The Artists of Salon 7
Santo Jacobsson (he/him)
2023 Visual Artist in Residence
“here for the community.”
Santo Jacobsson is a Swedish-Ecuadorian illustrator based in East Village and Williamsburg. He is a proud American Illustration Award winner and has had work at Lincoln Center. Currently working as a Graphic Designer for Flyers Cocktail Co, working on his graphic novel, and freelancing. His work focuses on the surreal experience of living as a trans person. He uses art as a tool to build community with other trans and non-binary people around the world by sharing each individual's experience in their identity.
Franco Giacomarra (he/him)
2023 Performance Artist in Residence
“Finding your place in between two worlds”
Franco Giacomarra is a Puerto Rican and Sicilian writer, composer, and performer based in New York City. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Franco's work encompasses a variety of written and audiovisual media, ranging from screenplays to comic books and musical theater. His work often synthesizes aspects of these forms with conventions of genre fiction and other idiosyncratic storytelling combinations.
Kelly B. Bran (she/her)
“Illuminating dreams, loss, heartbreak & bliss”
Kelly Bran brings a fresh take on folk, country, and rock. Drawing on influences from alternative women of the 90's, her upcoming debut EP chronicles the path to finding her voice as an independent artist. Shedding the boxes that many have forced on her along the way, she weaves intimate stories between our heaviest burdens and most joyful moments.
James Kenna (he/him)
“My D&D group is busy, so I have to write other stories too”
James Kenna (he/him/his) is a playwright, dramaturg, and actor and has called many theatre’s artistic homes. Such places include: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Hangar Theatre, Vivid Stage (resident playwright), and The 52nd Street Project. He’s passionate about telling funny and gripping stories stemming from blue-collar sentiments and fantastical circumstances.
Patty Mahaney (they/them)
“I love art and I love therapy”
Patty Mahaney is an interdisciplinary artist who works in printmaking and performance. They engage with themes of family histories, childhood memories, and diasporic melancholia. They draw much inspiration from their non-binary and Filipinx-American identities—cultural traditions, stories, objects, and so on. Patty creates art as a form of self-expression and a tool for social change—bringing light to historical and interpersonal narratives that may be erased by dominant culture.
Megan Paris (she/her)
“language-first flash fiction that focuses on feminine grief, nature as religion, and queer relationships”
Megan Paris is a short fiction writer based out of Brooklyn, NY. She was previously published in Lesbians Are Miracles Mag and Bear Creek Gazette. She is a co-editor for Moot Point Magazine, and is passionate about reading and writing, good music, and celebrity gossip.
Jason Tyus Smith (he/him)
“Little writer boy doing his best to not do his worst”
From Texas, not of Texas (yes, there’s a difference), Jason Tyus Smith is here to do his absolute best to not do his absolute worst. Creative has always been his passion, save for a moment where he wanted to be an oceanographer.
Claire A. Talbott (she/her)
"A multimedia artist who questions her reality with image and space."
Claire A. Talbott is a Brooklyn-based video and projection designer. Recent work includes the 2022 League of Legends World Championship Opening Ceremony (Comp Artist, Possible Productions), Justin Bieber's JUSTICE International Arena Tour (Comp Artist, Possible Productions), Kidz Bop LIVE! (Animator, FragmentNine), Dear Mom, Sorry For Being A Bitch (Projection Designer, Soho Playhouse) Quills Fest (3D artist, Oregon Shakespeare Festival), and Geraldine Realigned (Projection Design, The Brick). In addition to projection design/animation, Claire is a director, graphic designer, and installation artist
Emmy Wildermuth (she/her)
“Passionate Storyteller of a Curious Nature”
Emmy Wildermuth is a New York City based freelance artist. Currently, Emmy is a member of companies including Kizuna Dance, NewBrese Dance, and rogue wave. Additionally Emmy has presented work in New York City at Arts On Site, TADA! Theater, and Mark Morris Dance Center. Emmy and her artistic partner, Catherine Messina, founded the unKEMpT Dance Festival, with a mission to provide performance opportunities for artists, regardless of background or resources. She continues to choreograph, edit, and produce dance films and staged choreographic works that inspire others to view the world through a redefined lens.
Marc David Wright (he/him)
“I’ll make it happen”
Marc David wright is a director/producer of theatre and film, community creator, and arts educator. Born and raised in Bayonne, NJ, Marc crossed the Hudson to study acting at Fordham University (B.A. Theatre 2019). He discovered directing at school, where his production of Dark Play or Stories For Boys received an Ars Nova research grant to travel to Edinburgh Fringe, where it was named one of the “10 Must-See LGBT Shows” of the festival. Theatre: Singfeld! A Musical Parody About Nothing (Now Playing Off-Broadway), Planet W: A New Musical in Concert (The Green Room 42), Sanctuary City (Pasadena Playhouse, AD), Self Tape (Alchemical Studios), What to Expect When You’re Expecting Our Lord and Savior (The Players Theater), Dark Play or Stories For Boys (Edinburgh Fringe, Fordham). Film: Enterprise 25: A Cinematic Advent Calendar for Instagram, As You Like It or the Pursuit of Love in Shared Isolation, Slay!. Proud drama teacher and director at several children’s and high school theatre education programs across New Jersey.
Emily B. Yang (she/her)
“Invoking speculative and feminist interpretations of Confucian ideals and ancestor worship in ceramic and block print work”
Born and educated in the United States, Emily B. Yang's artistic practice is inspired by traditional Chinese porcelain longevity motifs and their evolution as they migrated with the diaspora. In her work, she researches how Chinese immigrants adapted existing symbols and invented symbols over time to tell stories of their new contexts. Her own family migrated from China to Taiwan, Malaysia, and the United States over several generations—a story shared by many in the diaspora as they escaped economic hardship. Each migration led to a new multicultural design language and identity.
Having studied design and ceramics at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, Emily's work references principles of speculative design—imagining possible futures and designing for preferable ones. During block printing residencies in Jaipur, India, she intersected her speculative approach with traditional woodblock carving. While referencing familiar motifs from Chinese porcelain, combining them with new imagined symbols and old family photographs, she also invokes a speculative feminist interpretation of Confucian ideals and ancestor worship in her ceramic and block print work.
Our Team
Caroline Potter Shriver, Co-Founder & Programming Director
Marc David Wright, Co-Founder & Creative Director
Dana Seach, Managing Director
Riva Dhamala, Creative Consultant & UX Designer
Special Thanks
Alchemical Studios
Manatsu Aminaga
Daniel Bloch
Kirill Bykanov
Juan Castro
Emily Cattan
The Massarelli Family
Luke Momo
Saul Nache
Juliana Rivera
Ellie Ryan
Jordan Ryder
Sydney Skye
Claudia Thiedmann
Mellie Way
Cooper Wilson
Sarah Woods
Valentina Zazzali