Lido Pimienta is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter.[2] She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, La Papessa, won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. Her music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, including traditional indigenous and Afro-Colombian musical styles such as Cumbia and Bullerengue, as well as contemporary synthpop and electronic music. Lido will be performing live at the Lantern Party at Artshack this September!

Certainly! Here’s a more concise and polished version of the bio: Alva Calymayor, a visual artist from Mexico City now based in both New York and Mexico City, explores social issues, perceptions of safety, and patterns of mass consumption through her art. Her interdisciplinary approach emphasizes process-driven learning and play, reflecting her role as both an artist and the founder of Art Experimentos. Previously, Alva ran the artist-run space Eyelevel BQE, which was highlighted in Exit Art's "Alternative Histories," curated by Herb Tam - celebrating pioneering alternative art venues in New York. Her work has been featured in notable exhibitions such as Astral America, Chaos/Control, and Harvest the Night, and she has exhibited in both the U.S. and Mexico, including at Casa Maauad in Mexico City and the Spring Break Art Show in New York. Alva’s contributions extend to her role as a mentor in NYFA's Program Mentorship for Immigrants and her involvement in the Bronx Artists in the Marketplace program. Recognized for her non-commercial approach to art, she co-founded Eyelevel BQE in 2008 and has been acknowledged in publications like Interview Magazine and MIT Press. Her innovative printmaking earned her a grant from the Stephen Sprouse Scholarship Fund.

McKendree Key founded Artshack in 2008, and turned Artshack into a nonprofit in 2016. McKendree is a professional artist with over 20 years of teaching experience. She is a native New Yorker and taught art with Studio in a School for 8 years. She has taught workshops at Socrates Sculpture Park , P.S.1, and The Whitney Museum of American Art. She taught art education at Pratt Institute for 3 years. She holds an MFA from Hunter College and a BFA from Colorado College. She studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Scultpure, and has exhibited her work at P.S.1, The Sculpture Center, CUE Art Foundation, The Institute for Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Socrates Sculpture Park, and The Brooklyn Museum, among other venues. In 2023, McKendree founded Keepsake Gallery, a space within Artshack where she leads and exhibits collaborative art projects with community members and kids. photo: Gabriela Herman

Braden is inspired by nature and organic matter, he teaches various adult classes on and off. His work can be viewed at rootedceramicsnyc.com

Atlas is a project manager, studio technician, and teacher at Artshack Brooklyn. They work to help maintain and improve the different systems and equipment used throughout the ceramic making process. Outside of studio work, he is a sculptor, ceramicist, and art historian. His work is centered around different traditional crafts, and the limitless possibilities of combining different practices. They draw inspiration from ceramics, glasswork, textiles, and woodwork to create art that is an extension of the individual craft or trade. By combining different mediums and crafts, they are creating a practice where boundaries are arbitrary and tradition can be rewritten.

Michael Dajour (he/she/they) is a photographer from Brooklyn, New York. Michael finds fulfillment in making others feel beautiful, included, and represented through their body of work. Inspiring to one day create a safe space for all youth that will grant them limitless creative expression, they hope to change the urban dynamics of Atlanta by challenging gender norms of the south with unconventional work that includes, but not limited to, themes of androgyny, expression of identity, and appreciation of all with different skin tones, body types and appearances. Now working as the Visual Assistant for Mobilizing Our Brothers Initiative (MOBI), Michael is also co-founder of My Cousin’s Studio, an all black queer & trans photographers collective aiming to create programming for young creatives to hone in on their creative skills by providing educational resources of the arts.

Georgia Elrod is an artist, painter and party DJ based in the Hudson Valley and NYC. Georgia Elrod's work has been exhibited in New York and abroad, in solo exhibitions at Peninsula Art Space and John Davis Gallery, as well as in group exhibitions at spaces including Momenta Art, The Painting Center, and RH+ Gallery in Istanbul. Her work has been featured in Two Coats of Paint, ArtMaze Magazine, Big Bell Magazine, and New American Paintings. Georgia is currently a co-director of the artist-run gallery Underdonk, and co-curated at Heliopolis Gallery in Brooklyn from 2012-2015. Born in Memphis TN and raised in downtown Manhattan, she has been DJ'ing parties and private events for over 20 years. NYC raised // ambidextrous // House <--> Party DJ