The Conversation Book Tour

Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life Over 50

Last Artist Standing: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life Over 50 highlights the lives of 31 artists who have continued to create, contribute, and lead well beyond the age of 50. Many of these artists—often overlooked by the marketplace—offer powerful models of perseverance, adaptability, and creative integrity. Through decades of personal and professional challenges, they have built enduring practices and become mentors to others, illuminating pathways for artists at every stage of life.

By sharing their experiences, Last Artist Standing offers models of resilience, ingenuity, and pragmatic solutions—valuable for artists of all ages and for those both inside and outside the art world. This book amplifies their voices and celebrates the sustaining power of art across a lifetime.

Last Artist Standing Book Tour events explore current, critical issues facing artists over 50, including:

• How artists remain contemporary while adapting through generational and cultural shifts

• Contributions to the well-being of others and their vital role in upholding freedom of expression

• The physical, financial, and professional challenges they overcome to sustain vibrant creative lives

• Significance as role models for those arriving later in life to art-making

Book tour events encompass many different formats:

• Town Hall forums

• Panel Discussions

• Professional Development Workshops

• Connections between organizations, artists and arts leaders

• Organizing Exhibitions/Curating

• Convening of arts leaders, nonprofits, and other venues

Book tour stops (updated weekly):

• September 23-26: Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

• September 26: Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland

• September 30: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

• October 2: University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN

• October 3: Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC

• October 4-6: McColl Center, Charlotte, NC

• October 8-10: Southern Curators Summit, Lake City, SC

• October 26-28: International Sculpture Center Conference, Dallas, TX

• November 9: Al Held Foundation, Boiceville, NY

• November 11: Esse Purse Museum, Little Rock, AR (in partnership with Central Arkansas University, Conway, AR)

• November 12: The Studio Downtown, Conway, AR (in partnership with Central Arkansas University, Conway, AR)

• November 17: NEW YORK PREMIERE: The Strand Bookstore, New York, NY

• November 19: Bates College, Lewinston, ME

• December 4-7: Museum of Art and Design Miami Dade College at the Freedom Tower, Miami, FL

• December 5: Dimensions Variable

Past Book Tour Events & Photos

1. Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists
   (2013 - 2015)
   Photos from the tour

2. Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life
   (2017-2018)
   Photos from the tour

Available now for purchase:

Thank you!

Last Artist Standing is the final publication of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life trilogy. Essays by 40 Working Artists is the first and The Artist as Culture Producer is the second; all published by Intellect Books and distributed by University of Chicago Press.