ARTIST BIO

Salome Milstead (born May 21, 1967, in Encino, California) is a multidisciplinary artist recently relocated from San Francisco, California, to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received her MFA in Experimental Filmmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) between 1992 and 1995, where she worked closely with filmmaker George Kuchar and writing mentor Kathy Acker. Milstead later studied Modern Literary Theory at University of California, Santa Cruz, engaging with scholars such as Teresa de Lauretis, Carla Freccero, and Victor Burgin.

Milstead’s work explores the ways materials act as vessels of memory and resonance. A single mark—whether in paint, plaster, or film—carries its own history, its own reverberations. She is drawn to the tension between quiet, repetitive gestures and the raw intensity of emotion, embracing both control and unpredictability in her process. Her work reflects an interest in how textures, symbols, and forms emerge across time and cultures, creating an unspoken visual dialogue that bridges the personal and the collective. Working across film, painting, printmaking, and installation, she engages with the physicality of materials to evoke the layered, chaotic energy of the her surroundings.

As a teaching artist for over two decades, she has mentored countless students, guiding them toward successful careers in art and film with a focus on fostering creativity in diverse communities. Milstead’s involvement in education has been a central part of her career, allowing her to blend her artistic ethos with side-by-side creative collaboration and real-world mentorship.

Her work has been exhibited at notable venues, including the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, ArtSpan, and San Francisco Cinematheque. Her films have been featured in the Frameline Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and projected atop the Salesforce Tower. She is the recipient of the Frameline Completion Grant, the Murphy Scholarship Award, and the ArtSpan Studio Residency.

From 2004 to 2024, Milstead served as Co-Director of the Media Department at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, where she developed innovative approaches to collaborative filmmaking and creative mentorship. She also founded the SF Summer Arts Workshop Residency, an intergenerational program fostering community through collective artmaking, hosted by the Workshop Residence in San Francisco from 2016 to 2018. Milstead continues to advocate for diverse voices in the arts and seeks to create projects that connect people through shared creative experiences.