News from Pickens: Upstate Artists Susan Perry and Susan Lenz Present Concurrent Art Exhibitions - Cascades

Pickens County Museum of Art and History

307 Johnson Street, Pickens, SC

May 16 - July 4, 2026

Opening reception: May 16, 2026 5 – 7 PM

Artist - Susan Lenz

Have you been missing longtime Soda City Artist Susan Lenz? We have too! But we can all get a Susan fix by visiting her upcoming exhibition, Cascades, at the Pickens County Museum of Art & History!

Here’s what we know:

Susan Perry and Susan Lenz, two Upstate fiber and installation artists, will present solo shows responding to concepts found in their joint exhibition title, Cascades. The exhibit opens at the Pickens County Museum of Art and History, 307 Johnson Street in Pickens, SC on May 16 with a reception that day from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

Elan DeHaro will take viewers on a musical journey during the reception.

The exhibit runs through July 4, 2026. Perry and Lenz will be showing new work that explores traditional and experimental combinations of paper, fabric, and found materials. Both artists create sculpture forms, immersive installations, and incorporate reusable, natural, and man-made materials. Yet, their individual approaches are uniquely different.

Artist - Susan Perry

Susan Perry’s kinetic, kite-like sculptures developed from a contemplative practice of Sumi ink drawings, marbling, and paper-making. Some of these three-dimensional works will be suspended from the ceiling; others will sit below suggesting a stream of conversation. Her collages were inspired by local waterfalls.

Susan Lenz’s work also suggests the movement of water. More than one-hundred units of collaged fabrics will meander across three walls as if tracing the route of one of the area’s many creeks. Strips of lace hand-stitched into eight-foot long, plant-life strands will cascade down another wall.

However different, Perry and Lenz’s works complement one another. Both acknowledge the changing face of land use, the natural world of the Upstate, and how plant/fiber materials connects us to land, lakes, and rivers. The two artists are linked through textiles, something that defines local industry, history and even the very identity of Pickens County.

For well over a century, Upstate women saved fabric scraps, buttons, paper, and photographs. These seemingly mundane objects served as reminders of personal stories and special memories. Perry and Lenz are no exceptions to this habit of intuitive collecting. They both use their saved materials in their studio practices. Found objects are featured in both artists’ shows. Perry will use a traditional, wooden apple tree ladder in her area; Lenz has incorporated found objects stitched into tidal wave profiles.

Though Perry’s and Lenz’s work will be presented in two different parts of the second-floor museum space, the two have been in regular communication regarding their concept and the progression of their individual presentations. “I think we’ve pushed one another to think broadly about our materials and especially about the way we respond to our chosen theme, Cascades,” says Lenz. Perry agrees, stating, “Throughout this past year, I’ve been inspired to find new ways to use paper to express water as a central feature of our Pickens County landscape.”

The Pickens County Museum of Art and History is open Wednesday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The museum can be reached at (864) 898-5963.

For more information, please contact the artists through their websites:

www.susanlenz.com

www.susanperry.art

Jasper Does Artista Vista with Adam Corbett and More - Friday Eve & Sunday Afternoon

Artist - Adam Corbett

All of us at the Jasper Project are excited about our upcoming Artista Vista celebrations this weekend at Coal Powered Filmworks!

We kick things off on Friday evening with an exhibition from our featured visual artist, Adam Corbett, who will be showing his art right in front of Coal Powered Filmworks on Lincoln Street from 6 - 9 pm. But come on inside, too, to see a variety of art curated by our host and Jasper board president, Wade Sellers.

Adam Corbett is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and visual artist from Lexington, South Carolina. His work is often whimsical, comes with a punchline, or fun story, and his subjects include wildlife and characters of his own creation. He likes to experiment with various mediums in a variety of formats focusing always on exploration, play, and following his muse. In addition to his visual artistry, Corbett has been a part of the Columbia music scene for almost 20 years. An accomplished musician and singer-songwriter, he’s been in several bands, including Guitar Show, The Restoration, and Husband to name a few — and he has performed with with local artists Marshall Brown and Rachel Kate.

You can also catch Adam Corbett wearing musician hat when he performs at Stormwater Studios at 1 pm on Saturday, April 18th.


If you’re a member of the Jasper Guild — at any donation level — you’re invited to join us again on Sunday afternoon, April 19th from 4 - 6pm for a special happy hour just for you! We’ll have drinks and light snacks to nosh on for an hour before and then during a portion of Live On Lincoln, which will be happening just outside our door. And if you want to be there but haven’t gotten around to joining the Jasper Guild, no worries, you can do so by clicking here and we’ll welcome you to the Jasper family on Sunday afternoon.

You’ll also be rubbing elbows with many of the artists performing in the event because, in keeping with the Jasper mission, we’re serving as a “Green Room” for any performing artists who need a place to change their clothes and/or grab a granola bar or a bottle of water after they perform.

For more information about Live on Lincoln, check out the line-up and ticket availability, as well as everything the Vista has planned for the weekend (hint: it starts Friday morning at 11 am with the unveiling of new public art, Maria DeFelice’s, “Kaleidoscope on Columbia” on the corner of Lincoln and Taylor Streets) at Vista Columbia.

Join the Jasper Guild Today



Art Reception Double Feature with the Jasper Project and the Koger Center

By Emily Moffitt, Visual Arts Editor, Jasper Magazine

The Koger Center for the Arts is excited to bring its patrons two new art exhibits in its second-floor gallery spaces: the Gallery at the Koger Center and The Nook, the latter of which is presented by the Jasper Project.

On April 10, join the Koger Center in celebrating Colin Dodd and Sarah Scruggs for their new art exhibits! There will be a joint opening reception for the two shows that evening from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and complimentary wine and light fare will be available.

Sarah Scruggs is the newest artist to take up residence in the Nook at the Koger Center. Sarah is a South Carolinian painter focusing on oil and watercolor. Her alla prima style is relaxed and playful, with attention to color. Most always, her paintings are a celebration of storms, the ever-changing clouds, flora, and fauna. Many of her materials are hand ground pigments collected from local areas in the pursuit of play. She has sold/exhibited her work at multiple art fairs like Cottontown Art Crawl and the Brandywine Festival in Harrodsburg, KY. Her work will be on display through early May.

Colin Dodd is exhibiting a new body of work in the Gallery at the Koger Center, titled Homage to Ukraine: Big Bavovna and Other Works. The exhibit began on March 24 and is on display through June 7, 2026. Colin Dodd was born in Northumberland and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne. As a young teenager his interest in art began to develop and he decided to go to art college as soon as he finished high school. He first attended Leicester Polytechnic and then Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham, where he completed an undergraduate degree in fine art. After two visits to the U.S. he moved permanently in 1980. He attended the University of South Carolina and completed a graduate degree in 1984. In the same year, he began teaching at Midlands Tech as an adjunct instructor. This position eventually became full time and he taught classes in drawing, painting, art history, and Film as Art until his retirement in 2018.

Homage to Ukraine Artist Statement:

It’s the artist’s duty to reflect the times in which we live.” – Nina Simone.

This quote struck a chord with me, especially due to personal circumstances. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, and by coincidence that was the day I had open heart surgery, following a heart attack on February 22nd! I watched the footage on CNN of Russian tanks firing on civilian targets from my hospital bed. I have since followed the war on an almost daily basis, strongly identifying with the cause of the Ukrainian people, and seeing in them a nation standing alone against a tyrant just as Britain did against Hitler’s Germany at the outset of World War II.  Ukraine has managed to survive, against all the odds, for four years.

The imagery from FPV drone footage I found strangely alluring and fascinating, even beautiful, although the results and intended consequences were destruction and death. This dichotomy is what led me to start painting images based on often distorted and grainy images, abstracted to a degree, by the process of recording and transmission. This resulted in a twenty-panel work resembling a bank of monitors, titled Homage to Ukraine: Big Bavovna.   In addition, a triptych dedicated to Ukraine consists of a portrait of a young Ukrainian woman wearing a traditional flower crown, titled Flower of Ukraine.  An image of trench warfare reminiscent of images from the First World War and I borrowed the title We Are Making a New World from Paul Nash who was an official war artist in both world wars. Lastly, an image derived from a video taken in 2023 in the Donetsk region, of a Russian ammo dump explosion, which became known as, Ammo Dump Jesus.

As the war has progressed it seems like it has been largely forgotten about by the news cycle which moves on unrelentingly, but the struggle and the suffering continues for the Ukrainian people.

For more information about the visual arts at the Koger Center, inquiries can be directed to kogercenter@sc.edu. The gallery spaces are available for public viewing Monday-Friday, 9 am – 5 pm, and an hour before any performance in the center.

It's FIRST THURSDAY & JASPER is BACK ON MAIN STREET - As well as at our LAST FIRST THURSDAY at SOUND BITES!

Artist - Jarid Lyfe Brown

Hey Jasper Family! We’re excited today because TONIGHT we’re celebrating that the Jasper Project is BACK ON MAIN STREET!

Please join us tonight as Jasper features not one, but two great Columbia-area visual artists sharing their talents with the world!

Start out by popping into Sound Bites Eatery for (sadly) our last First Thursday gallery opening event. We have loved our time at Sound Bites and can’t express enough gratitude for Terri Mac and the gracious Sound Bites team that has always made us feel so welcome. But due to a change in their hours of operation under new ownership, we won’t be able to continue our stewardship there any longer. (But you better believe we’ll still be stopping in for delicious lunches and great service!)

So, Jasper is celebrating our Sound Bites swan song by featuring the unique art of Jessica Ream tonight!

Unbinding: A Tale of the Book That Never Was – Jessica Ream Opening Reception - SOUND BITES 5:30 - 8

Jessica Ream was born in Columbus, Ohio early in the year 1990, but was raised in Carolina suburbia. She attended Savannah College of Art and Design where she graduated with honors and a BFA in Painting. A jack-of-all trades artist, she incorporates her knowledge of painting, photography, print, sewing and sculpture into her mixed media, abstract pieces.

In recent years, she has rediscovered her love of hand binding books. While mainly self taught, she was first introduced to the world of book arts in a workshop she attended while studying abroad. Her hand bound journals are made from a mix of traditional materials and rebound, vintage books.

After spending the time in the High Rockies of Colorado, she and her husband have returned to their southeastern, coastal origins, where they reside with their son and newborn daughter.
(Full disclosure —Jessica is also a new member of the Jasper Project Board of Directors, but this show has been scheduled long before she joined our board.)

After you’ve checked out Jessica’s work come on over to the Shoppes at Tapp’s for the opening of the Jasper Alley at Tapp’s. As mentioned, our featured artist for April is Jarid Lyfe Brown.

The Jasper Alley at Tapp's with April's Featured Artist - Jarid Lyfe Brown

Born in Atlanta and raised in Columbia, Brown has lived in Gilbert for the last 17 years. A construction worker by day for the past 30 years, Brown attended SCAD but is, for the most part, self-taught. His work will occupy the Jasper Alley which is located on the far right side of the building.

Jarid’s work is incredibly evocative and can run the gamut from whimsical to terrifying, but it’s always interesting and it always commands that the viewer spend some time with at the painting and enjoy the process.

We’re delighted to feature both of these fine artists and hope you’ll visit us at both venues.

Happy First Thursday from all of us at Jasper!

The Jasper Project Presents PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE

STORMWATER STUDIOS

OPENING RECEPTION APRIL 3 — 6 - 9 PM

Jasper Guild Members are Invited to Join Us at 5 pm for Early Entrance

The Jasper Project is honored to present PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE at Stormwater Studios, April 3 – 12, 2026. In addition to exhibiting more than 30 rarely shown facejugs and reliquaries created by the late Peter Lenzo, the project also features the launch of a new commemorative publication entitled PETER LENZO: IN MEMORY OF HIS MEMORY and the premiere screening of an accompanying film by Columbia, SC filmmaker, Wade Sellers. 

The Jasper Project worked closely with Lenzo’s daughter, Roxy Lenzo Douthit, to curate this exhibition, which includes ceramic pieces from the last few decades of her father’s life, as well as intimate family reliquaries in which the artist preserved and annotated treasured artifacts and keepsakes going back to the artist’s family of origin. For Lenzo, his facejugs were a homage both to traditional Southern pottery practices and to the friends and family who inspired the work he so lovingly created. Lenzo, who suffered a head injury early in life that resulted in seizures, epilepsy, and ultimately dementia, used his art as a way of channeling his despair as well as his elation.  

The photographs of Lenzo’s face jugs and reliquaries reproduced in the new publication, PETER LENZO: IN MEMORY OF HIS MEMORY, many of which on the reverse side also bear the artist’s notated perceptions of the work itself, have been intimately annotated by his daughter. Lenzo Douthit also wrote an enlightening introduction and acknowledgments for this book which contains a foreword by the SC State Museum’s Paul Matheny and an essay by the late Wim Roefs. Peter Lenzo: In Memory of his Memory was published in April 2026 by the Jasper Project, which has an imprint via Muddy Ford Press, and is available for pre-order here.

PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE opens at Stormwater Studios (413 Pendleton Street, Columbia, SC) on Friday April 3rd with an opening reception from 6 – 8:30 (early admission for Jasper Project Guild members at 5 pm).  

The film, In Memory of his Memory, will be screened on Friday, April 10th at 7 pm.  

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, feel free to contact the above individuals or consult The Jasper Project or Stormwater Studios. 

 

About the Jasper Project – The Jasper Project is a project-oriented, multidisciplinary arts facilitator serving the greater Columbia and South Carolina communities by providing collaborative arts engineering and community-wide arts communication. The Jasper Project is committed to four integrated priorities: Process – illuminating the unique processes endemic to all art forms in order to provide a greater level of understanding and respect for that discipline; Community/Collaboration – nurturing community both within and between arts disciplines; Narrative – creating a more positive and progressive understanding of SC culture; and Economy – being efficient stewards of arts funding committed to creating more with less. For more information or to support the Jasper Project please visit JasperProject.org.

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SCSM Presents the First in their Artist Talk Series with Sam Wang - Sat., March 28th

Want to learn more about the art presented in the South Carolina State Museum’s Lipscomb Gallery?

Our friends at SCSM are making it easy!

Join Sam Wang on Saturday March 28th at 11 am in the Lipscomb Gallery of the SCSM to learn about the artist from the artist himself.

The art collection at the South Carolina State Museum is home to more than 4,500 pieces of art from traditional portraiture and decorative arts to contemporary work and more.

South Carolina art plays an integral role in the state’s culture and history, both in the past and today. In addition to featuring changing exhibitions on South Carolina art, the museum also features artwork throughout four floors of permanent gallery space, in our planetarium lobby and even outside on the museum grounds.

This program series highlights artists featured in From the Vault: Art from the Museum’s Collection. These programs will give artists the opportunity to discuss their work and offer visitors a chance to hear firsthand the ideas, experiences, and processes that fuel artists’ creative journeys. The series is designed to create an open and engaging space where artists and audiences can connect, ask questions, and deepen their understanding of the work on view.

The program on March 28 will feature Sam Wang in conversation with his former student and mentee, Talbot Easton Selby. Together they will discuss their individual photographic practices, their shared connection through Clemson University, and the role mentorship has played in shaping artistic careers in South Carolina.

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Jasper Does Artista Vista Featuring Visual Artist Adam Corbett

Artist - Adam Corbett

Join the Jasper Project on Friday, April 17th from 6 - 9 at Coal Powered Filmworks (1217 Lincoln Street, right across from Blue Marlin) for an evening of visual arts, music, and many more surprises as we celebrate Artista Vista.

Check out art by Adam Corbett outside and pop inside for music and a copy of Jasper Magazine.

Find out about everything happening in Columbia’s Historic Congaree Vista for the whole weekend by visiting Artista Vista.

Announcing The Jasper Alley at Tapp’s With Our Inaugural First Thursday Opening Reception - April 2nd Featuring Jarid Lyfe Brown!

We’re Back!

In service to our mission of finding and programming gallery spaces for Midlands-area artists wherever we can, The Jasper Project is delighted to announce that we are back on Main Street starting on Thursday April 2nd and we’re featuring Jarid Lyfe Brown as our first First Thursday Artist!

That’s right, we’re back! In partnership with our host, the Shoppes at Tapp’s, Jasper will be presenting group and solo shows right on Main Street once again and we couldn’t be happier! Our friends at the Shoppes at Tapp’s have graciously allocated a nice long corridor to the right of the showroom where, starting in April, you’ll find Jasper-curated art from our beloved local artists—and we’re naming it The Jasper Alley at Tapp’s.

We’re so happy to welcome the art of Jarid Lyfe Brown to these welcoming walls!

Jarid Lyfe Brown lives in Gilbert, SC. He was born in 1974 and, as a young artist, earned a perfect score of 5 for the portfolio he entered into an AP art contest at Harvard University. Brown was awarded a scholarship to attend Savannah College of Art and Design in 1992. From 1994 until the present, Brown has mounted multiple shows in locations that ranged from galleries to coffee shops around SC, NC, and Michigan. Brown says, “I paint every day, and complete around 7-10 new paintings per month.” Brown is married and has three children. When he is not painting, he is doing construction work and thinking about what he'll paint next.

For his artist’s statement Brown writes, “All of my hard work is about everyday life. It is hard to predict or explain because I submit myself to create in an unplanned method. I paint from what I hear, learn, experience, opinions, perspectives, joy, hurt, and reactions. It may make sense or not at all, and that is similar to life. I just want to be raw and honest, but not crude. I try to paint directly and literally. I enjoy literature and writing so I apply that to my painting. I also enjoy an attempt to bridge expressionism to realism and I don’t want to be classified as either. I want to be better, different, or more in all of these experiences. I use animals to express mindsets and characteristics of a person.”

We’ll be announcing our full line-up for 2026 soon, but for now, be sure to add The Jasper Alley at Tapp’s to your First Thursday agenda. Stop by to have a beer or a glass of vino, view Jarid’s exhibition, chat with the artist, and bump into all your old and new First Thursday Friends.

We’re back on Main, y’all and we’re so happy to be there!

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Jasper Presents Lucas Sams Art Pick-Up & Print Sale - Friday March 27th, 12 - 2 at Sound Bites Eatery

Did you purchase art from Lucas Sams, Jasper’s Featured First Thursday Artist at Sound Bites Eatery? Yes? The artist has set aside two hours to meet you to deliver your art on Friday March 27 from 12 - 2 at Sound Bites Eatery, 1425 Sumter Street.

Sams will also be bringing additional prints of his work to sale during this time period.

Don’t miss your chance to meet up with artist Lucas Sams and pick up your purchases this Friday at noon!

The Jasper Project Presents Cait Maloney in the Nook Gallery at Koger Center for the Arts

The Jasper Project is pleased to present artist Cait Maloney in our Nook Gallery at Koger Center for the Arts with an opening reception Friday March 20th from 5:30 - 7 pm.

From her engaging color pallet to her nostalgic and evocative imagery, Cait Maloney has made her mark all over Columbia, SC and beyond. The Jasper Project is thrilled to work, once again, with Maloney by featuring her in our Jasper-curated gallery space, The Nook, at the Koger Center.

Cait Maloney - photo by Cait Patel

In her Artist’s Statement Maloney writes, “I help businesses and individuals visually communicate through thoughtful, engaging and effective design.

I have had a passion for visual communication and carbohydrates as long as I can remember. Growing up in a small town in upstate New York, I was one of few with a serious interest in art and design, but I knew I could make a career of it when one of my early works were stealthily heisted from a maximum security bulletin board in high school. I went on to navigate the waters of art school and earned a BFA in illustration from Syracuse University.

I’m currently based in Columbia, South Carolina, working as senior art director for Flock and Rally while also doing specialty illustration, design and mural projects; creating new things every day and slowly sweating to death.

When I’m not brainstorming a new brand concept or inking a drawing, I’m working on art for myself, reading a magazine on the beach or seeing some live music.”

Maloney has worked nationally and internationally with clients like Abita Brewing Company, Diesel Fragrance, the YMCA, TD Bank and PGA Junior League Golf and locally with clients like the Central Midlands Council of Government, The City of Columbia, Charleston County, and the South Carolina Asphalt Pavement Association. Cait serves on the board of the Columbia Design League, an affiliate of the Columbia Museum of Art. Her mural, “Lady Vista,” was commissioned by the Congaree Vista Guild and is located on the east wall of 916 Gervais Street in downtown Columbia, S.C.

Join The Jasper Project at the Nook Gallery on the second tier of the Koger Center for the Arts for our opening reception where you can meet and chat with the artist, and view and purchase her work.

See you there!

Koger Center Announces Music Series Line-Up & Jasper Will Be There for All the Concerts!

The Jasper Project is delighted to partner with USC’s Koger Center for the Arts and all our amazing neighborhood arts groups on this lovely free concert series!

The Koger Center for the Arts has set the headliners for the first Levitt AMP Columbia Music Series, a series of free outdoor concerts sponsored in part by the LevittFoundation. The concerts will take place on the Plaza Stage on the Koger Center’s front lawn from 5 - 7 p.m., with the rain location being indoors in either the Black Box Theater or second floor lobby. 

The full lineup features ten concerts split between the spring and fall seasons. All concerts are free, open to the public and will have opportunities for off stage community engagement (that’s Jasper, y’all!) for the audience. The schedule is as follows: 

 

Spring

Saturday, April 18: River Shook Duo

Saturday, April 25: Sunny War

Saturday, May 2: Five OHM

Saturday, May 9: Carolyn Wonderland

Fall

Thursday, September 10: Admiral Radio

Thursday, September 17: Black Nerd Mafia

Thursday, September 24: Molly Martin

Thursday, October 1: Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise

Thursday, October 8: Sam Morrow

Thursday, October 15: Making Movies

 

Each concert will feature a local Midlands based opening act! The Levitt AMP Columbia Music Series is dedicated to uplifting Columbia as a cultural hub and destination for accessible entertainment. The series is supported by a variety of community partners, including the Jasper Project, ONE Columbia, ColaJazz, South Carolina Philharmonic, University of South Carolina Student Life, Black Nerd Mafia, the South Carolina Commission for Community Advancement and Engagement, the City of Columbia, the Columbia Chamber, and the Vista Guild. 

Geared to towns and cities with populations under 250,000, Levitt AMP grantees reflect the three goals of the LevittAMP Music Series program: Amplify community pride and a city’s unique character; enrich lives through the power of free, live Music; and illustrate the importance of inclusive and vibrant public Places. From rural Alaska to Appalachian Main Streets and Midwestern locales, Levitt AMP is a catalytic opportunity for towns and cities across America to realize a shared mission—building community through music to create a healthy and thriving future for all. Columbia is the only Levitt AMP location in South Carolina.

Columbia residents are encouraged to follow along with the development of the series over the next three years by visiting www.KogerCenterForTheArts.com, and following @LevittAmpColumbia and @KogerCenterForTheArts on Instagram.

Jasper Welcomes First Thursday Artist LUCAS SAMS to the Gallery at Sound Bites Eatery

Jasper is so happy to still have a home for First Thursdays at Sound Bites Eatery, and we’re thrilled to welcome our March First Thursday Artist, Lucas Sams!

The title of Sams’ new exhibition is Drawn & Quartered. In explanation Sams writes, “This show marks my return to my first and favorite medium, drawing. As I learned from my favorite art teacher in college, everything can be drawing, and everything goes back to drawing. Before entering the world of ‘fine arts,’ I was a comic and manga artist. Learning that painting was just drawing with paint helped me become a ‘fine artist,’ but the core was still drawing. Everything is abstraction; all representation is cartooning. It has brought me infinite joy returning to simple tools at this scale, and a challenge to build the biggest worlds I can in the span of a sketchbook page.”

Lucas Sams is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and experimental musician with works exhibited locally and regionally in major art festivals, galleries, and alternative spaces; he has been featured in Jasper Magazine, The State Newspaper, Garnet and Black Magazine, and the Timber Journal of the University of Colorado, Boulder. Born and raised in Greenwood, SC Sams spent most of his life in SC until his freshman year in college, when he studied painting in Tokyo, Japan and became heavily influenced by contemporary Japanese Pop Art. A graduate of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and the University of SC, his post-graduate work continues explorations of postmodern abstraction and figuration with far-ranging influences, encompassing everything from religious art, alchemy, and the unconscious- to science fiction and anime. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree as an MLIS candidate at the University of SC.

Please join us this Thursday March 5th from 5:30 - 8:30 pm at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street, just one block off Main. And come hungry! Sound Bites has a delicious menu of sandos, soups, snacks, and salads as well as good beer and wine. Plus, all the cool kids hang out there, so you’ll be right at home!

Announcing the Winners of Jasper's Degenerate Art Project Artist's Awards

Jasper’s Degenerate Art Project II is a wrap!

Janet Kozachek - Pufferfish

Jasper is excited to officially announce the winners of the Degenerate Art Project Artist’s Awards presented Saturday, February 28th at the exhibition’s Closing Party at Stormwater Studios in Columbia.

In a night that included verboten swing dance demonstrations and lessons by Columbia’s Richard Durlach and Breedlove, the launch of Ed Madden’s new book, I Asked Him What He Needed, with a sweet little surprise chapbook titled, My Students Want to Talk About Ice: Political Poems, the reading of a banned children’s book by our favorite Drag King Marty McGuy, freshly spun tunes from Scotty Tempo, and an amazing menu by MidiMarc, the presentation of the awards was an appropriate addition to the fun.

Ivan Segura with Untitled

Congratulations to Ivan Segura for winning the Jasper Degenerate Art Project II ZEITGEIST AWARD for his painting Untitled, presented to the artist whose work best exemplified the socio-political spirit of the times while also exhibiting proficiency in execution, originality, and strong engagement with the viewer.

The Adjudicators for the Zeitgeist Award included Peter Chametzky, Harriett Greene, and Xavier Blake.

Cam Moore with Heavy

Congratulations to Cam Moore for winning the Jasper Degenerate Art Project II ARTISTS’ CHOICE AWARD for his painting HEAVY. The winner of the Artists’ Choice Award was determined by the participating artists, each of whom cast a single vote for their favorite contribution to the show.

In addition to framed certificates the winning artists also received cash prizes made possible by the generosity of our sponsors Bill Schmidt and Muddy Ford Press.

Nolan Wright - Resilient Standing Strong

Ginny Merrett - 100 Worry Dolls

Stephen White - No More Closets

Kirstin Dow - Artist

Janet Kozachek - Liberty Snakes

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Degenerate Art Project II, and thanks to Maya Smith and the welcoming artists at Stormwater Studios for hosting us. Thanks to Curiosity Coffee for keeping our thirsts at bay and to MidiMarc for feeding us so well and to WeCo Bottle & Biergarten for donating the bubbles we used to celebrate our opening night.

Thank you to our Zeitgeist judges: Xavier Blake, Harriett Greene, and Peter Chametzsky.

Sadly, it is highly likely that we will need to do this again in 2027, so please be thinking about ways to make the third iteration different and unique unto itself while still engaging with artists from all disciplines and their patrons.

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR IDEAS!

Hit us up at info@jasperproject.org

The Jasper Project Welcomes Trahern Cook -- "Easel Cathedral" -- to the Nook Gallery at Koger Center

Born in 1970 in Columbia,  SC, Trahern Cook, aka Easel Cathedral, has been drawing and painting and telling stories his entire life. In 1992, Cook graduated from the Ringling College of Art and Design with a focus on Illustration and worked as a full-time freelance illustrator from 1993 until the 2000s. When he moved back to Columbia in 2006, he took his easel outside and has been painting all over the southeast and abroad ever since. His work is shown in private galleries, homes, and businesses throughout the country. 

Dubbing his style of painting as relational and experiential, Easel Cathedral has coined himself a “Jam Painter” given that so much of his subject matter is musicians from various genres performing everywhere from small taverns to large outdoor festivals, exploring brush strokes and colors, and matching the rhythm of the music he hears. 

As a “live painter” of events and weddings, Cook creates visual stories of his surroundings in his own unique painterly style, marrying a free folk recklessness with a trained and practiced deliberateness. This performance shares the space with everyone in attendance, enhancing the moment and using the moment to inform the painting itself. 

As The Jasper Project’s featured Third Thursday artist for the month of February, Cook’s art will be exhibited from Thursday February 19th until the third week of March in Jasper’s Nook Gallery on the 2nd tier of the Koger Center for the Arts.

An opening reception will be held Thursday February 19th from 5:30 - 7 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Columbia-based Artist MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI Partners with CORIN WIGGINS to Present METAPLASIA: A CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE OF BUTOH & PAINT

The Jasper Project is excited to help spread the word about a new project presented by Columbia-based visual artist Michael Krajewski and theatre/performance artist Corin Wiggins, who returns to Columbia, SC after a ten-year absence. METAPLASIA: A Contemporary Performance of Butoh and Paint – A Ten Year Homecoming will be presented on Saturday, February 7th, at 7:30 PM at Gemini Arts, in Columbia, SC.

Krajewski, who has earned a reputation as a bravely experimental artist, has a history of engaging in painting as performance, often partnering with dancers and other performing artists. This time he will be partnering with Corin Wiggins who has mastered the Japanese art of Butoh Dance. According to the Butoh Institute of New York, “Butoh is an avant-garde art form born in Japan in the 1950s. Butoh developed at the height of the Japanese Counter Culture Movement and was influenced by surrealism, neo dada, French mime techniques, ballet, flamenco, Neue Tanz (German Expressionist dance) as well as French and European literature.”

Traditionally performed in white body makeup, butoh is considered an avant garde dance form and typically involves hyper-realized, grotesque imagery, and “slow and arrhythmic body contortions expressing a confluence of anguish and rapture, and a dedication to form and improvisation that is deeply connected to the nature of being.” https://japanobjects.com/features/butoh) Many practitioners and patrons of the artform consider butoh to be more of a dance experience than a performance, often saying the experience is undefinable.

In the press release for this event Wiggins states that, “METAPLASIA represents more than just a performance; it is a compelling fusion of visual and performing arts. Following a decade-long journey away from his hometown, Wiggins returns to Columbia for this significant homecoming event. Notably, this performance is poised to be the first professional butoh performance in South Carolina’s history, showcasing the depth and evolution of this unique art form.

“The term "Metaplasia," derived from Greek, signifies "change in form," reflecting the transformative processes that occur in nature and art. The performance will delve into themes of nonconsensual existence, chaos and control, cryptobiosis, and mindfulness in contemporary society. Accompanying the performance will be an original musical soundscape, meticulously crafted by Wiggins, enhancing the immersive experience for the audience.”

Krajewski will paint as Wiggins performs.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to enjoy thought-provoking performance art ephemerally created amongst the visual art exhibited at Gemini Arts. Tickets are only $10 and may be purchased in advance via Eventbrite. Doors open at 7:10 and the performance begins at 7:30.

For more information about what to expect, please visit the Eventbrite site.

Click here to learn more about Butoh.

About Michael Krajewski: Michael Krajewski is an artist-in-residence at Gemini Arts Collective. He is a self-taught artist described as neo-expressionist, although he is less concerned with labeling than with creating from an authentic, mindful space and expressing what he is feeling and experiencing in the moment. He works in various mediums including painting, drawing, clay, and video.

Krajewski has been commissioned to provide artwork for film and art festivals, set design for Trustus Theatre, and art for the Columbia City Ballet. He painted a mural in the Greenville Children’s Museum, and a mural in the Columbia Museum of Art, one of only two artists ever invited to paint on the walls there.

Of his many contributions to the culture of Columbia and greater South Carolina is Michael’s freehand composition on the walls of Black Rooster, a restaurant in West Columbia, where he is using the entire restaurant as his canvas to create a one-of-a-kind installation that so far is four years in the making.

About Corin Wiggins: Corin Wiggins is an actor, director, and deviser of theatre. Their training and performance experience encompasses forms from the entirety of theatre history, with particular emphasis on classical verse, contemporary realism, commedia dell’arte, butoh (舞踏), and new devised work.

Raised in Columbia, South Carolina by a family of civil engineers, Corin first discovered the stage at age eight through the Columbia Children’s Theatre. Growing up in community musical theatre and child actor film agencies, including work undertaken on and off stage at both Town Theatre and Trustus Theatre, Corin began their professional actor training at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Drama program. They hold a B.F.A. in Physical Theatre from a joint program between Coastal Carolina University and the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.

Alongside a national presence, Corin has lived and travelled extensively outside the United States and has created and performed in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Kazakhstan, and for audiences from all over the world via numerous international festivals. To date, they have contributed to well over one hundred projects, collectively seen by tens of thousands.

The liberation of the human is the primary goal behind Corin’s work. Corin’s original performances generally concern themselves with humans and human relationships, the conscious vs. subconscious vs. superconscious mind, and dark psychedelia.

Corin has booked work throughout the United States in 2026, as well as a butoh performance tour of Japan in the latter half of the year.



From the Print Issue -- A Prayer for Every Stitch – Memory and Empathy Through the Eyes of Staci Swider By Emily Moffitt

A quick trip down memory lane with a gorgeous Southern night sky and the subtle buzzing of insects. A brief respite from the metaphorical weight a person carries with them. The beauty within Staci Swider’s work goes beyond the visual aesthetic; it encompasses the intentions of the artist, and the potential for powerful conversation with anyone who stops to admire her work. 

Art has been in Swider’s DNA since she was little. Learning how to sew from her grandmother, who happened to work in a children’s clothing factory, she was surrounded by knitting, needlepoint, fabrics, and anything craft oriented. “Growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, that was the resurgence of it as a craft form people were engaging with,” says Swider. “I have started to see artists start to crochet and sew again in our community nowadays, but that was what life was like back then!” Swider then went to school for fabric design and got into the workforce designing home furnishings. What she learned in school and during her career did end up shaping a lot of her practices and principles in terms of creating original work, along with the words of her grandmother: “a prayer for every stitch.” Finding the act of weaving to be very meditative, Swider subconsciously reflects on every loop and stitch beyond what it is creating in the physical plane. “Sometimes it isn’t about the finished product,” said Swider. “The act of doing is the real work. It gives you something to quiet your mind.” 

Swider’s background in textiles taught her to be attuned to finer details. She works with anything and everything fiber: yarn, thread, and fabric, then incorporates other materials like wire into the design to create both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works. These are not the only building blocks, however; Swider finds the exploration of contrast to be a major key in her work. “Contrast is not always just light and dark,” Swider says. “Sometimes, contrast in art focuses on the smooth versus rough, the busy and quiet, and finding the balance within a pair.” Weaving lends itself to be an optimal method of creating contrast, especially through Swider’s mastery of color work. She says, “On the surface, the color work appears as a quick snapshot that you take in, but when you come upon it and look closely it reveals itself further. You must look for the little things, like a piece of pink duct tape or cobalt silk that really sticks out in a section of one of my pieces.” 

The visual building blocks of contrast, color, and the technical skills required of fiber arts all coalesce in works that capture the key theme of spirituality in Swider’s portfolio. Swider’s lens of the world is rooted in introspection and metaphorical conversation. "I express myself through a visual alphabet of symbols,” said Swider. “Not just runes or anything like that, but the actual images themselves in my work, and a lot of artists who tend to work metaphorically do something similar.” One notable example of the symbology is the arc shaped vessel in many pieces of Swider’s art. One may attribute it to being a literal boat at first glance, but the deeper meaning within the symbol goes beyond; rather, it is a vessel for everything one feels and does, a well of experience carried along a path in the work. It functions as a vessel for the other subject in the work as well as the viewer and are aptly referred to as “soul sleds.” 

Conversation is integral to Swider as she aims to evoke a response in the viewer that they may or may not be able to articulate in words. Colors and images like a moody blue against a stark background may evoke a moody or contemplative feeling in the viewer. For Swider, “an image like a quiet night sky brings me to sitting in my backyard and listening to crickets.” As an empathic artist who feels a great sense of tension within her inner person, the imagery that Swider conveys in her work is a way for her to return to a specific moment and take a mental pause, allowing for a clear opportunity for introspection on how to proceed and respond to that tense feeling. The conversation with the viewer still continues through that introspection; after all, the viewer might be feeling the exact same way. 

Having this exchange with the viewer completely remotely is exciting to Swider and feels as rewarding as if they were speaking face to face. “Whether or not a person likes the artwork I make or does not, they are still thinking about the work itself,” says Swider. “Whether they realize it or not, we are having a conversation about the work that way, which is a really beautiful thing to think about.” 

The life that Swider has lived and the years of unique or shared experiences finds ways to express itself in her work. This experience lends itself to the key piece of advice Swider gives to any of her students or fellow artists who experience any sort of creative block: go back to the last place they felt artistically comfortable. Lessen the anxiety of creating something brand new and unfamiliar to themself by letting the creativity flow within familiar territory, like a flower arrangement for an artist who focuses on painting flowers. Set the mind at ease before attempting a new challenge, and the art block is much easier to overcome. 

A life as an educator and full-time artist has paved the way for Swider to express her creativity in a multitude of ways beyond the visual arts. “At this point, my creativity leaks out into everything, like cooking and gardening,” said Swider. “I love to surround myself with beautiful things in my home, and to find beauty in anything and everything.” Living with intention and slowing down in an increasingly fast-paced world appeals greatly to Swider and has impacted her drive to continue interacting with things in her day-to-day life that makes her smile or feel uplifted. 

The uplifting energy in her life carries through and feeds her creativity for the next piece Swider creates. The newest exciting opportunity to come Swider’s way is a grandiose exhibit at the Burroughs Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach. Seizing the opportunity to work on her art and voice simultaneously, Tide Carriers, as Swider has named the project, focuses on three connected storylines that incorporate many of her new and old techniques along with exploratory discoveries she has made in other new projects, like her Unbuilt Rooms series. 

"This maturity I have as a human and an artist, how does that get reflected in my work?” Swider asks. The optimal way to explore this was to create the three storylines: an expansion of the Unbuilt Rooms, the Soft Architecture of Rain, and the Songs of Becoming. The storylines follow a chronological reflection of Swider’s life, her evolution and where she finds herself now as a woman in her 60s in 2025. Starting with the Unbuilt Rooms, Swider explains these pieces as “the selves and dreams we carry within us but have not been realized.” These are not meant to be opportunities for the viewer to dwell on past choices that have been made, but rather, beacons of hope for them as they realize that their future still holds a great expanse of choices and dreams that can still be made and had. 

The second piece of the narrative puzzle, the Soft Architecture of Rain, heavily incorporates the soul sled image, reiterating the weight of your hopes and dreams, longing, and baggage that they carry. This specific image joined Swider’s rotation in 2020 and is depicted both in two-dimensional and three-dimensional space. The incorporation of the vessels also enables Swider to express her attunement to her own empathy and operate as a moment of self-reflection both in the creation and viewing of the piece. 

The odyssey concludes with the Songs of Becoming, where Swider maintains her agency as an older woman in a society that is so focused on the eternally youthful and naive. “Once upon a time, women of a certain age like me became the elders and leaders of a community,” says Swider. “They were the ones with the knowledge to pass on to the younger members in their community.” Swider poses the question of how she wants to be remembered through this section, and how she can embrace where she finds herself in the present day. The images in this section are filled with symbols of feminine power, such as extravagant headdresses that can even be worn when depicted in three dimensions. Swider’s art is 100% who she is now and continuously nurtures her identity; this dedicated exhibit brings all those feelings to the forefront for audiences to understand and perhaps empathize with. 

Swider’s work must be seen to be fully understood. The intricate interplay of varied colors and materials creates a truly unique presence in the fiber arts realm. It is easy to get lost in the delicate rhythm of each piece, to drift into a long time behind you yet somehow still unfolding before you.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of Jasper Magazine.

 

Jasper Welcomes Jewelry Designer Clayton King to the Tiny Gallery

Jasper is excited to kick off 2026 in our Tiny Gallery with handcrafted jewelry created by Midlands area artist Clayton King. According to King, whose jewel-art is offered under the title Inspired Chaos Studio, he is “a jewelry artist based in Columbia, SC, whose work resides where fluid lines meet thoughtful structure. Inspired Chaos was born when King ran the art and jewelry gallery, Artizan, in which he offered bespoke fan pulls and crystal sun catchers. The line was expanded to include wearable jewelry and is now offered online. His creative process is guided by the quiet movement found in nature and the Gestalt principles that reveal the beauty of negative space—how what isn’t there can shape what is.

“Clayton is also a performing artist, most notably singing in cabarets and on various Midlands stages. A Texas transplant, he pursues both jewelry and performing as a holdover from his major in Theatre Performance, as well as his years as a gallery owner. Both creative outlets are soul-feeding in different areas of creativity.”

To shop from King’s collection of original artisan jewelry just click here and make your choices!