One of the aspects of Michael David’s gallery, Life On Mars, that he was most proud of was the shared spirit and energy of creative community that formed around it. On Sundays at the gallery, anyone who dropped by would inevitably have their photograph taken sitting in the now infamous, beat-up yellow chair.

That yellow chair was Michael’s painting-studio chair. It had traveled back and forth between Atlanta and Brooklyn several times over the past decade, and its worn comfort helped establish an atmosphere of informality—one that broke down barriers between artists and galleries, and opened the door to conversation, generosity, and shared creativity.

On those Sundays, we would often end up ordering Roberta’s pizza and talking about sports, film, music, politics, painting, sculpture, our own practices, and—of course—gossip about one another and the art world at large. We shared our lives. That yellow chair became the clearest symbol of what the gallery truly was.

The Yellow Chair Salons carry forward that same warmth, generosity, and shared creative spirit.

The Salons began at the outbreak of the pandemic through a series of “call and response” posts on Facebook initiated by Michael David. In cooperation with the Truro Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Cherie Mittenthal, the program expanded into a virtual residency and mentoring initiative, utilizing Zoom during a time marked by fear and isolation.

One of the unexpected gifts of Zoom was the ability to work with an extraordinary range of artists, teachers, and critics—and to share them with members across the globe. Today, the Salon community includes artists from the United States, Ireland, England, France, Chile, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, and beyond.

As this community grew over an extended period, it became clear that the level of work being produced deserved an exhibition component, akin to that of a rigorous graduate program. In the fall of 2022, we introduced a six-month intensive that combined one-on-one mentoring with small group sessions, focusing on the continued development of each artist’s practice alongside professional preparation for an exhibition at M. David & Co.

That program has since evolved into Symposia!, Salons, Mentorships, and Tailored Independent Study Programs—extending this spirit of community to artists around the world.