NEW OPPORTUNITY: First Thursday Art Walk with Jasper's Keith Tolen

The Jasper Project announces a new addition to our First Thursday offerings. Yes, we’re still bringing our monthly First Thursday exhibition to Sound Bites Eatery, but we’re also offering a new First Thursday Art Walk led by Jasper Project board vice president and distinguished artist and arts educator, Keith Tolen!

For August, meet Keith Tolen in front of Stoners Pizza in the Arcade mall at 5:30 for a brief stroll to our sidewalk gallery at the Meridian Building on the corner of Sumter and Washington Streets. The gallery features work by Sharon Licata, Perry McLeod, and Adam Corbett.

Keith Tolen is a lifelong native of South Carolina who grew up in Batesburg. He attended SC State University and received a Bachelors in art education. He then earned a masters in education from Francis Marion University. He taught art at Camden Middle School for 30 years, retiring in 2017. Tolen has worked creating designs in photography, drawing, and painting for the past forty years and continues to do so.

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 made up characters. He likes to experiment with various mediums in a variety of formats focusing always on exploration, play, and following his muse.

Sharon Collings Licata is a Sculptor/Photographer & Instructor, Shamanic Practitioner, Sand a member of the faculty for SC Faculty for Foundation For Shamanic Studies.

Perry McLeod is a retired high school teacher, a dad, and a photographer. Perry says, “Sports, Concerts, events, and just about anything else I can point a camera at. I love photography! Every day is a new adventure and I just want to capture the moments that will make people stop and think. Make people want to make a change. Make people smile.”

The event is free and everyone is welcome!

Koger Center and SoulHaus Partnering for a Brand-New Artist Talk Series

By Emily Moffitt

The Koger Center for the Arts and SoulHaus Gallery are excited to bring new arts programming to the Columbia community within the walls of the Gallery at the Koger Center. SoulHaus Sessions with Preach Jacobs is an upcoming series that features local creative minds from a variety of artistic disciplines in conversation with Jacobs.  The first session with Nikky Finney and Dre Lopez is scheduled for August 20, 2025 at 5 p.m. The evening will kick off with Preach Jacobs spinning vinyl, followed by a conversation with Finney. Lopez’s artwork will be on display easels throughout the gallery, and available for purchase.

Preach Jacobs

Preach Jacobs is a prolific DJ and two-time South Carolina Press Association Award Winner for column writing for “Fight the Power,” his column in the Free Times and Post & Courier Columbia. He is the owner of SoulHaus Gallery, and aims to bring the SoulHaus experience out of the former brick and mortar into the community, sharing the wonder of art through affordable and accessible means. He is the co-curator of the new SoulHaus Gallery at the Koger Center, a rotating exhibit space on the third floor of the Koger Center.

Nikki Finney

Nikky Finney was born in Conway, SC and raised in Sumter. She left South Carolina after high school with her eyes and heart set on becoming a writer. After living and studying primarily in the south, she moved to Oakland, CA then Lexington, KY to teach at the University of Kentucky. In 2013, she became Professor Emeritus at the University of Kentucky and accepted the John H. Bennett, Jr. Chair in Creative Writing and Southern Letters here at USC. She has authored five books and is on the Board of Directors for the Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center in Columbia. She is the author of several poetry collections including Head Off & Split, and On Wings Made of Gauze.

Dre Lopez

Dre Lopez has been working as a professional in the illustration and graphic design field for 14+ years as both a freelancer and in-house designer. He is self-taught, versatile, and can adapt his skillset to just about any requirements, be it from the subject matter or the type of client. He has worked with clients from all over the country and in Europe. His paintings and illustrations have been published in magazines and papers as well as shown in art exhibitions across the United States: Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Charlotte, Asheville, Atlanta, Detroit, L.A., and Chicago, just to name a few!

Tickets are available on EventBrite here. Get yours today and don’t miss out on this extraordinary lineup!

Emily Moffitt is the visual arts editor for Jasper Magazine, secretary of the Jasper Project Board of Directors, Curator of Art for the Koger Center for the Arts.

Money Where Your Mouth Is Installation Thursday, July 31 at 6:30

“What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.” - Eugene Delacroix


When Columbia-based arts advocate and influencer Jared Johnson decides to take on a project, HE TAKES THAT PROJECT ON, generously investing his wide and varied resources in bringing it to fruition. For the past few weeks Johnson has been working on the not-so-subtly titled MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS project with a group of individuals he assembled specifically to meet the needs of an artist whose work he’d like to see supported both culturally and financially. The artist is Monique Dove and a celebration of her work will be held Thursday evening, July 31, at 6:30 at 2001 Greene Street, Suite D.


According to Johnson, “The Money Where Your Mouth Is art event is a unique opportunity for Columbia, SC to change its approach to how we support local talent. This city loves the arts and we enjoy going to exhibitions and viewing art, but that love doesn’t always translate into purchasing art. The lack of sales have a direct impact on artists’ survival and ability to live and create more work/art.”

“Money Where Your Mouth Is,” Johnson continues, “aims to change the current narrative of the Columbia art scene. Yes, this event is free and open to the public and there will be free cocktails for guests. But the organizers will also be inviting and reaching out to those who appreciate art and have the means to pay for art. The goal is to work together as a community to sell art. … This event is the first of its kind and the inaugural artist is the talented Monique Dove and her wonderful work will be for sale. with 100 % of sales going to the artist and the hope and prayer is that these funds help her transition out of living in her car to and into safer housing.”

The event is free and open to the public. Drinks and light snacks will be served.

Who: Monique Dove
What: Money Where Your Mouth Is Art Event
When: July 31st, 2025
Where: 2001 Greene Street, Suite D, #ColumbiaSC




Jasper's Tiny Gallery Artist Also Featured at All Good Books July 31

At Jasper, we love it when the stars cross and Jasper’s featured artists have opportunities to shine across organizations and venues. For example, our Tiny Gallery featured artist for July, Jessica Ream, will be spotlighted at Columbia’s beloved indie bookstore, All Good Books, on Thursday July 31 from 5 - 6 pm.

Here’s what All Good Books says about the event:

Bookbinding Presentation with Local Artist Jessica Ream

Thursday Jul 31st, 2025 — 5:00 PM

Artist Talk

 734 Harden St, Columbia SC 29205

Do you love an old book? Do you love a good journal? (Even if it is just for collecting rather than filling). Have you ever been curious about how either one is made? Better yet, ever wanted to make your own?

Join local artist and bookbinder, Jessica Ream, for an evening of book chat to learn all about the ins and outs of how she creates her one of kind journals from linen, leather and repurposed old books. You will get to play with the different bookbinding tools, watch some live demos, ask all the questions your curiosity conjours and even get your hands messy making a small journal of your own. Just kidding, it won’t be messy, but it will be fun!

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 time in the High Rockies of Colorado, she and her husband have returned to their southeastern origins, where they reside with their son and newborn daughter.

~~~~~

So check out Jessica’s current online exhibition from the comfort of you own computer or mobile device anytime 24/7 at Jasper’s Tiny Gallery Site through July 31st — and then visit All Good Books on July 31st to learn even more about Jessica, bookbinding, and how you might be able to use that knowledge to create something beautiful yourself!

10 More Days to See Judy Bolton Jarrett's Art at Sound Bites Eatery in Downtown Columbia

There’s one more week to catch the art of Judy Bolton Jarrett at Sound Bites Eatery, 1425 Sumter Street, though the good folks at Sound Bites will be sorry to see Jarrett’s beautiful work leave their walls.

A household name in the greater Chapin area, Jarrett opened her own gallery space in 1990 and, on June 1, 2025, the artist celebrated the 35th anniversary of Art Can Studio at 108 Beaufort Street in downtown Chapin. Having served as a high school English teacher for 21 years prior to becoming a professional artist, Jarrett sees the title as her second chapter of life. “My training came from workshops, mostly in watercolor, with local and national instructors,” Jarrett says. “But the experience of picking up a brush and practicing consistently generated a style that was recognizable as mine. As I progressed in confidence, I eventually turned from watercolor into water media, gradually using acrylics and mixed media as my mediums.”

A graduate of Presbyterian College, Jarrett went on to become a juried signature member of the South Carolina Watermedia Society and the Georgia National Watercolor Society. While the artist has abbreviated studio hours of late—Art Can Studio is open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and all other times by appointment only—she still participates in the occasional juried art exhibitions in SC, Georgia, and Tennessee.

Jarrett’s current show at Sound Bites, “Small Works with Large Impact,” is a collection of acrylic and mixed media paintings that the artist says, “represent my love of spontaneity in both color and style, from impressionism to contemporary interpretations. Texture and color are significant elements in every painting. Mixed media works incorporate violin, clock parts, piano hammers, and words.”

Jarrett’s Sound Bites exhibition will be up until the morning of Saturday August 2nd, but if you miss the show, find Jarrett and her work at Art Can Studio in downtown Chapin and visit her website 24/7 to keep up with all this active and still-getting-it-done octogenarian artist is up to!

And mark your calendars for August - October 2026 when Jarrett celebrates her 85th birthday with a solo show at the Botanical Garden at UGA!

Gallery Exhibit Reception Double Feature at the Koger Center

The Koger Center for the Arts has been dedicated to rejuvenating its building with brand new art on the walls during the lull of summer break. On Thursday, July 17, from 5:30 – 7 p.m., they are hosting a large art reception for the newest exhibits: in the Nook in collaboration with Jasper, Virginia Russo will be exhibiting brand new work during the month of July. In the Gallery at the Koger Center, the winners of their annual call for art are exhibiting in the group show “The Koger Center Project Winners’ Exhibition.” This exhibition features Kelley Pettibone, Staci Swider, Jordan Dantzler, Jean Lomasto, and Marion Mason. The reception is free and open to the public.

To learn more about the featured artists in the Koger Center Project Winners’ Exhibition, visit the Koger Center website here. This exhibit will be on display through September 12, 2025.

Kara Virginia Russo is a mixed media abstract artist working with watercolor, ink, collage, pencil, and embroidery to create works with layers of meaning and symbol. After recieving her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, she lived in Asia and Europe before returning with her husband and two children to settle in Greenville, SC. Her work portrays the essence of things, bypassing realism and portraying what cannot be seen.

Jasper Presents Acclaimed Artist Stephen Chesley for Third Thursday Art Night at The Nook - September 21st

Please join the Jasper Project as we welcome acclaimed visual artist Stephen Chesley to Jasper’s little corner of the Koger Center — The Nook — a rotating 2nd floor gallery space for featuring some of the best of the Midlands visual artists.

According to Chesley, “This exhibition is the result of ghost prints from direct painting in a variant style of Sumi Japanese ink drawings. The inclusion of an Asian aesthetic in the manner of Zen brush drills is to obtain emotional content through understanding abstraction of tone and form. The sheer thousands in volume of process has the intent of teaching one's understanding of autography and brushstroke. The yin-yang of black and white references balance of nature embellished with concepts of summary outline and simultaneous contrast set forth by Ogden Rood's 1879 color treatise notably embraced by George Seurat.”

Sumi-e, which means back ink painting, is typically described as art created in monochrome with the use of sumi ink and handmade paper.

Chesley goes on to say that, “Images in this exhibition are a unique hybrid of direct painting and printmaking. Elements of mysticism in these works emanate from ideas of forerunners Morris Graves, Paul Gauguin, Walter Anderson, and George Inness, who all sought to reveal the spirit world always before us.”

Chesley continues, “These figure ground pieces present and lyrical and poetic rendering of the gift of the sublime ordinary found in life and nature. All life, both animate and inanimate, is in consideration of treatises of physics including: Big Bang, singularity, and concepts of deep time. It is apparent that we share atoms with all things and that there is unfathomable structure and connection that is universal, timeless, and infinite. Human sentience is not the only sentience. As we look at landscapes, trees, animals, plants, waves, clouds, and stars, we look at ourselves.”

Stephen Chesley was born in Schenectady, New York in 1952. He exhibited a natural proclivity for drawing and art almost as soon as he could hold pastels and pencils, which were often Christmas gifts from his family. Growing up in Virginia Beach in the late 1950s, he was exposed to the Beat Generation of musicians, artists, and writers when it was still a seasonal seaside resort. Self-motivated, he continued with his drawing and small paintings along with exposure to local artists. Recognized in 1981 by the Columbia Museum of Art as an emerging talent, he went on to win top 100 in the first National Parks competition of 1987. He continues his creative journey with an art spirit in Columbia, SC.

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Chesley to The Nook and invite you to view his work throughout September and October, and to join us for a small reception Thursday, September 21st from 5:30 - 7 pm.

Amy Kuenzie at Sound Bites Eatery!

Amy Kuenzie is Jasper’s featured artist at Sound Bites Eatery this month!

A native South Carolinian currently based in Lexington, Kuenzie says her artistic inspiration is the beauty in everyday life and attributes this policy to “the result of living in the moment and seeking refuge from memories of trauma.”

Kuenzie’s favorite medium is acrylic and she uses special techniques such as bokeh (bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image) and brush work to create depth and focus.

Kuenzie studied art for seven years in her youth but did not pursue further education after high school. After retiring, she began painting as a means of therapy for C-PTSD. Her work has been included in over a dozen shows including Piccolo Spoleto 2022 at City Gallery, in Charleston, SC.

According to Kuenzie, “Borrowing subjects from my life or nature, I use color and depth of field to draw the viewer in to see the emotion and personality of each piece.” She continues, “Painting has helped me heal from Complex-PTSD and to connect with my truest self. Through use of value and contrast, I expose and preserve a moment in time and provide the viewer a new perspective on the beauty all around us.”

Kuenzie’s Jasper-sponsored exhibit at Sound Bites will be on view throughout the month of September at 1425 Sumter Street in downtown Columbia, SC.







Jeffrey Miller’s Exploration of Life Through Humor, Audacity, Absurdity and Juxtaposition

I was once told by someone that they did not know if they liked my work because I wasn't doing what everybody else was doing. I have never before been so complimented— Jeffrey Miller

Jeffrey Miller’s work traces a handful of related themes, ideas, and images through a variety of mediums. He is an artist always exploring and keeping options open—and he is Jasper’s featured Tiny Gallery artist for the month of September. 

Miller grew up in small-town Campbellsville, Kentucky, a “typical child except for an oversized imagination and an unrelenting curiosity.” While he did not grow up around art, he often drew in the margins of his mom’s old textbooks—deterred from marking up the walls of his home instead. Of all things, though, it was an encyclopedia that began the blossoming of Miller’s identity as an artist. 

“One day my father drew a polar bear sketch that he copied from those encyclopedias; excited, I asked him to do it again but instead he gave me the pencil and told me to do it myself,” Miller recalls. “That was all the encouragement I needed. I was about 5 years old then, and I got my first real commission at the age of 12—I earned $100 for painting a logo for a truck driver on both doors of his truck.” 

From this moment, Miller went on to commit himself to art, receiving an art scholarship from Campbellsville University and finishing his art degree at Murray State University 

“At University I was introduced to and gained more knowledge about materials and art history; as far as process, though, it seems more I just learned the name to call what I was already doing,” Miller says. “The biggest and most influencing thing was the atmosphere and the presence of so many other people involved in the creative process…that I really miss!”

BLACK CAT BLUES

Since getting his degree, Miller has continued to grow and expand his horizons. One of his greatest fears is being trapped in a box. As he says, there are “too many possibilities to explore.” In his mind, work predicts medium, so the more mediums one is familiar with, the more the subject matter can spread its wings. 

“Being a good painter or good in whatever chosen medium is a technical evaluation—creativity is something more,” he says. “Besides which, good is a relative term so it literally tells you nothing about an art piece.” 

And art is something Miller is always doing. When asked what he does when not creating, he says that he sees everything he partakes in within his everyday life as some form of artmaking. In that vein, Miller does not have a specific theme he chases—in fact, he sees this as one of the limitations people place around artists and their work. 

In his mind, work predicts medium, so the more mediums one is familiar with, the more the subject matter can spread its wings. 

“People ask what I was thinking when I did this piece or that piece. The only answer is my thinking was absorbed in the piece I'm working on at the time. Anything else is an afterthought,” he says. “The work is complete when I've done my job as an artist and I'm on to the next canvas. The important thing is what [the viewer] brings to the piece, what do [they] think. A piece of art is not complete without the viewer, and each viewer will bring thoughts of their own.” 

If he could find a throughline in his piece, he would say it is all, in some way or another, a celebration of life in all its forms, regardless of the themes and emotions within. If art is in his every day, his art also shows the everyday.

VENUS OF THE BAYOU

“There is an ebb and flow, a push and pull, a transitoriness about life that must be reflected in one's art if that art is about life. The imagery, ideas, and concepts are a reflection of day-to-day life which I personally tend to express through humor, audacity, absurdity, and juxtaposition,” Miller says. “I was once told by someone that they did not know if they liked my work because I wasn't doing what everybody else was doing. I have never before been so complimented.” 

In this Tiny Gallery show, Miller shows off these juxtapositions of life in his newest medium: printmaking, of which he has had an introductory class and, so far, is “finding nothing about it that [he doesn’t] like.” Adjacently, he has started exploring digital art, and he has found himself particularly connected to a new digital image he made—the cover photo of this article.  

“[The piece] totally reflects the art that is me—the art just described to you in the above paragraphs. I usually work from a fleeting mental image in response to something I've seen, heard, or read,” he says. “The mental image may or may not come immediately but it always comes in the same way, like a light brush across the cheek or a fast, flashing image like from the old slide projectors. I turn to get a better look and it is gone. There are times when I only see it when the piece is done—I like it that way.”

THE FALCONER

Perhaps it is this mindset that has led to Miller winning a handful of art contests, including an advertising award from Doe Anderson Advertising Co., as well as serving as an educator for the Lexington Library Adult Education Program for four years.

 Today, he displays at various festivals and community sponsored events, and you can see—and purchase—his work 24/7 until the end of September at Jasper’s online gallery space. After the show, interested patrons can follow his journey on Facebook and Instagram @ Jeffrey Miller Artworks.

701 CCA Presents Fire & Flame with Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero

From our friends at 701 CCA —Fire & Flame:

Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero   

9/21/23   

6:30-8:30 

 

Fire and Flame: Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero is an exhibition exploring the decades-long friendship and collaboration between two artists whose careers and acquaintance blossomed at the Penland School of Craft. Elizabeth Brim is a blacksmith, as well as a teacher, living in western North Carolina. She's best known for mastering the dichotomy of feminine imagery and ironwork. Shane Fero is a glassworker using flame to perfect his technique of 'lampworking' to envision intricate, delicate and ephemeral sculptures. Both are inspired by their environment and both's works are an allegory to their own human experience. 

Fire and Flame is a testament to this long nurtured friendship. Two individuals understanding the transformative power of fire and translating the process in iron and glass. Featuring signature works of their unique styles and collaborative works seamlessly joining their disparate materials, this exhibition ignites the understanding that all is possible through curiosity and dedication.

 

*Cash Bar and light refreshments served. 

2023 State Fair Fine Art Competition Now Open for Submissions

Showcase your talents in our Fine Art Department for individuals 18+.

Divisions include Professional & Amateur 2-D, 3-D and Photography. 

Exhibitor must be a resident of South Carolina or attending a college or university in South Carolina or a member of the Armed Forces stationed in South Carolina.

New in 2023

All Entries in the Fine Art department will be required to submit a photo of their completed, prepared-to-show, piece during registration.  All entries in Fine Art must be entered through the online registration. No mail-in registrations will be accepted. 

You may register at any time during the registration period and your photograph may be submitted later, as long as it is submitted before the September 1st deadline. 

Fine Art Important 2023 Dates & Times

Open Entry Registration: July 1 – Sept. 1, 2023

Oversized Entry Artist Notification: Wednesday, Sept. 21

Delivery Days: 
(Cantey Building)

  • Sunday, Sept 24 – 1:00 pm. to 6:00 pm

  • Monday, Sept 25 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

  • Tuesday, Sept 26 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm


Release Days: 

  • Monday, Oct. 23 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

  • Tuesday, Oct. 24 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

  • TWO DAYS ONLY

2023 Registration July 1st – September 1st

2023 Fine Art Guide

2023 General Rules and Regulations

Click Here to Enter Online

New Work from Lee Malerich at Stormwater Studios -- September Dates for Reception, Presentation, and Viewing

A Message from Visual Artist Lee Malerich:

I put down my textile work some time ago. My stories were told; my problems dealt with and tied in a knot.

But that was not the end of the artmaking.  An artist walks through life absorbing, digesting, responding, and commenting. We are trained to do this.

I moved a house from three miles away to its current location. I stripped it down to its bones and started it over. I used new tools, learned new processes, and found new materials. I was hooked.

My question was, could I make art with these new skills having neither criticism nor teacher? Could I make sculpture without knowing its cumulative history from the beginning? Could I even work in three dimensions? The experiment was that basic.

In the end, I found that I could and learned a lesson from my personal history. I will be present during all the following times:

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 14, 2023, 11- 8 PM with the reception, 5-8 PM

Artist Presentation:  Saturday, September 16, 3:00

Viewing Hours: Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 11-3 PM

                            Thursday, September 14, 2023, 11-8 PM

                             Friday, September 15, 2023, 11-3 PM

                             Saturday, September 16, 2023, 11-5 PM

                             Sunday, September 17, 2023, 11-3 PM

I will be showing my most recent work and bringing examples of intermediary work which will show how I got from there to here. It is not really a surprising evolution. 

Rob Shaw Gallery Reception to Feature Eclectic Private Collection and Award-Winning Photographer

 

On Friday, September 1, from 6 to 9 p.m., Rob Shaw Framing and Gallery will host a reception featuring the private art collection of Mary Beth Dawson-Gillis. The reception will also feature award-winning photographer Skip Willits, who will sign copies of his new book Come Walk with Me. Both Willits’s book and all works in the private collection will be for sale at the event. The gallery is at 324 State Street in West Columbia. 

The Dawson-Gillis collection features an eclectic mix of artwork ranging from Folk Gullah paintings to representational landscapes. Featuring more than 20 artists, it includes works by Charles DeSaussure, Kip McCullough, Amiri Farris, Saundra Erickson Wright, Marshall Foster, Michel McNinch and Cami Hutchinson.

Willits is a professional photographer specializing in maritime, nature, and urban scenes, with a special emphasis on lighthouses. His work appears in books and magazines as well as in lighthouse and wildlife posters. Willits has led tours and produced multimedia presentations for the Smithsonian Institution. 

Rob Shaw Framing and Gallery is a full-service frame shop and fine art gallery. Since opening the gallery in April of 2019, Shaw has showcased many talented South Carolina artists with diverse styles. 

The gallery hosts First Friday at Rob Shaw Gallery receptions every month except July and August.

Mark Your Calendars for Jasper Board Member - Elect Keith Tolen's Aiken Exhibition and Artist Talk

Mark Your Calendars!

Columbia based artist and Jasper Project board of directors member-elect, Keith Tolen, brings a wealth of experience to this upcoming exhibition in which he experiments with using dots as the dominate paint stroke technique in CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DOT.

Along with his professional art career in the areas of illustration, photography and painting, teaching art has always been and continues to be a major part of his life. He has taught art for after school and gifted and talented programs and has been a teaching artist for South Carolina Arts Access, which works to provide arts experiences for the unique and special needs community, for almost 20 years

Join us for an Artist Talk with Keith Tolen Tuesday, October 17 at 6pm in the main gallery at Aiken Center for the Arts

Jasper Tiny Gallery Artist Benji Hicks Profile: From a Singular Idea to Animals with Stories

Benji Hicks’s whimsical, personality-filled animals have been playing on Jasper’s Tiny Gallery site since the beginning of August. Keep reading to learn more about Hicks and how he makes his art! 

Hicks has considered Columbia his home since birth­—over 50 years now—having resided in West Columbia, specifically, since 1973. He is a completely self-taught artist, woodcarver, and woodblock print maker, though he can recall the act of creating being valuable to him from an extremely young age. 

“For as long as I can remember, I have always been an artist. Drawing with pencils and pens, and later, painting with watercolor” Hicks says. “Growing up, I got to spend many hours in my dad’s woodworking shop, learning to use tools and make things. This is when I found a love for wood carving.” 

Hicks’s professional work as a carpenter compounded with his self-driven exploration of art, ultimately leading to a new relationship with woodblock printmaking—and to handmaking unique frames for each individual print. 

A Japanese woodblock printmaking technique called Mokuhanga is what caught Hicks’s attention: “Mokuhanga can best be described as a multi woodblock printing technique where there is a keyblock (black outline) and a separate color block carved for each color in the print. My prints are made with anywhere from 2 blocks to as many as 21 blocks per print…since every print is handmade and shows subtle differences, each one is considered an original piece of art.”  

Mokuhanga is similar to other printmaking techniques in that the artist carves into solid surface before adding a colored medium and pressing some form of paper onto the surface before pulling it off to reveal a design. Since embarking on this journey, Hicks has also experimented with adjacent forms of printmaking as he becomes more comfortable with his personal style. 

When it comes to what Hicks likes to make, he is “always drawn to funny little characters and…animals doing human things,” he says. “With animals, it doesn’t matter what age they are. They can be young or old and wise, and still get away with being playful and silly or just out to have fun. I tend to let nature take its course and inspire me in my art,” Hicks says. “If you see a character show up in my artwork, then you can believe that I had an encounter with that sort of creature in nature, a dream or maybe even a song brought them to mind. Each idea is a seed. Once planted, it grows into a new series.”  

These series may emerge from a single seed, but it is just that—an idea. Hicks does not have a firm idea of how exactly an idea will emerge into its final physical form; he prefers to let the characters and their stories bloom organically. 

“If it makes me smile or even giggle a little, then I know I’m on to something. As I create one, I see the next,” Hicks says. “They lead one to another until the end of that path. Some paths are longer than others.”  

This Tiny Gallery show is a mix of old and new from Hicks—all coming together to tell a new story. A “woodsy theme” ties this collection together, with “Bear Loves Honey” being one of his favorites. 

“I was trying to make each print bring a smile and also evoke the imagining of the before and after. I try to capture the moment just before or just as the main event happens,” Hicks says. “You can imagine if there were more panels like a comic book, you would see the bear getting ready for a hike and packing his backpack to go look for honey. Afterwards, he would be happy with his found stash of honey. I tried to capture the moment he sees the bee and feels the anticipation of finding honey.”  

Hicks hopes that when people view the pieces, they “will recognize these moments and use their own imagination to fill in the before and after.” 

For more on Mokuhanga and the art of Benji Hicks’s, check out the fall 2023 print issue of Jasper Magazine, releasing October 2023 — details on release party are coming soon. In the mean time, Hicks’ Tiny Gallery show will be up until August 31st at Jasper’s virtual gallery site

After the show, you can see his work on his Facebook, at the Cayce Arts Guild, the South Carolina Artists Group, and the Meeting Street Artisan Market.

 

 

701 CCA CALL to ARTISTS Biennial 2023 - Jurors Announced

701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, SC seeks submissions for the 701 CCA South Carolina Biennial 2023, the center’s seventh survey exhibition of work by contemporary South Carolina artists. The exhibition will be held at the center in two parts with openings in November 2023 and January 2024. Artists working in all media and styles are encouraged to apply. Artists must be a current resident of South Carolina.

Exhibition Dates:

Biennial Part I- November 17 – December 30, 2023

Biennial Part II- January 12 – February 25, 2024

Selection Process:

A panel of three jurors representing local, regional, and national perspectives will review submitted materials and select artists for the exhibition. A 701 CCA curatorial team will select works for the exhibition from submitted images and when needed, through studio visits. 

Submission Materials

Submissions for the 701 CCA South Carolina Biennial 2023 should be made via Submittable (link below) and include the following:

  • Ten images of work produced in the last two years that are representative of what will be available for inclusion in the Biennial. 

    • Images should be in a jpeg format with a minimum size of 1024 wide x 768 high ppi (pixels per inch) at 300 dpi resolution. 

    • File names should be numbered 1 through 10 followed by the artist’s last name and title of the work.

      • Example: 2_Smith_Good Morning.jpg

  • List of Images: Create a list of your images with the following information: (PDF, MSWord Accepted)

    • File name, year, medium, and dimensions (H x W for 2-D; H x W x D for 3-D). 

  • Brief Statement: Create a statement, not to exceed 200 words, about your work and how it addresses your intent. (PDF, MSWord Accepted)

    • Example: “I use recycled materials to address my concerns with climate change.”

  • Resume/CV and/or biographical sketch, no more than 300 words, that includes the artist’s birth date, place of birth, and where they grew up. (PDF, MSWord Accepted)

*Artists need to make sure that they have work available for the exhibitions that reflects the art in their submission.

Fees:

The submission fee is $25.00 per artist. Your payment can be made through Submittable or checks can be made payable to 701 CCA.

Submission Deadline:

All materials should be submitted by Wednesday, August 16, 2023, by 11:59 p.m.

Notification:

Artists will be notified of the results of the selection process by Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

Timeline:

  • Submission Deadline: August 16, 2023, 11:59 p.m.

  • Jury Panel Meets: Between August 20–23, 2023

  • Notification of Selections: August 30, 2023

  • Artists’ Notifications to 701 CCA of Unavailable Work: September 3, 2023

  • Notification of artists’ selection for Part I or Part II: September 15, 2021

  • Delivery work for Part I: November 8-10, 2023

  • Part I opens: November 17, 2023

  • Artists’ Reception Part I: TBD

  • Part I Closes: December 30, 2023

  • Pick-up Work Part I: January 3-5, 2024

  • Deliver Work for Part II: January 3-5, 2024

  • Part II opens: January 12, 2024

  • Artists’ Reception Part II: TBD

  • Part II Closes: February 25, 2024

  • Pick-up Work Part II: February 28-March 1, 2024

*Please submit further inquiries to director@701cca.org or call Caitlin Bright, Executive Director at 803.319.9949.


Introducing the Jurors for the Seventh Edition of the SC Biennial, produced and hosted by 701 Center for Contemporary Art

701 CCA is thrilled to announce that the 2023 SC Biennial will be juried by Lauren Jackson Harris, Bob Monk, and Aaron Levi Garvey. The gallery is currently seeking submissions for its seventh survey exhibition of works by contemporary South Carolina Artists. This year, 701 CCA has the honor of presenting submissions for review by some of the nation's leading figures in contemporary art. 


Lauren Jackson Harris is an independent curator, fine art management professional, and project manager from Atlanta, GA. She earned her BFA in Graphic Design and Art History from Howard University and her MA in Creative Leadership from SCAD. In 2019, she co-founded Black Women in Visual Art, an organization that connects, cultivates, and serves Black women arts professionals. With BWVA, Harris builds partnerships and develops programs that create further visibility and opportunity for Black women in art. As an independent arts worker over the last ten years, Harris has curated exhibitions and art experiences with organizations and art spaces such as For Freedoms, Facebook, MINT Gallery, Day & Night Gallery, The Gathering Spot, Stay Home Gallery, Living Walls, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and more. Harris also serves as the Co-Chair for the Beltline Public Art Advisory Council, as a Board member for Tessera Arts Collective, and is an active fine art advocate consulting with artists on their practice and career-based opportunities.


Bob Monk is the director of Gagosian Gallery NYC + LA. Serving in this position for over 30 years, Mr. Monk has curated countless exhibitions, and has worked closely with Ed Ruscha and Richard Artschwager. He has curated numerous exhibitions, including the 2005 American Pavilion for the Venice Biennale. He worked at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York (1974–84) and then founded Lorence Monk Gallery in 1986 featuring the works of Richard Artschwager, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Bruce Nauman, and Barnett Newman. He is currently working on ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN, a retrospective of the artist's works on view at Gagosian Gallery September 10th, 2023. 
 

Aaron Levi Garvey is a Jewish-American Curator/Historian working and lecturing in Modern and Contemporary Arts and Culture. Currently, Garvey is the Chief Curator of the Andy Warhol Museum. Recent exhibitions include: The Hudson Eye a 10-day and 14-venue arts focused program in Hudson, New York, Arc of Life/Ark of Bones by Walter Hood and Migratory Roots by Kevin Brisco at the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University, Flashing the Leather and The Drowned group exhibitions at Alabama Contemporary, Chiharu Shiota’s site-specific installation “Infinity Lines” at the SCAD Museum of Art, Sheida Soleimani “Oppress(er)(ed)” with Long Road Projects, “Ephemera Obscura” at the Contemporary Art Center of New Orleans and Manon Bellet's "MEMO" and Shikeith’s “notes towards becoming a spill” both at Atlanta Contemporary. Additionally Garvey curated "We Are What You Eat" the inaugural art exhibition at the United Nations headquarters in New York City in 2016 and co-curated the Atlanta Biennial (ATLBNL): Recent Correspondence at the Atlanta Contemporary in August 2016.


The application portal is open until August 16th and can be reached by following the link: >>

Submit Here

First Official Exhibit at Gemini II Studios - and you can be involved!

Call for Art

Call for Support

Gemini II Arts announces their first official exhibition — albeit “while renovations continue” at their evolving space near City Roots and the Hunter Gatherer Hangar.

Founder Ron Hagell shares this news with the Jasper Project:

“I'm sure by now you are aware that over the next few months this [Gemini II] will become the largest group of artist studios in Columbia with its own exhibition spaces and tons of parking close to City Roots (F2T) and the Hunter-Gatherer Hanger. In the hottest new spot in town Rosewood/Owens Field!

It's going to be super for the public and artists. Please join us and bring friends.

For artists:  If you have not signed on to participate in this show, you can still join us or bring work to show/sell. Just deliver it to the site on 14 or 15 September but text me first so I know you are coming. Be sure all your info is on your work. 

If you are showing work, please donate $10 to help with costs or you can go to our site and click on the Donate button there where you can do it through PayPal directly or with a credit card.

...or, if you just want to help us out, you can donate at these links as well.”

David Dohan on Blurring the Boundaries Between Imagination and the Natural World

David Dohan’s Jasper Galleries show at Sound Bites is coming to a close after a month of sharing his unique perspective on the natural world.  

A Columbia artist, Dohan was born in Connecticut of Italian, Hungarian, Czechoslovakian, and Polish descent.

 “My family, generations of fisherman, carpenters, mechanics, and engineers, moved down to Naples, Florida, in the early 80’s for work in a place that was just starting to boom,” he recalls, “There I grew up amongst temperate pine forests, lowland swamps of the everglades, limestone filtered lakes, and crystal-clear waters of the Florida Keys.” 

It wasn’t long after this that Dohan had his first experience with art, but it was not simply making art in a class that served as the catalyst—it was early childhood defiance.  

“The power of art and how it affects people has been burned into my memory from a very early age. My first memorable moment of its power was as early as first grade. When the teacher had to step away for an emergency and told us all to remain seated…I grabbed my chair and slid it up close to the chalkboard, grabbed the chalk, and stepped up onto it,” he reminisces, “On my tippy toes I drew the biggest cartoon dinosaur I could. A three-foot-tall T-Rex that, as I recall, looked amazingly like Barney. The students were amazed, and for the first time in my life I felt talented. My heart is filled with such pride whenever someone says my art is beautiful.” 

That moment led Dohan to draw every day until the point, as a teenager, he never left home without a sketchbook and tools. When it was time to go to college, he knew an art path was the only option. He chose to attend Ringling School of Art and Design, where he graduated with a BA in Fine Arts, majoring specifically in computer animation and video production. At Ringling, however, he experimented with a plethora of tools and techniques.

 “Ringling is renowned for teaching classic foundational techniques with experimentation of all mediums while being trained in composition, color, design, and appeal with a focus on the ways of the masters,” he shares, “It was vigorous and immersive at the same time. We were given creative freedom but had to follow specific goals in order to complete our projects as we rotated through all the mediums.”  

The mediums Dohan explored there included charcoal, pastel, oils, acrylics, clay, wood, metal, photography, and printmaking—however, among all these, one stood out: watercolor.  

“I love the way watercolor is immersive, unpredictable, and chaotic. I found myself drawn to the way it flows, reacts, and is defined by the paper, gravity, and additives in the water,” he shares, “I found it challenging to control and it led me to search for the best techniques to produce the qualities I was looking for.” 

As he has honed his techniques over the years, Dohan finds that he utilizes various ones even today as it is the subject matter that truly determines the technique.  

“Sometimes I do a piece with straight on brushwork, wet on wet, dry on dry, or washes. I also like to photograph my subject in multiple angles and lighting. This allows me to construct my artwork using this imagery to produce my compositions,” he details,” I use one of my favorites which is masking and pouring. It allows me to fully think of the subject and create the details needed to fully capture the subject while building detail with additional techniques like scraping, stippling, spattering, even using soap, and salt for texture.”

 To prepare for this exploration of subject matter and technique, Dohan often starts with an image; this image may be a specific, singular leaf or an idea in his head that he needs to storyboard and sketch.  

As he emphasizes, “Finally after completing hundreds of thousands of marks the piece is completed but only when every millimeter of the page has been realized, all positive and negative space has been balanced, and the idea can be understood from a stranger's perspective.” 

The image these strangers will find when looking at Dohan’s work will almost always be that of the natural world, specifically landscapes.  

“I always felt landscapes are very relaxing to paint. I enjoy being able to prepare some paper, throw some paint on it and just see what comes of it,” he explains, “This is how the canyon series evolved. They were experiments in different palettes and techniques and how the paint reacted to different papers. I slowly evolved them and pushed myself to create depth, perspective, form, texture, and build each piece with each additional technique and readjusting with each addition.” 

Though Dohan paints landscapes, paints images of the natural world as it is, this does not limit his creativity—not in the least. In fact, it compounds it.  

“I draw a lot from my imagination. Creating characters, alien worlds, underwater reefs, and landscapes that I have gleaned from my various travels around the country. I love science, technology, and the natural world,” he effuses, “I am amazed at how our universe works. The physics of it and the life in it. I try to see good in everything, all the while, trying to make it through this life without harmfully colliding with everything else. I am amazed by the flow of time, growth, and how life evolves. How everything affects the things around it.” 

For his show at Sound Bites, Dohan decided to select a number of pieces from across his career, a sampling of his vast imagination’s take on the world’s vast landscape.

 “All of these pieces are from different time periods of my career, very early to quite recent. I tried to show a good variety of styles, mediums, and subject matter. I also pulled some pieces out of my personal collection that I have held onto for decades,” he intimates, “I hold a very personal attachment to all of my artwork since I mostly do my artwork for myself. I try to create something that I feel is beautiful and that I would put on the walls of my home. I believe that people try to surround themselves with beauty and to showcase their personal style.” 

For those who viewed the show at SoundBites—and all those who view his work in the future—Dohan’s main goal is to craft a bond between patron and painting: “I just hope that someone will have a special connection with the art I create and love it enough to own it. Only then it can have the chance to show those around you a little piece of your personality that is sometimes untold.”

 

And connections he has made. Dohan’s art career has a thread of success running through it, having a healthy handful of recognition and exhibition under his belt, including:

  • 1994 – First year college works - The Eleven Young Artist Exibition – Cove Gallery, Naples, Florida

  • 1995 – Naples Art Association Scholarship in Art Competition Award – Emerging Artist Show

  • 1998 – Ringling School of Art and Design – Best of Ringling Award – Annual Juried Student Exhibition

  • 1998 – Siggraph 98 -International Conference of Computer Graphics and Interactive Technology

    • Senior Thesis – The Wonder of It All – Computer Animated short - Was included in the broadcasts on kiosks throughout the conference.

  • 1998 – Sixth Annual Digital Salon – Wonder of it All  - Computer Animated short

  • 1998 – Ventues- Visual Art Museum – New York

  • 1999 – Circulo de Bellas Artes – Madrid, Spain

  • 1999 – Triennale di Milano - Milan, Italy

  • 1999 – Centro de Cultura Contemporanea – Barcelona, Spain

  • 1999 – Sala de Exposiciones CAM – Alicante, Spain

  • 2000 – Electronics  Exhibition – University of Tampa Scarfone/Hartley Galleries 

Dohan’s work may come down from Jasper Galleries at Sound Bites this weekend, but he isn’t going anywhere. 

“I have the Cottontown Art Crawl in the spring of next year lined up. I try to have a collectors show every year. I invite my fan base to come and look at the newest of my works, but a venue has not been decided,” he shares, “I am always working on new pieces and these days they take longer and longer. Especially since life sometimes gets in the way of its creation.”  

You can see Dohan’s current and past work at his website or on his Facebook page

Curious patrons and interested artists can learn more about Jasper Galleries here.