Virgilio "Yaneca" Esquina - Yaneca was the first Congo to begin painting, and in doing so, established the Congo aesthetic traditions being developed and practiced at Taller Portobelo today. Yaneca began his art career making bastones – walking sticks. Oral tradition records the cimarrones using bastones to aid them in climbing steep mountains while escaping from enslavers, and as weapons to defend themselves against the Spaniards or wild animals in the forest. Yaneca elevated the tradition of bastón making to an art form. His painted bastones are imbued with his particular worldview. While Yaneca is making fewer bastones today, the magic found in his walking sticks is evident in his paintings, in particular his portraits, which are laden with the iconography of his ancestors. As with the custom of Congo hats, Yaneca at times slits his canvases and inserts feathers. He also adheres pieces of broken mirror, beads and shells to his work thereby creating collage paintings.

Virgilio "Tito" Esquina – Tito, the eldest son of Yaneca, is a perfectionist. He is the slowest and most meticulous painter in the group and takes a great deal of pride in that. According to Tito, he is “striving for perfection and nothing less is good enough.” He has on numerous occasions refused to rush a painting to completion to satisfy a waiting collector. Tito generally works on his paintings in series, exploring the different aspects of Congo tradition and folklore. One such series deals with Pajarito – little bird – the character in Congo Carnival that represents the sentries who guarded the palenques – fortified villages – of the cimarrones. According to oral history, the sentries befriended the little birds and animals in the jungle that warned them when the Spaniards were approaching. In this series, Tito places small birds and animals on the shoulders of Pajarito whispering “secrets” into his ear. Another interest of Tito’s is the depiction of beautiful Congo women through portraiture. He contends that in spite of their poverty the women of his village are the most beautiful in the world and he wants to show that. Tito’s perfectionism has rewarded him with the second prize at the 2000 Panamanian Art Biennial

Jerónimo Chiari – Jeronimo is the newest and youngest member of the Taller. His paintings have focused on portraits of contemporary Congos in their daily life. In addition to being an artist, he is the Administrative Director of Taller Portobelo and coordinates the day-to-day operations of the cultural immersion trips that the Taller hosts annually.

Gustavo Esquina de la Espada – Gustavo is the third eldest son of Yaneca. Although not a perfectionist like his brother Tito, he is also very meticulous in his paintings. While Gustavo works on an array of themes, a large body of his work deals with depicting the Congo kings and queens from previous generations. Like Yaneca, Gustavo has been forging into new aesthetic terrain. His fascination with the past has led him to create narrative paintings that investigate the lives and conditions of his ancestors, the cimarrones. In addition to preserving the Congo traditions through his paintings, Gustavo is active in Congo culture through his participation in Congo carnival performances. The Congos, representing the cimarrones, dress in the traditional clothing, embellished with paint, mirrors and necklaces, paint their faces black and perform through dance, play and ritual, their collective history.

Ariel "Pajarito" Jimenez – Pajarito has been greatly influenced by Yaneca who introduced him to painting. He is by far the most prolific painter in the group. Pajarito’s passion for painting has led him to explore a number of Congo subjects and themes. In his portraits, Pajarito relies greatly on complimentary colors and pointillism to fill the negative spaces surrounding the figure. A few years ago he began interviewing the elders of the village in search of the names of the deceased Congos who figured prominently in their history. The stories they told and the descriptions they gave became the subject matter for a series of paintings. Narrative depiction of essential moments during Congo ritual traditions has become another important theme that has been repeated in his work. This is not surprising since he has assumed a number of important roles in Congo culture including Juan de Dioso (the king of the Congos) and Pajarito (the messenger). While his traditional Congo name is Gato Solo, he is commonly known as Pajarito, a nickname given him by Sandra Eleta.

Manuel "Tatú" Golden – Stylistically Tatú has totally departed from the aesthetic tradition of the Taller by concentrating on painting the myths and legends of the village. There are many stories in the village dealing with mysterious and unexplained phenomena, and he has been talking to elders in order to preserve those stories on canvas. In recent paintings, he has been exploring the meta-real space where ancestors, and positive and negative spirit beings live and interact. His paintings often contain a caption on the bottom in the Congo language that addresses the subject matter of the painting.

Reynaldo Esquina – Reynaldo is also the son of Yaneca and has been greatly influenced by the work of his father and brothers. He is a slow and careful painter in the tradition of his older brother Tito. His work focuses on the portraits of members of the Congos court as well as contemporary images of the people of his village.

José "Moraitho" Angúlo – Moraitho began painting as Gustavo’s apprentice and has now gone on to develop his own style and aesthetic. He is the son of José Angúlo, who plays the role of the Guardian Angel of the ánimas – tortured souls of deceased enslaved Africans – during Congo ritual performances. Thematically, Moraitho has been concerned with painting portraits of past and present Congos, as well as scenes from Congo dance performances.

Sandra "La Bruja" Eleta – Sandra is an internationally recognized photographer with exhibitions and awards to her credit including the Crystal Apple Award in New York City. She established her reputation in the 1970’s with a series of photographs of the people of Portobelo. Her award winning book, Portobelo, is highly regarded by photographers worldwide. Recently, La Bruja has returned to her favorite subject, the Congos of Portobelo, with a series of photographs portraying a new generation of Congos and their traditions.

Fahamu Pecou - Born in Brooklyn NY, of Panamanian and American heritage, Fahamu Pecou earned his BFA in Painting and Digital Media in 1997 from the Atlanta College of Art. Subsequent to receiving significant acclaim for his poignant installation, Bible Stories, which accounts the heartrending narrative of his mother’s death, Pecou was elected to represent Taller Portobelo, at the 16th annual Iberoamericano Festival in Cadiz, Spain, by contributing to and installing the multimedia installation, Santuario de Los Reyes. As a member of Taller Portobelo he has also been responsible for contributing artwork to and designing all the collateral information for ArteFeria, a biennial international artist exhibition in Portobelo, Panama. In 2006 Fahamu’s work has been featured in several publications including the premiere issue of Atlanta Peach Magazine, NY Arts Magazine and on the cover of Artlies Magazine.

Arturo "Fuga-Fuga" Lindsay - Arturo Lindsay is a painter, installation artist and professor of art at Spelman College. His ethnographic research on African spiritual and aesthetic retentions in contemporary American cultures is manifested in works of art, as well as scholarly lectures, essays, and articles. Lindsay has exhibited in major solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Panama, Mexico, Germany, Peru, Spain, and Italy. In 1994 Lindsay received a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest International Artist Award to establish a studio in Portobelo, in order to research the history and traditions of the Congos. The Lila Wallace residency resulted in major solo exhibitions in the US and abroad as well as began a life long commitment to the Congos of Portobelo and to providing his students with valuable cross-cultural experiences. In 1997, he developed the Spelman College Summer Art Colony to provide college students and emerging artists an opportunity to live and work in the village of Portobelo each summer, and the Spelman College International Artist-in-Residence Program that brings Congo artists to Atlanta annually to produce Congo art workshops.