Sharon Louden is an artist, educator, advocate for artists, editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and the artistic director of the visual arts at Chautauqua Institution. Her work is held in major public and private collections, has been written about in national and international publications, and is also active serving on boards and committees of various nonprofit arts organizations. She currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and works for Creative Capital and the Joan Mitchell Foundation as a consultant. Louden actively volunteers her time to artists to further their careers.