This Virtual Artist Salon series was designed to showcase and advance the 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow's creative practices, provide space for an exchange of ideas and perspectives among all participants, and further the connection between Kresge Artist Fellows and the wider arts community.

bree gant is a multidisciplinary artist reimagining narrative. gant’s practice emerges from self-examination and social documentation, often in the form of ritual installation. She was a teaching artist with People In Education in 2016, where she trained in restorative practices and humanizing schooling. gant was awarded a 2017 fellowship with Detroit Narrative Agency for the short film Riding with Aunt D. Dot. In 2019, she performed with and became a member of the Detroit based dance collective, The Gathering. gant studied film at Howard University and lives in her hometown, Detroit.

Melanie Manos is a performance and visual artist who utilizes her body in absurd and precarious actions to convey everyday implications of economic insecurity and gender bias. She has performed internationally in Japan, England, and Canada (Museum London and Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity) as well as in the U.S. at venues such as Zuckerman Museum and the School of Architecture at Taliesin (formerly the Frank Lloyd School of Architecture). Manos was born in Detroit and earned a BA at UCLA while performing in the low and high culture hubs of Los Angeles. She holds an MFA from the University of Michigan, where she teaches, and is an Institute for the Humanities Summer 2020 faculty fellow.

Salakastar is a Detroit born and based actor, singer-songwriter, poet, and teaching artist working in theatre, television, film, and music. She earned her BFA and completed her classical acting training at the State University of New York at Purchase College. She is an artist-in-residence at Poetic Societies, an ensemble member at A Host of People, and is in the touring company of I, Too, Sing America at the Michigan Opera Theatre. She is a founding member of iii Sisters, a Detroit-based feminist writing ensemble. Salakastar is the recipient of a 2018 Gilda Award in Live Arts awarded by Kresge Arts in Detroit. Salakastar is set to release her debut album, All Blue: Part One (Majorelle!), in 2020.