Summer Salon |

m a r g i n

Welcome to the Summer Salon! Our Salons are meant to cultivate spaces for artists to create around a specific theme, share work with the community, and engage in thoughtful conversation.

Tonight, you will experience the work of seventeen different artists, and their work around the idea of margin. You can learn more about each artist below, and how you can connect with them further.

  • Abby Park is an NYC based Korean-American illustrator and fine artist. She graduated from the illustration program at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Through her work she explores the beauty of human connection, nostalgia, and her personal relationship with God. @tealraindrops 

  • I love to write, and believe thoughtful words can make an impression upon the heart. @jclifg 

  • Jason Fujikuni is a son, brother, and friend. He lives in New York City.

  • Cade is a barista who recently started dabbling in songwriting again after many years away from it.

  • Kindred recently moved to NYC to pursue a career in Musical Theatre. She graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee in 2024 and now spends her time auditioning, dabbling in songwriting, and investing in Christian creative community. She faithfully serves coffee to the people of NYC by day, and considers her work as a barista to be her most creative work to date! @kindred_moore 

  • Alexa Cummins is the Program Coordinator of Creative Practice in the Education department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this role she develops material-focused hands-on art making experiences for adults. She has prior work experience at institutions including Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the New Museum, Creative Time, and the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Alexa has her B.A. in Art Education from Michigan State University and earned her master's degree in Museum Studies from New York University. Alexa works across media including watercolor, photography, collage, and most recently, weaving. She finds joy in uplifting fellow creatives. @alexacummins

  • Leah Beth Etheredge is a deeply passionate New York-based director and theater-maker who brings bold storytelling, collaborative leadership, and a love for character-driven work to every project she is honored to bring together. @lbetheredge 

  • Kaleb Michael Fair is a new creation and an interdisciplinary artist, redeemed by Jesus Christ. He has a background in musical theatre and is a graduate of the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. He currently resides in the intersection between the arts and faith. Kaleb is involved with a number of redemptive artistic ministries, including…

    The Hang NYC - A parachurch ministry which exists to support artists in New York City, socially, professionally, and spiritually

    Open Art Night - A bi-monthly event produced in association with OneCo Hell’s Kitchen, which offers a platform for artists to showcase their work in New York’s Theatre District

    The Story Of God - A one act musical storytelling adaptation of the Bible, following God’s arc of redemption from Genesis to Revelation

    and Creative.NYC :)


  • Khanyi Nawa is a poet rooted in Botswana and shaped by South Africa and the U.S. Since 2017, her spoken and written poetry reflects a Christ-inspired view of the world - where colors shine brighter and people hold deeper meaning. This marks her first New York performance after work with the517PoetryRoom in East Lansing, MI. @noeticnawa 

  • Cory Terrell is a Creator, Performer, Scriber, and Artistic Defender. Trained in 15 years of theatrical & cinematic performance. 2024 Atlantic Acting School NYC Graduate. International House Global Representative, NYFW 2024 Runway Model. Church of the City Attendee, New Circle Theater Company selected Playwright, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poet, and Creative NYC Christian selected performer. @thecoryterrell

  • Architect and Urban Designer, investigating how art and design can promote healthier and more compassionate cities and human relationships. Graduate from the Master of Architecture and Master of Science in Urban Planning programs at Columbia University. Born in São Paulo, Brazil. @thiago_lee

  • Laura Hu is a painter and novelist interested in themes of redemption, temporality, and variance. After encountering the person of Jesus in 2016, all of her art has been an attempt to articulate the transcendent beauty and poignancy of grace. She has an engineering background kept primarily in the background. She keeps her phone in grayscale. @laurku 

  • At ten years old, John Matthew Gillen was sent to a summer camp where campers were allowed one elective activity. John was the only camper who chose Storytelling. The camp director asked him to choose another class so they wouldn't have to offer Storytelling that year. John refused. Since then, he has been fired for writing poetry at work, cussed out by the Chief Clerk of the United States Supreme Court for accusing him of Satan worship, and has spent over $10,000 on tickets to Bob Dylan concerts. John's first novel, American Blasphemer, was published in May, 2020, and premiered at #1 in the world on Amazon’s Kindle Store in American Literary Fiction. He is a poet, songwriter, filmmaker, and he lives on the island of Manhattan. @gangsterpriest 

  • Rob Tarleton is a New York City-based photographer originally from Jeanerette, Louisiana. A graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a background in Industrial Design, Rob first picked up a camera to document his creative projects. Over time, photography evolved from a practical tool into a calling. Rob’s works primarily with a mix of digital and film. Drawing inspiration from classic artists and contemporary photographer alike, Rob creates timeless portraits, editorial features, and documentary-style street and event work. @rob.tarleton 

  • Ellen Stedfeld is a native New Yorker, now based in LIC Queens - who prays, draws and/or writes along with various other creative practices. @ellesaurarts 

  • Katie Breland is an NYC-based dancer and choreographer. She is a company member of the contemporary dance company, the DASH Ensemble. She is a teacher and choreographer and is on faculty with Adrenaline and Revive Dance Conventions. Her choreography was recently performed in Italy at the DAP festival Gala. Katie has recently dipped her toe in the musical theater realm, and is about to take her first voice lesson! AH! She is a freelance florist and frequents Fort Tyron park for inspiration. @katie.breland 

  • Josh is an engineer and creative technologist who recently left his dream job at Spotify, where he led machine learning work on products like AI DJ, AI Playlists, and Smart Shuffle. Through modeling user experience for recommendations, creating with photography and film, and exploring the outdoors, he develops his work around the spiritual push and pull of the human desire to capture and discover. With his newfound freedom, Josh is navigating a new chapter of building digital art experiments and audiovisual experiences that help illuminate unknown unknowns. @jphamjournal 

JOIN US FOR THE CREATIVE CONFERENCE

This October, we are hosting our second Creative Conference! We are hungry to see a historic move of God in our day, and we long to see the manifest presence of God break into our cities through the arts. The conference will feature keynote speakers, a professional maker's panel, and space for prayer and worship. 

We believe we are not the light itself, but witnesses of the true Light. New York serves as a home for artists across mediums and styles, and Church of the City hopes to reflect that deep well of creativity in our city. Whether you consider yourself an artist, want to explore new avenues of creativity, or have an appreciation for the arts, we want to invite you to join us at the creative.nyc conference. 

We are the peacemakers, the light bearers, the undignified celebrants. We gather to build a framework of being mission in our respective industries to lift eyes to Jesus by the work of our hands.  

We will be featuring a small gallery of work from people attending the conference. If you would like your visual art to be featured, you can fill out the form HERE. 

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