Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian Building Features Trio of Local Talent -- Christopher Lane, Emily Wright, and Marion Mason

By Christina Xan

The Meridian Sidewalk Gallery is Jasper Galleries’ most unique space. While patrons cannot enter the gallery, the sidewalks are accessible to all 24/7. Lining both Sumter and Washington Streets around the historic Meridian Building, the gallery prominently features two 2D artists and one 3D artist each quarter.  

For the first quarter of 2025, Jasper Galleries has paired the bright, dynamic paintings of Christopher Lane and Emily Wright with stunning wooden sculptures from Marion Mason. The differing shapes and forms wrap and snake around each other, each piece telling its own part of a grander story together. 

Patrons have until the end of March to stop by and view the works, all of which are purchasable via scanning a QR code at the end of each window or contacting jaspergalleries@gmail.com. Learn more about each artist below.

Christopher Lane - artist

Christopher Lane, born in Minnesota in 1968, drew inspiration from notable artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Roy Lichtenstein during his formative years.  His artistic development was further influenced by a period spent in Cairo, Egypt where the architecture, sculpture, symbolism, hieroglyphs and vibrant colors of Egyptian art left a significant mark on his work.  Diagnosed with dyslexia, he attended the GOW School in South Wales, New York, which provided him with educational support. Following this, Lane lived in Paris for a year, enriching his creative pursuits.  He pursued an art degree at Eastern New Mexico University but left to support his young family while serving in the United States Navy as a submariner.  Now residing in South Carolina, Lane focuses on creating visual stories that encourage viewers to reconsider divisive subjects through a gentler perspective. He is actively involved in various group exhibitions nationwide and recently showcased his work at ArtFields. 

Lane employs striking imagery to transform life experiences into visual narratives that center on individuals and their interpersonal relationships.  He is deeply committed to social justice and environmental protection, illustrating the interconnectedness of these themes in his work.  His paintings frequently include elements of nature and often convey historical, political, or spiritual stories, reflecting his enthusiasm for these topics.  As a modern surrealist and storyteller, Lane’s artworks can typically be analyzed in multiple scenes while maintaining a unified theme.  Using vibrant colors, rich symbolism, and layered imagery, he addresses complex issues, encouraging viewers to perceive them through a new, perhaps softer lens. 

Marion Mason - Artist

Marion Mason writes the following:

I am a visual artist who taught high school Art for forty-two years. 

I earned the Bachelor of Arts Degree in studio art (sculpture concentration) from the University of South Carolina, and the Master of Fine Arts Degree (in sculpture) from the University of Georgia. In addition, I earned the Master of Education (adult & community education) from Carolina.  

Prior to my teaching career I served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for 9 years (5 on active duty) and am a veteran of the Vietnam War.  

I began my 42-year HS Art teaching career as the artist-in-residence, and on-site coordinator, at the former Richland District One Artistically Talented and Gifted (ARTAG) High School Program. Many years ago, I was a member of the design and implementation team of the original Tri-District Arts Consortium (Tri-DAC), and I have taught sculpture there for 15 summers. Also, I had the privilege of teaching three summers in the three week Honors Program at the SC Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. I have conducted many art workshops for school, district, community, and state-wide groups, from middle schoolers through adults. In 1982 I was awarded Teacher of the Year recognition at C. A. Johnson High School and was also honored as the Richland District One Teacher of the Year. Currently I teach various visual arts courses and serve as the Fine Arts Department Head at White Knoll High School. 

Since retiring from teaching in January 2019, I am now a full-time professional artist again, and exhibit and sell my sculpture, pendants and earrings. Over the years I have shown and won awards at many local, state, regional, and national competitive and invitational exhibits.

Emily Wright - artist

e.lois wright, known by friends and family as Emily Wright, is a lover of Life with all of its small details and rich hues of color that spill into our every day.  Emily’s first love is the written language.  She began an early love affair with poetry, prose and the theater arts, earning a BA in English with honors at Lander University.  With a desire to express the vibrant facets of Self, she discovered her passion for creating visual art and started a journey toward understanding its cathartic impact on her holistic health.  Emily, first, was drawn to decoupage with art journaling and, later, engaged all of her free time in jewelry making.  A means of “balancing the distractions”, she found solace in piecing together unique and bold wearable art from discarded found objects, taking the broken and making them beautiful, again. 

In 1999, Emily began selling her original, up-cycled jewelry under the name “Balanced Distractions”, finding that her patrons connected with her pieces on a very personal, emotional, and, even, spiritual level, which stands true, today.  Over the last twenty-five years, hundreds of friends, family, and strangers have donated the fragmented and unwanted—glass, pottery, metal and jewelry—all to this shareable, artful healing. A pivotal point in Emily’s artistic journey appeared with the cresting of Columbia’s “Thousand-Year Flood” (2015).  Simple, surprising treasures were unearthed from surrounding Midland rivers, allowing Emily to feel, deeply, the flow of inspiration and creative potential, “taking the broken and making them beautiful, again”. 

Emily’s choices of medium and forms of expression continue to expand and unfold before her, as she is fully immersed in the art of authentic self-expression with a “fresh eyes” perception.  From tapping mantras into canvases to mindfully transforming watercolor blots into faces to molding faux flowers out of old water bottles and shotgun shells, she is present to create from the heart. Most favorite mediums include acrylic/oil/chalk/pastels on canvas/wood/metal, and her time is lovingly spent on making decor and yard art, up-cycled furniture, handmade paper journals from recyclable goods, photography, and learning more and more about costuming and stage make-up.  

Her love for all arts is echoed in her role as “Artist in Residence” (2019-Present) for “Swamp Sessions—‘Off the Grid’ Sustainable Energy Project” in Awendaw, SC, alongside South Carolina’s “Low-Country Hall of Fame” singer/songwriter, Danielle Howle.

Josef Berliner and Wilma King Collaborate for Jasper Galleries at Sound Bites

By Christina Xan

While there was no First Thursday this month, Jasper and Sound Bites still celebrated the start of another year with an Opening Reception last week for a double feature at the restaurant’s gallery space, showcasing the work of friends and artists Josef Berliner and Wilma King. 

Both artists have presented an array of works from intimate portraits of two girls hiding under covers to stunning highlights of prominent celebrities/figures. Berliner and King each have distinct styles they have honed for decades, yet their work effortlessly complements each other through vivid colors and the intersection of the natural world, particularly floral scenes. 

Berliner and King alike have pursued art since they were young and have roots in South Carolina, both having attended the University of South Carolina. Berliner has continued to work and create in the state, showing at the Columbia Museum of Art and participating in exhibits with Bullets and Band-Aids and the University of South Carolina Department of Dance Gala. Alongside this, he has pursued work as a deejay, an aural expression of his creativity that is often seen visually. Not just any deejay, Berliner’s work as an award-winning premier nightclub deejay led him to performing at many of the largest and best-known clubs in the Southeast. 

King’s horizons are constantly shifting, having lived across 11 states. She spent this time—over 30 years—working as an educator at a multitude of American schools, teaching courses in public relations, communication studies, advertising design, publication design, and photography. Returning to Columbia, she has shown in places and exhibits such as 701 Whaley, the Ernest J. Finney Cultural Center, and MIRCI’s 52 Windows. King has not only participated in numerous art shows but has collaborated on over 13 published papers in her field. 

As an artist, Berliner goes by the name “Jobey,” which is how he signs all his work. In his own words: “Jobey is the more outgoing and confident alter ego of Josef Berliner. Behind the mask is a thoughtful, somewhat shy, and introspective artist. Armed with the knowledge that I am not alone in this attribute, I seek…to go behind the surface facade of my subject matter and search for the deeper and often hidden and complex personae beneath.”  

King “endeavors to combine her experiences of living in 11 states (including Alaska) with her educational background into a visual storytelling collaboration through her painting. Her pursuit and passion go beyond a daily practice of technique and development. She believes that universality—seeking common ground—is what makes art purposeful.”   

Even if patrons missed the opening, they could still embark on this journey with Berliner and King until January 31st when the work comes down. Sound Bites Eatery, located at 1425 Sumter St, is open M-F 10-3 and weekends 11:30-2:30. Stop by to grab a delicious, freshly made bite to eat and see this unforgettable show.

Mary Ann Haven Features New Collection of Work for Jasper Galleries at Motor Supply Co. Bistro

by Christina Xan

The first quarter of 2025 will present patrons at Motor Supply Co. Bistro the opportunity to embark on a journey with artist Mary Ann Haven that follows the ebbs and flows of her own tumultuous experiences throughout 2024.  

With a BFA in Design from the University of North Texas, Haven has spent nearly 40 years as a working artist in the Midlands—first self-employed and focusing on “commissioned art, murals and tromp l'eoil custom layered finishes, including plasters, metal leaf gilding and hand painted signage” and, for the last decade, homing in on canvases and commissions. 

Haven has participated in a multitude of shows and juried competitions, including Open Studios, the SC Watermedia Society Digital Show, and Artfields. The 11 pieces in her show with Jasper Galleries—which opens this Friday, January 17th from 6:00pm—8:00pm at Motor Supply in the Vista—depict a journey of hope, loss, and letting go. 

Haven has penned the following retrospective on the collection, which will be up for view and available for purchase until the end of March. 

“There is for me a sense of before and after in this body of work. When Jasper gave me the opportunity to have a show in a location that would allow me to share my bigger paintings, I was excited. If nothing else, the goal of January 2025 would give me a whole year of something to work toward. I didn't know at the time how much I would need that to keep moving forward. 

The two 36" x 36" puzzle series pieces, “Adaptable” and “New Day New View” are a lighter, playful exploration of yin and yang, peace vs. chaos and the joy felt when attempting to balance a composition using form, value, and color. The three 20" x 20" pieces, “Reflections I & II” and “South by Southwest” also play with the same elements with collage added in. These five pieces represent the ‘before’ stage. 

The emotional landscape began to shift in April when I lost a close friend to cancer. Sometimes you can point to certain people and know that they have changed the direction of your life. He was one of those individuals for me. A month later I received a call notifying me that my very independent eldest sibling was in dire straits. I can acknowledge now that my parents raised three offspring that live lives independent of each other. Being the youngest, this was the first time I had been called into action to help one of them. I experienced a real mixmaster of emotions, which included surrendering to what one cannot control (other people's choices) and a new level of concern/anxiety over what it can mean when things go wrong while aging alone. I found that my normal desire to paint nonrepresentational work came to a full stop. To my surprise, an idea I had had for decades resurfaced as a way to go forward. 

At a dinner party in 1996 I was introduced to a fellow local artist Carolita Cantrell. While chatting about my marriage ending, she told me that I needed "shelter without walls". Her example of this was a partner who honored an artist's need to be an artist...and all that meant. In the last decade I have spent time at the coast where I regularly view fisherman's shelters at the end of piers which are basically…shelter without walls. These two things came together as a new series with a moody result. The first piece is “No Chumming for Sharks.” That label was actually a sign on an existing shelter before it was destroyed when washed away in a hurricane. Beyond the literal meaning, to me it meant ‘don't ask for trouble.’  The second painting, “Storm Front,” is a dreamscape that was painted on top of composite silver leaf. It depicts the hope moonlight brings in the darkness.   

I included a self-portrait that was painted when I was feeling emotionally raw. It's figuratively a medical prescription full of symbols, some more meaningful than others. “Open The Book” is a piece about life continuing to bring us new lessons. It helps if we stay open and are willing to learn. The last two finished were the 30” x 40” pieces in deep teal and blues. “Blue Wave with Spilled Milk” was named in mid-November. You can make that name what you wish. The last, “Forest Dreams” was painted in response to Hurricane Helene. It brought the possibility that I might have to put aside the dream I've had for years of living in the mountains. 

Overall, painting has become a mirror of my emotional response to my environment. By the way, the name of the self-portrait is “The Year of Letting Go.” 2024 was definitely that for me.”

Jasper Kicks Off Our First Tiny Gallery of 2025 with a Returning Favorite - Betsy Kaemmerlen

by Christina Xan

Jasper Galleries has been entering the new year with a bang, seeing openings and transitions at all six of its locations. The first show went up on the morn of the very first day of 2025: Betsy Kaemmerlen’s show on Jasper’s virtual space, Tiny Gallery. 

Above Kaemmerlen’s home studio is the phrase “We exist to revere the great spirit of life and enjoy all the beauty of its expression,” and her work truly encapsulates this. Working with clay since 1994, her pottery is a marriage of imagery from the natural world and her own invented organic patterns. 

Having studied gardens in Kyoto, Japan, for five months in the late 70s, Asian motifs proliferate her work—like the ginkgo leaves often seen on her pottery—alongside Celtic motifs pressed through hand-carved roller stamps. Much of this comes from her own experience as a landscape architect as well as pottery workshops taken with figures including Amy Sanders and Elaine Coleman. 

To create her rich textures and decorations, Kaemmerlen uses a variety of clay types but prefers porcelain, which she says beautifully shows the color of glazes like celadon. Much of her inspiration comes from the origins of pottery itself when clay was used to protect cooking baskets and the baskets’ weaving impression remained after being placed in the fire. This “gives a piece both tactile and visual interest” with “transparent glazes pooling in the depths.” 

This richness can be seen throughout this Tiny Gallery show, from wood-grain vases and wrapped clay appearing like cloth to crested bugs and bejeweled cups. Jewel-toned ceruleans, jades, and vermillion swirl across this collection of pieces. 

Kaemmerlen’s show will be online until the final day of January, and the works are available for local pickup at the artist’s Columbia home. Peruse the work via Tiny Gallery online.

Jasper Welcomes Jordan Sheridan to the Koger Center Nook Gallery

By Emily Moffitt

The Jasper Project is excited to kick off the 2025 season in The Nook at the Koger Center with an exhibit of work by Jordan Sheridan. The opening reception for the exhibit is scheduled for January 16, 2025, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. at the Koger Center. The reception is free and open to the public.

Jordan Sheridan was born in Northeastern Arkansas in 1989. She became a mother to her son, Samuel, in 2017 and began graduate school at the University of South Carolina shortly after. As a mother pursuing an MFA degree, Sheridan’s work organically shifted to include a personal examination of motherhood. This change in research pushed her from working primarily in 2-D painting to 3-D artmaking via large-scale textile installations. Sheridan’s studio practice unites painting, sculpture, and installation as she explores the visual dimensions of identity and motherhood. Since completing her MFA degree, Sheridan has continued exploring these textile landscapes and vibrant paintings, all evolving with her multifaceted experience of motherhood and an underlying query of interconnectedness. She is currently a full-time faculty instructor and discipline coordinator of painting at the University of South Carolina. She resides with her partner and young children in Columbia, South Carolina.

Jordan’s Artist Statement:

“My work documents and aestheticizes the multifaceted experience of motherhood, where boundaries dissolve and identities entangle. Each work serving as a visual narrative, capturing the paradoxical nature of this expansion—a tapestry woven with threads of care, connection, and infinite devotion, interspersed with moments of fragmentation, disorder, and flux. My installations offer a tactile exploration of motherhood's complexities, encouraging reflection on identity shaped by relationships and societal norms. My work explores existential questions, influenced by my curiosity in quantum physics and the concept of molecular oneness. It acknowledges the interconnectedness of existence on both micro and macro levels, including the profound bond between mother and child. It is an odyssey that embraces fluid identity and finds beauty in the spaces between roles and expectations, resonating universally.”

The Jasper Project Announces the 2025 Galleries Season by Christina Xan

Christina Xan is wrapping up her time as Galleries Manager with the Jasper Project as she pursues her academic career. We thank her for her dedicated efforts to exhibit and make available for purchase art by hundreds of South Carolina artists via the Jasper Project Galleries Series and wish her great happiness and success in her coming endeavors.

~Cb

Down Home by Christopher Lane

The Jasper Project is delighted that, for another year, we have the privilege to show the work of 50+ artists via the Jasper Galleries Series. Starting in 2018 with the Tiny Gallery, Jasper Galleries has now grown to a 6-location series across the Midlands, including our original fully online space. 

Mark your calendars for a full slate of talented local artists, who Jasper will share more info about as their individual shows draw closer. Make sure to follow Jasper’s social media and newsletter (Sundays with Jasper) for all updates!

Tortoise Tears by Rebecca Horne

Harbison Theatre

Running alongside Harbison’s programming, Jasper features two artists in the theatre’s lobby in 2025: a Spring and a Fall artist. While the Fall opening will be announced along with the theatre’s 2025-2026 season, the Spring opening is January 24th at 6:30pm, before Patrick Davis performs at 7:30.

SPRING (January–May): Jeffrey Miller

FALL (September–December): Rebecca Horne

 

Jordan Sheridan with her installation The Mother

Koger Center for the Arts

The gallery at Koger Center for the Arts, fondly named “The Nook,” is located external to the upstairs gallery, on the wall across from the main staircase. New art opens every Third Thursday (except most Decembers) with a reception from 5:30pm-7:00pm.

January: Jordan Sheridan

February: Toni Elkins

March: Thomas Washington

April: Richard Lund

May: Chris Lane

June: Jakeem DaDream

July: Virginia Russo

August: Lori Isom

September: Jeff Amberg

October: Colleen Cannon-Karlos

November: Sean Madden

Lauren Tillar - Compton Sun

Meridian Sidewalk Gallery

These windows proudly feature along Sumter and Washington Streets, at the base of the Meridian Building, with art rotating quarterly. Each quarter, Jasper shows a pair of 2D artists alongside one 3D artist.

January–March

       Emily Wright

    Christopher Lane

        Marion Mason

April–June

         Mark Dreher

         Vanessa DeVore

         Sharon Licata

July–September

         Camille Johnson

         Lauren Tillar

         Renee Rouillier

October–December

         Beth Morgan

        Robert Sargent

 

Laurie McIntosh - Low Country Boil

Motor Supply Company Bistro

Jasper’s second quarterly space is a solo show at the Motor Supply Co. Bistro, where opening receptions typically take place on the second Friday of the opening month from 6:00pm—8:00pm.

January–March: Mary Ann Haven

April–June: Rodgers Boykin

July–September: Steven White

October–December: Laurie McIntosh

Judy Bolton Jarrett of Art Can Studio, Chapin

 Sound Bites Eatery 

First Thursday fun is had monthly at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street, with (mostly) solo shows happening from 5:30-8:00 on each respective Thursday. In August, Sound Bites throws their own party for their birthday month!  

Important note: January 205 Opening Reception will be held on January 9th! 

January: Josef Berliner and Wilma King

February: Sharon Funderburk

March: Lucy Spence

April: Kelley Pettibone

May: Devon Jeremy

June: Pat Gillam

July: Judy Jarrett

September: Candace Catoe

October: Renea Eshleman

November: Judy Maples

December: Holiday Show – Artists TBA!

Tiny Gallery

Last, but certainly not least, the show that started it all. Moved online during the pandemic and kept online due to its success, the Tiny Gallery provides a 24/7 haven of art, rotating artists out every month.

January: Betsy Kaemmerlen

February: Lindsay Radford

March: Mia Estrada

April: Linda Cannup

May: Colton Giles

June: Lisa Alberghini

July: Jean Capalbo

August: Abby Short

September: K. Wayne Thornley

October: Devon Corley

November: Yyusri

December: Ornament Show – Artists TBA!

 

Keep up to date with Jasper for any opening reception changes, artist details, and updates on holidays shows and one-off gallery events!

Join Jasper for Vista Lights this Thursday - featuring Lisa Alberghini, Adam Corbett, Karen Sargent, Candace Catoe, Carla Damron, and Valerie Lamott

by Cindi Boiter

In my heart I’m just now switching over from sandals and sundresses to blue jeans and boot weather, but in my brain the calendar tells me that the holidays are sneaking up on us and I think I have to believe it. Unless we’re deep in the darkest timeline, which isn’t out of the question, numbers don’t lie. This Thursday is November 21st and that means Vista Lights is happening this week. Already.

Luckily, the Jasper Team has been at the planning table and we have an evening of local art and festivities planned for you when you join us on Thursday, November 21 at 6 pm at Coal Powered Filmworks at 1217 Lincoln Street in Columbia’s historic Vista. As usual, we’ll have a fun roster of local artists who will be sharing their wares – ornaments, jewelry, small art, surprises!

Among our featured artists are Lisa Alberghini, Adam Corbett, Karen Sargent, Candace Catoe, Carla Damron, and Valerie LaMott!

We’ll have some light snacks, friendly faces, and loads of good cheer as we pretend our political world is still on its axis and we take refuge in the reciprocated pretense of joy on all your smiling faces.

There may be booze.

Join us!

An Evening of Art – Opening Receptions for Exhibits by Janet Swigler and Christina Clark at the Koger Center

By Emily Moffitt, Visual Arts Editor, Jasper Magazine

Join us on Friday, November 22, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. for two art receptions at the Koger Center for the Arts. In the Nook on the second floor of the Koger Center, Jasper Galleries welcomes Janet Swigler. On the ground floor of the Koger Center, walls will be adorned with the work of Christina Clark. Both artists work with abstract forms and subject matter, yet in different ways that engage the viewer.

Janet Swigler moved around the United States often at a young age due to her Air Force family upbringing, but this had a beneficial impact on her adaptability, independence, and resourcefulness. She spent several of her pre-teen years living in Japan, which offered cultural aesthetics and philosophies that continue to influence her art and life. This, along with her musical training and experience in music education, created a synergy of artistic disciplines and ideas that transferred easily to the work she creates. Sewing has been a lifelong interest of hers, and her quilt-making studies under Nancy Crow helped her to reach where she is today.

Christina Clark, originally from Austria, descended from a family of artists and musicians. To this day, she surrounds herself with the joyous energy of visual arts and music through her own personal artistic endeavors and her philanthropic service to the University of South Carolina School of Music. Clark carefully considers the viewer’s experience when she starts to put pastel to paper. Recently, Clark created a series of pieces that served as companions to the Parker Quartet’s Beethoven Quartet cycle. Clark embraces the conversation that music can have with her work and is honored to be able to keep that conversation going through her donations.

Both receptions are free and open to the public. They precede the sold-out performance of Koger Center and ColaJazz present: Live in the Lobby Jazz: The Music of Miles Davis. There’s a lot going on in the Vista that night, including a concert at Colonial Life Arena, so be mindful of parking and get to the receptions early!

Jasper's First Thursday at Sound Bites Features Jarid Lyfe Brown

By Cindi Boiter

The Jasper Project is excited to welcome visual artist Jarid Lyfe Brown to our gallery space at Sound Bites Eatery as part of our First Thursday celebration this Thursday, November 7th.

A profoundly original artist, Brown’s technique has typically leaned toward surrealistic expression often by anthropomorphizing animals and visually annotating his subjects on the same canvas.

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 has recently shown at both Soul Haus and Havens Gallery.

“About two years ago, life seemed to be unexpectedly and unusually busy and chaotic,” Brown says. “Between that and lazy excuses, painting and drawing started drifting because I was used to painting very large which can be time consuming. I grabbed a new sketchbook as a sort of documentation device for my current erratic thoughts and regular life experiences. Since a 10x7 book is a bit more portable, this would give me a chance to work anywhere. These small new works [in his Sound Bites exhibition] reflect about two years of sporadic expression, sometimes even forced so to not let go of something that means so much.”

Capturing Memories: Kristin Holzer at Jasper’s Tiny Gallery this November -- By Liz Stalker

By Liz Stalker

Kristin Holzer, a Columbia painter, has had a passion for paint, and its power of visual permanence since she was a child. “Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved to create,” Holzer, who is completely self-taught, says, “I have always used my art as a way of capturing my memories. I would paint my pets, places I traveled to, and local landscapes that I loved.”

Following her move to South Carolina in October of 2021, Holzer found herself drawing further into her landscape work. “When I moved to Columbia, SC, I began to paint local landscapes and landmarks as a way for me to explore my new home,” Holzer says. Holzer has already painted a number of iconic state sites, from the 200-year-old Poinsett Bridge in Landrum to the lush marshes of Charleston, to the USC Horseshoe here in Columbia. Each of these pieces, which feature vibrant natural greens, bright lighting, and sharp shadow work reflect a deep appreciation for the landscape and keen eye for detail. This literal and artistic exploration has culminated in her current goal of painting every single one of the 47 state parks in South Carolina.

In addition to this goal, Holzer has found fulfillment in her commission work, saying, “I have found a love for not only sharing my artwork with others, but also painting other peoples’ pets and memories[…] I have been blessed to receive so much support from my local community, and it has been an absolute joy sharing my artwork with people who love South Carolina as much as I do now.”

Holzer’s show at the Jasper Project’s virtual Tiny Gallery, which marks just over three years of her South Carolina residency, opens Friday, November 1st, and is available through the end of the month.

Jasper Partners with Black Nerd Mafia & Curiosity Coffee to Present the 3rd Annual Frightmare on Main Street 2024 featuring Autocorrect and Tyler Wise & So Much More!

We’re Back!

The Jasper Project is excited to partner once again this year with Black Nerd Mafia and our gracious host, Curiosity Coffee, to help kick off Halloween with one of our favorite and most fun events — Frightmare on Main Street!

Friday, October 25, 2024

5:00 PM 10:00 PM

Curiosity Coffee Bar — 2327 Main Street

The fun starts at 5 pm when you arrive and grab your bag(s) of votes for your favorite artisanally carved pumpkin, created for your viewing, voting, and purchasing pleasure by some of Columbia’s spookiest artists, including

Tennyson Corley

Devon Corley

Cynthia Bowie

Keith Tolen

Thomas Washington

Michael Krajewski

Regina Langston

Billy Guess

Artist - Olga Yukhno

5:00pm – Doors

$10 for all events and activities + 5 candy votes for the pumpkin carving contest.

Kids under 10 get in free!

5:30pm - Horror Movie Trivia

Bring your team and kick off the night with trivia hosted by Black Nerd Mafia.

6:30pm - Jasper’s 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

These aren’t your everyday jack-o'-lanterns. Vote on your favorite pumpkins carved by local artists and bid in our silent auction to take one home. All proceeds benefit the Jasper Project and the winning artist takes home a fabulous prize!

Candy votes will be available for sale and 5 votes are included for free with the cost of admission.

Cosplay Costume Contest

Contest categories include Best Children's Costume, and Best Adult Costume.

Winners for the Pumpkin Carving and Cosplay Costume Contest will be announced around 8pm.

Pumpkin Bidding with close at 8:45pm

8:15pm – Autocorrect & Tyler Wise

Artist - Bohumila Augustinova

Artist - Kimber Carpenter

Huge thank you to our sponsors: Bierkeller Columbia, Gardener's Outpost, Curiosity Coffee Bar, Hoot Columbia, Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, Koger Center for the Arts, The Dragon Room, and Sound Bites Eatery

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by Supporting Local Hispanic and Latino/a Creators by Christina Xan

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 – October 15 and highlights and celebrates Hispanic and Latino heritage and identity in the United States. Hispanic (those from Spanish-speaking countries) and Latin (those from Latin America) culture is rife with history that enriches the communities we dwell in.  Columbia is one of these diverse spaces, and the art that emerges from this city, specifically, is inundated with a multitude of cultural perspectives. This Hispanic Heritage Month, Jasper encourages all patrons to seek out multidisciplinary art from Hispanic and Latino/a artists and to explore how the creators’ backgrounds affect their work.  Don’t know where to start? Jasper talked with six Columbia-based artists about how their cultural identity affects their creative process. Learn about them and their work below.

Daniel Esquivia Zapata

Daniel Esquivia Zapata – Visual Artist

 Describe the kind of art you make.  

Daniel’s work explores ideas about historical memory, official historical narratives, and what he terms the politics of remembering. He does this through life-size figurative drawings that combine historical texts, the human body, plants, and animals to generate strong spaces that work as poetic imagery, probing the dynamics of narratives in history and historical memory. This represents an exercise not only of why and what, but also of how we remember, especially in societies with conflicting narratives, obfuscated historical memories, and legacies of colonialism. He uses a combination of traditional figure drawing techniques, liquid charcoal and fragmented print and hand-written texts to draw on several layers of mylar, creating life size drawings that combine representations of the human body, plants, and animals to create news bodies that work as metaphors for political bodies intersected by history, newspaper articles and archives. With these drawings Daniel seeks to unveil the "place of memory" within our bodies amid intersecting discourses, making tangible the essence of our collective past and present. His work has driven him to create images that replace the common container metaphor of memory with one that understands memory as something dynamic and interconnected; something alive, inhabited by ideas, narratives, and discourses that live, age, die (or are killed); something like an ecosystem of memories and narratives, and ecosystem that is inhabited by beings of texts.  

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.  

In Daniel's life, a multiplicity of narratives and multinational experiences has made him think deeply about the dynamics of discourse and narratives in our societies, especially as an Afro-Latino in the Americas. For Daniel, the intersection of different identities has profoundly influenced his work. His experiences as the son of a human rights lawyer and a social worker in a multiethnic and multiracial family in Colombia; as a victim of forced displacement from his hometown in 1989; as an Afro-Colombian who studied at a HBCU in the US South [Benedict College]; and as a citizen living in Colombia and grappling with the legacies and present realities of its civil war; these experiences have all presented points of encounter with the forces of history’s multiple faces—unofficial, alternative, contested, surviving—that build and situate someone’s identity. 

Alejandro García-Lemos

Alejandro García-Lemos – Visual Artist

Describe the kind of art you make. 

Alejandro García-Lemos is a visual artist based in Columbia, South Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana. He holds a MA in Latin American Studies from Florida International University in Miami, and a BA in Graphic Design from the School of Arts at the National University in Bogotá, Colombia. His work focuses on social issues, mostly on aspects of immigration, sexuality, biculturalism, religion, and community. His works have been shown mostly in the Southeast. Alejandro is a former member of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), as well as the founder of Palmetto & LUNA, a non-profit organization promoting Latino Arts and Cultures in South Carolina since 2007. Lately his work has been shown in Colombia. 

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.  

For this particular question I had to look up the exact definition of cultural identity … Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality, gender, or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture. Therefore my cultural identity is omnipresent in my work, as I had mentioned many times before, I am three times a minority, I am Latinx, gay, and immigrant, how could you avoid those aspects as an intrinsic part of all your art? 

Emily Moffitt

Emily Moffitt – Visual Artist

 Describe the kind of art you make. 

The type of art I create boils down to what I have the most fun with. I'm still trying to make my way in and have my foot in the door of the Columbia art scene! Like most Gen Z artists, I got into art from a young age via immense media consumption: video games, anime, cartoons, comics, and the list continues. As a result, the kind of work I create typically falls under the "illustration" category. I go back and forth between illustration and fine art, and sometimes I still think the distinction shouldn't even matter! As a recent college graduate who has now experienced the adulthood rite of passage that is working a 9-5 while still having time for hobbies, as long as I take even 10 minutes of my day to get my hands moving and draw something in my sketchbook, it's a successful day for me. 

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.  

The "fine art" I created started with a body of work that explored my heritage and connected to it more after my grandmother passed away in 2021, and I aim to continue it either by maintaining the "dreamscape" title or by starting a new collection. My goal in the fine art world is to create a body of work that I'm constantly thinking about, called "My Mother's Kitchen," since the closest ties I have to my Puerto Rican heritage stem from cuisine, my relationship with my mom, and the amount of time I spent growing up in and around the kitchen watching my mother make the recipes she grew up making with my grandmother. At this point, it's just a matter of me finding the time, and holding myself accountable, that's preventing me from following through! I do find that my mixed heritage sometimes feels like an obstacle when I do work, however, and that's an internalized hurdle I try to overcome when I create, too. Taíno symbology persists throughout my heritage-based work, and I wanted to also focus on the importance of my relationships with my mom and sister. My Puerto Rican heritage has been driven and shaped only by women in my life, and I wanted to pay homage to that, especially since my sister and I feel the same internalized obstacle of sometimes feeling "not Latina enough."  

Claire Jiménez – Author

Describe the kind of art you make.  

Claire Jiménez is a Puerto Rican writer who grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York. She is the author of the short story collection Staten Island Stories (Johns Hopkins Press, 2019) and What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez (Grand Central, 2023). She received her M.F.A. from Vanderbilt University and her PhD in English with specializations in Ethnic Studies and Digital Humanities from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In 2019, she co-founded the Puerto Rican Literature Project, a digital archive documenting the lives and work of hundreds of Puerto Rican writers from over the last century. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. 

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

My writing is very much influenced by the work of past Puerto Rican writers, especially the Nuyorican poets. I am thinking of Pedro Pietri's "The Puerto Rican Obituary" and the work of Judith Ortiz Cofer. I remember reading Silent Dancing and "The Story of My Body" for the first time as a young person, who had a hard time finding books by any Puerto Rican authors in the bookstore in the nineties. These texts were inspiring to me as a young reader, and they definitely shaped me as a writer.

Loli Molina Muñoz

Loli Molina Muñoz – Author 

Describe the kind of art you make. 

I write poetry and fiction. I have just finished my first poetry chapbook manuscript in English, and I also have a feminist dystopia novella in Spanish, both of them searching for a warming publishing house.  

Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.  

Being born and raised in Málaga, Spain, I grew up immersed in both Spanish and English language thanks to literature, music, and pop culture, which deeply influenced my work. However, I have also lived in Coventry (UK), Wisconsin, and finally moved to South Carolina in 2013. For this reason, my work explores themes of identity, feminism, migration, and the intersections between cultures.

[ALMA] SPANISH

Querida madre:

Estos días pienso mucho en usted.

Ayer me acordé de su guiso de 

carne y quise hacer uno yo. 

No me supo igual. 

Me faltaba el sabor añadido de sus 

manos y el olor de su delantal. 

Los niños dijeron que estaba muy 

bueno. Yo les di las gracias y sonreí.

Dos lágrimas que se escaparon 

disimulando para no ser vistas. 

Tampoco vieron las dos cartas del

banco avisando del desahucio. 

Les dije que vamos a pasar unos 

días en casa de Alejandra.

Les hizo ilusión pasar un tiempo 

con sus primos y eso me alivió. 

Luego recordé aquella vez que

usted me dijo que eligiera mi 

muñeca favorita.

Crucé el desierto de la mano de 

Alejandra con la muñeca pegada 

a mi pecho como un amuleto. 

Aún conservo mi muñeca.

Aún tengo a Alejandra. 

Voy a estar bien. 

No se preocupe. 

[ALMA] ENGLISH

Dear mother,

These days I think about you all the time. 

Yesterday I remembered your beef 

stew and I made one myself. 

It did not taste the same. 

It did not have that extra flavor from 

your hands or the smell of your apron. 

The kids said that they liked it. 

I thanked them and smiled. 

Two tears escaped trying not 

to be seen by them. 

They did not see the two eviction

 letters from the bank either. 

I told them that we are going to stay 

some days at Alejandra’s. 

They were happy about spending 

time with their cousins and that soothed me. 

Later I remembered that time 

you told me to choose my favorite doll. 

I crossed the desert holding Alejandra’s 

hand and the doll stuck

to my chest like an amulet. 

I still keep my doll. 

I still have Alejandra. 

I’ll be fine. 

Don’t worry. 

Giovanna Montoya

Giovanna Montoya – Ballet Dancer 

Describe the kind of art you make.  

I’m a professional ballet dancer, so my art is dance. Ballet is a theatrical art form that integrates music, dance, acting and scenery to convey a story, or a theme.

 Describe the role your cultural identity has in your work.

My cultural identity represents who I am; a dedicated, driven, disciplined, strong woman, which stands up for what’s right, and never gives up. I am always aiming to move forward, trying to do better every day, even if it is little by little, and working hard to achieve my dreams and goals. These have been imperative assets to possess, that have helped me to become a professional ballet dancer with 15+ years of experience. Ballet is a beautiful but difficult art form, which requires a lot of time, sacrifice, effort, love, endless hours of training, and a great deal of discipline and dedication. I would never have become a professional ballet dancer if it weren’t for the commitment, dedication, responsibility, and integrity that my parents showed and instilled in me from a young age. Coming into this country as an immigrant it’s very difficult, and you have to work very hard to achieve success. That’s something my parents made very clear to me from the beginning, and they led by example. Always working hard, never giving up and excelling in their fields. My dad is a statistician for the Mayo Clinic. My mom is a Veterinarian doctor and was a University Professor in my home Country Venezuela. I’m so thankful for my parents and my cultural identity that has shaped me, and played a pivotal role in the person that proudly I am today.

Jasper Welcomes Olivia Pope to Tiny Gallery by Emily Moffitt

Our newest resident artist in the Jasper Tiny Gallery is Olivia Pope, an artist with many hats who primarily works with stained glass. Pope is no stranger to visual arts – she has taught herself dozens of forms of art and creation over the years, such as watercolor, sewing, cosplaying, oil painting, crocheting, and more. Over the last four years, however, Pope fell in love with the art of stained glass.

“I was initially drawn into working with glass by an initial spark of inspiration from watching a game show where glassblowers compete with one another,” Pope says. “The hands-on nature and sheer intensity of the whole process is fascinating, and one I hope I get the chance to try one day. Shortly after looking into glass as a medium, I realized creating art with stained glass was more accessible than I originally assumed.” Pope got to collect the necessary tools to break into the foray of stained-glass work, all in the comfort of her own home.

The process of creating a new work of art with glass is both meditative and exciting for Pope. It is also extremely rewarding. The versatility and variations within each piece of glass provide unique challenges that she encounters every time she comes back to work on a glass project. Throughout a lifetime of working with various media, Pope typically would learn to create something by starting with the basics, then learning from mistakes, and eventually stopping when satisfied with the project altogether, keeping the medium in the back of her mind to return to for a potential future project. Working with stained glass felt different, however. “Every step of stained glass is its own challenge with varying difficulty levels,” Pope says. “No two pieces are the same, even if they are literally the same pattern. There is always something to learn, a trick to discover, an “a-ha!” moment.”

Pope’s life has been surrounded by the arts and she engages in them almost every day. If there was one moment to pinpoint as a catalyst for the arts continuing to shape her life, she recalls a moment from when she was an anchor vendor and artist in the former NoMa Warehouse. “I was chatting with a shopper who told me that the work that I was creating will become family heirlooms – valuable works of art that deserve to exist from generation to generation,” Pope says. “That comment struck me in such a way that completely reframed my thinking on so many levels. The reality that visual arts have become—and will become—the legacy of so many people, even me, is profound.”

Pope’s artwork is available for purchase through the rest of October. She also plans to donate 10% of her sales to hurricane relief.

Welcoming Jean Lomasto to Jasper’s First Thursday Gallery at Sound Bites Eatery

This Thursday!

After an abbreviated showing of her work in 2023, the Jasper Project is delighted to welcome back Jean Lomasto to our First Thursday celebration by featuring the artist and her work in the Jasper Gallery space at our beloved soup, sandwich, and salad home, Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street.

Visual artist Jean Lomasto was born in Brooklyn, New York, but  when she was 15 years old her father took a job in Greenville, SC and moved the family to the SC upstate area. After attending college at the University of South Carolina and pursuing Costume Design, two of her undergraduate teachers, Lyn Carroll (costume design) and Terry Bennett (scene design) encouraged her to go to graduate school.

Lomasto says, “Many principles of design transfer easily from theatre to painting or seemed to for me. I have a Master of Fine Art in Costume Design from UVA. I have taken a few introductory painting classes locally and in LA. I took drawing classes at the Art Students League in New York, when I was working there in the field of costuming.”

With an MFA in Costume Design and a cover piece in Theatre Design and Technology magazine, Lomasto traveled to NYC where she worked in many costume shops, including the Julliard School as well as for a few Woody Allen films designed by Santo Loquasto. She became wardrobe supervisor for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and toured the world with the company, designing Dudley William’s finale costume for his performance at City Center.

Jean has two sons. While they were growing up, she taught elementary school in California for steady income and health insurance, occasionally doing some theatre work. They lived in Mestre, Italy for several years. 

She returned to Columbia, SC in 2014 and designed many shows for Trustus Theatre:  Peter and the Starcatcher, Marie Anntoinette, Appropriate, Marly’s Christmas Carol, among others.

“One of the greatest influences for my painting was Nicholas Wilton,” Lomasto says. “I signed up online at the start of COVID for a 10-week painting course. Design elements and using paint were important, but the biggest factor for me in this course was psychological.  ... meaning Nicholas Wilton encourages students to find what is in them and then paint. Locally, I find Columbia to be filled with amazingly talented people who support each other, but the following two take the cake for me: One day I was working in the library and Stephen Chesley walks up to me and says, ‘Hi, I like your work. Go bigger...just go bigger.’ I picked myself up off the floor and said, okay. I have had the opportunity to reconnect with Philip Mullen, who is kind enough to really look at my work and comment on it. This is such a generous thing to do on his part.” 

Lomasto says that she has “no official university training in painting. I was married to an art student as an undergraduate and hung around the art department a good bit, when I wasn't at the theatre.” Lomasto goes on to explain that “Philip Mullen was my husband's teacher in undergraduate school. I have always lived in places with easy access to art.”

1st Thursday w/ Sound Bites Eatery & The Jasper Project

featuring

Visual Artist Jean Lomasto

Thursday, October 3rd 5:30 - 8 pm

Sound Bites Eatery

1425 Sumter Street

Jasper Galleries: Ellen Yaghjian, The Newest Nook Resident by Emily Moffitt

As a member of the Vista Guild Association, the Koger Center for the Arts is proud to partner with the Jasper Project in Third Thursday Art Night. A different artist is featured every month in our rotating gallery, The Nook, with an opening reception on the month's Third Thursday. September 2024's featured artist is Ellen Yaghjian. The opening reception is on September 19, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. on the second floor of the Koger Center.

Ellen Emerson Yaghjian was born in Atlanta, GA, and grew up in Larchmont, NY. She received a BFA in sculpture from the University of Georgia and an MMA in media arts from the University of South Carolina. For ten years, Ellen worked in television production, first with South Carolina Educational Television and later as an Associate Producer at Turner Broadcasting. In 1990, she shifted her focus to sculpture. She began by designing commissioned based copper fountains for outdoor gardens and indoor offices across the southeast. In 2000, Ellen began creating figurative works with copper, hammering and heating the metal to produce sculpture reflective of the human body. She enjoys the warmth of copper and the colors that emerge through her process. During the pandemic Ellen took up painting in acrylic. Ellen resides in Columbia, SC with her husband, David.

Ellen’s Artist Statement:

“The focus of my art practice is to bring my attention to one place in time and to explore the ideas that come to mind. Reflecting on the grace and strength of the female form, I am drawn to the medium of copper. I use heat and my hammer to move and shape the metal into subtle lines of the human body. Observations of landscapes and natural elements lead me to my paints. I simplify 3 dimensional elements on paper and panels and in the process find gratitude and wholeness.”

If you can’t make it to the reception, the art will be up through mid-October, and can be viewed from 9-5 Monday through Friday, and an hour prior to any Koger Center event. You can follow Ellen’s work on Instagram (@ellenyaghjianart) and her website (ellenyaghjian.com).

About Last Night - A Magical Evening of New Theatre & Unique Visual Art with Chad Henderson & Nate Puza

L to R: Jon Tuttle - PRS director, Chad Henderson - playwright, Marybeth Gorman Craig - director, Kayla Machado - very pregnant actor, Libby Campbell - actor & Jasper Project board member, G. Scott Wild - actor

Last night was a wonderful night for the Jasper Project as we were privileged to celebrate two artists from two different disciplines at Harbison Theatre for a double dose of Jasper goodness. We opened the evening with a reception for our featured visual artist in the Harbison Theatre Gallery, Nate Puza and ended it with the premier staged reading performance of the 2024 Play Right Series winning play, Let It Grow by Chad Henderson.

Visual Artist Nate Puza offers and artist talk at the opening reception for hi exhibition at the Jasper Project’s Harbison Theatre Gallery

Nate Puza is a South Carolina based artist, designer, and illustrator with over a decade of experience working with some of the biggest bands and brands in the world including Jason Isbell, the Avett Brothers, Chris Stapleton, Phish, and more. Internationally known for his meticulous attention to detail and high level of craftmanship, Puza created the new design for the Columbia, SC flag. When not creating art for your favorite band Nate can be found playing music with friends, being outside, wrenching on his motorcycle, mowing the lawn, or drinking a beer on the back porch.

Chad Henderson is a professional theatre artist from South Carolina. He is known for directing contemporary plays, musicals and original works that mix music, movement, imagination and invention to create unforgettable works for the stage. Henderson served as the Artistic Director of Trustus Theatre (2015-2021) in Columbia, SC, and is the current Marketing Director for the South Carolina Philharmonic, where he most recently produced Home for the Holidays at Koger Center for the Arts. Selected Trustus Theatre credits include: The Brother/Sister Plays, Green Day’s American Idiot, Evil Dead, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Last 5 Years, Assassins, The Great Gatsby, Next to Normal, and The Restoration’s Constance - an original musical for which Henderson also authored the book.

Libby Campbell and David Britt on the stage for Let It Grow!

L to R: Libby Campbell, David Britt, G. Scott Wild, Kayla Machado

Jasper expresses our sincerest appreciation to Kristin Cobb, executive director of Harbison Theatre at MTC and her team for welcoming us into their home and supporting our mission. Check out all the exciting performances coming up at Harbison theatre here and support this state-of-the-art performance space the way they support the SC Midlands performing artists!

Kristin Cobb, executive director - Harbison Theatre at MTC welcomes the crowd.

Announcing Jasper's Featured Artists in Our Meridian Sidewalk Gallery-- Richard Lund, Jennifer Hill, Trish Gilliam, and Debbie Patwin!

Jasper Project board member Kimber Carpenter has curated another exciting exhibition for our Meridian Sidewalk Gallery this season, featuring 2-D and 3-D artists Debbie Patwin, Trish Gilliam, Richard Lund, and Jennifer Hill. The Meridian Sidewalk Gallery is a 24/7 art experience nestled in the always-accessible windows of the Meridian Building along Washington and Sumter Streets in beautiful downtown Columbia. Patrons may view the featured art from all angles and make purchases just by scanning a QR code.

Welcome to our fall 2024 season of Meridian artists! Read more about them below!

Kelly Bryant Brings Anthropomorphic Animal Whimsy to First Thursday at Sound Bites

Kelly Bryant’s work is the kind that immediately sparks smiles, urging patrons to come in for a closer look: saintly opossums praying, koalas applying lipstick, and lemurs licking lollipops. 

Bryant is a Connecticut-to-South-Carolina transplant who works full time as a legal worker and fills any spare time she has not wrangling her girls and two cats crafting her art. Fully self-taught, Bryant found painting in an attempt to keep her kids occupied during the COVID-19 lockdown when a Pinterest search for mom activities turned up finger painting.

This activity, however, soon became a passion as Bryant brought “animals doing human things or wearing human attire” to life through bright colors and finger strokes. These soon turned to brush strokes as, post-YouTube rabbit hole, experience and joy alike blossomed. Then, and now, Bryant holds to the lesson that “everyone should do more of what makes them happy.” 

As the hobby solidified into a part of Bryant’s everyday life, she joined the Crooked Creek Art League. Since then, she found oils, which have become her go-to, and she has begun officially showing her work. Bryant showed at this past South Carolina State Fair and at Crooked Creek’s Still Hopes Art Exhibition—where she won a Patron Award. 

It has been a whirlwind of a journey that Bryant feels ever grateful for. She is “finding [her] style and solidifying it throughout everything [she] creates,” and she is continuously grateful that she gets to “watch other people smile when they walk by and see [her] animals.” 

Bryant’s work for this show is an amalgamation of her time as an artist thus far: work from her early finger-painting adventures to oil pieces dry just in time for hanging. It is a collection of bright, whimsical, yet comforting creatures that are effortlessly her own. 

“My art is a reflection of my journey—ever-evolving and always having a bit of fun along the way,” Bryant emphasizes. 

To see Kelly Bryant’s work, join Jasper for her Opening Reception during First Thursday at Sound Bites Eatery on 1425 Sumter Street THIS Thursday, September 5th from 5:30pm—8:00pm.

Emily Moffitt Bridges the Abstract and Illustrative for Jasper’s Tiny Gallery

Salted Heron - Emily Moffitt

Emily Moffitt has been a fundamental behind-the-scenes player for the Columbia arts community for years. A graduate of the University of South Carolina holding a BA in both Studio Art and English, Moffitt is both the marketing assistant and gallery curator for the Koger Center as well as the Secretary of the Jasper Project and the visual arts editor for Jasper Magazine. 

Beyond supporting the arts, Moffitt is herself a multimedia artist—an illustrator who works in primarily ink, gouache, and watercolor and whose work and art alike is “dedicated to developing the cultural landscape of Columbia.” 

Creating art as a mode of self-expression has been part of Moffitt’s roots from childhood, whether sharing melodies on her flute or crafting identities through cosplay. She grew up sketching characters and scenes from her favorite cartoons and video games—but in late high school and college, Moffitt began to realize how vital visual art was for her identity. 

Coral Cluster - Emily Moffitt

Specifically, visual art became a way for Moffitt to connect to her Puerto Rican heritage and, with this realization, she unlocked a path where she could create with intention and within overarching themes. These sinews keep her grounded as she explores the endless possibilities art allows, “combining [her] love for illustration and for abstract art in different ways, allowing [herself] to grow outside of the box and to experiment with different styles.” 

Though her first solo show, in a way, this Tiny Gallery serves as a way of coming home for the young artist. “This collection of work is a combination of getting back into the groove of creating, learning what works best for me, and work that I know I love to do,” Moffitt shares.

For this show, Moffitt has created a cast of characters in an almost visual linked-story collection. Here, fine line harpies gaze into the distance, mysterious jesters dance for an unseen audience, and fish sit in brightly colored tins and swim throughout thoughts alike.

“For this show I found myself drawn to comfortable colors like blue, and I wanted to use as many of my materials I already owned as I could,” Moffitt says. “I typically am the type of person who loves to control things, so using wet media like watercolor pushes me out of that boundary and makes me relax and let the medium work itself, rather than me overworking it.”

Fish for Thought - Emily Moffitt

Moffitt’s Tiny Gallery show will be up until September 30th and can be viewed 24/7 via Jasper’s virtual gallery page. Patrons can also follow her work on her Instagram @thewildflowermural.

SEPTEMBER 14th -- A Double Dose of Jasper

Mark your calendars for the evening of Saturday, September 14th, after the LSU/Carolina game, to come out to Harbison Theatre for a double dose of Columbia Arts. Help Jasper welcome renown graphic artist Nate Puza to the walls of our Harbison Gallery with a free drop-in opening reception starting at 6 pm. Enjoy meeting Nate and hearing about his art, sip a little something, have a little snack, and chat with friends until 7:30 when the curtain rises on more new art coming out of Columbia, SC!

Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson, winner of the Jasper Project’s 2024 Play Right Project series, will premiere as a staged reading  and offer us the right to say I saw it first when it inevitably moves on to other stages near and far. Directed by Marybeth Gorman Craig, and starring Libby Campbell-Turner, G. Scott Wild, Kayla Machado, and David Britt, Let It Grow is a sweet and poignant comedy that looks at the expectations we share about family-like relationships, what happens when players outside of those relationships insert themselves, and PLANTS! The Play Right Series is administered by SC playwright Jon Tuttle and is in its fourth cycle of midwifing new theatre art onto the stage exclusively from South Carolina playwrights.

Previous Play Right Series winning plays include Sharks and Other Lovers by Randall David Cook, Moon Swallower by Colby Quick, and Therapy by Lonetta Thompson. Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy will be fully produced by the NiA Company August 29, 30, 31st at the Trustus Theatre Side Door Theatre and Jasper strongly encourages you to come out and support this new art, too! Tickets for Lonetta Thompson’s Therapy are here.

NATE PUZA OPENING RECEPTION

6 PM – FREE

 

LET IT GROW by Chad Henderson

7:30 pm -TICKETS

 

And while we have you, check out Harbison Theatre’s exciting calendar of events for 2024 – 2025 including Ensemble Eclectica on August 24th, South Carolina’s own singer-songwriter Cody Webb on September 6th, and The Box Masters featuring Billy Bob Thornton with opening act The Capital City Playboys, Friday October 18th!