Sam Jacobson

Though Sam Jacobson only recently pinned herself as a multidisciplinary artist, she’s been creating with various media since she was a young girl. Even then, she loved drawing, painting and sewing. As an adult, that love manifests in different artistic avenues. She’s designed costumes on Broadway (yes, that Broadway), worked as a “wig whisperer” at Coco Coquette in Austin and crafted jewelry as a silversmith for more than two years.

Jacobson’s most recent work involves another medium: murals. Before SXSW, she assisted Sadé Lawson with her Writing on the Walls mural, “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay,” on South Lamar. In May, she finished a mural for the HOPE Campaign’s Hope for Health project, which commissioned local muralists to beautify the boarded-up windows of closed businesses on Sixth Street. At a time when joy can feel like a rare commodity, she treasured the project as an opportunity to bring color to the community.

“I feel a social responsibility to be a bright spot,” says Jacobson. “I saw people checking out the paintings, and I think it was the first light experience they had had in a long time.”