Dear Friends of Jasper,

I’m writing to thank you for your gracious support of The Jasper Project and invite you to join or renew your membership in the Jasper Guild.

Over the past year, The Jasper Project has

published two issues of Jasper Magazine
and our 5th volume of Fall Lines – a literary convergence;
we’ve presented our 4th installment of the 2nd Act Film Festival;
awarded Jasper Artists of the Year Awards in four disciplines;
recognized career achievements for four Jasper-designated masters of arts;
organized and managed the Jasper Arts Fairway as part of the City of West Columbia’s inaugural Kinetic Derby (and we’ve been invited back to expand the project);
participated extensively in the 3rd annual Deckle Edge Literary Festival;
hosted an art exhibit at Anastasia & Friends;
and conceptualized and presented a multi-disciplinary celebration of Columbia’s unique place in last August’s solar eclipse, called Syzygy, during which six new plays were written, published, placed in the Library of Congress, and performed alongside an eclipse-inspired poetry invitational with some of SC’s most luminary poets, as well as an open poetry call for emerging literary artists.

All without one single paid employee.

As we enter our 8th year of collaborative arts engineering I couldn’t be prouder of our labors and how they have contributed to Columbia’s growth as an arts hub and destination point.

But I am mostly gratified by the talented lives we have touched and brought together. In a world where value sometimes seems arbitrary and worth is too often measured in clicks, views, and dollar bills, it is so meaningful to me that through Jasper we offer a reminder of what matters most in life – the people we impact and the contributions we make to our culture. And there is little more pure and given-from-the-soul than the art we make with our own hands, brains, and bodies.

If you agree with me that the work Jasper does is important to your life and the life of your community I hope you’ll decide to join or renew your membership in the Jasper Guild. We recognize that many of our supporters are artists themselves so we have also included a self-selected artist peer level of membership at only $25.

But if you can give more, I hope you will.

Jasper receives no funding from the city or state government and, being only a city-wide organization we do not deal with the kind of large volumes that make publication and advertisement cost-effective. We rely on our guild members and our sponsors/advertisers to pay for the printing costs of Jasper Magazine and the overhead on all our projects, like those you read about above.

And we see each copy of Jasper Magazine as our own work of art.

The work all comes from our hearts and we’re ok with not getting paid money to do it. Jasper is an homage, a shrine, it is our gift - but we do need money to pay for it.

Thank you for your kind attention. I hope you’ll visit www.JasperProject.org and join or renew your membership today.

Take care,

Cindi

PS. Join or renew by Monday, September 10th and receive a free bottomless Jasper souvenir cup at the release party for the Fall 2018 issue of Jasper Magazine on Friday, September 21st at 6 pm at Stormwater Studios. We’ll have music by Ethan Fogus and the Witness Marks, poetry from Ray McManus and contributors to Fall Lines, eckphrasis with USC’s MFA students, and much more.