced and the successes they achieved.Contributors include writers from Ethiopia, Jamaica, Guatemala, Nigeria, Palestine, Poland, Sweden and the United States, who vividly recount the circuitous journeys that brought them to where they are today. Through richly detailed stories, they reveal how writing became a central force in their lives and how it continues to sustain them emotionally, creatively and financially.