CMA Partners with SPIT to bring Unframed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan

Jasper is a sucker for multidisciplinary arts projects! That’s why we love that Columbia Museum of Art is partnering with SPIT — Stars of Politically Incorrect Theatre — to bring us the play, Unframed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan, on Sunday April 28th at the CMA.

Read about this cool event below and grab those tickets before they’re gone!

UnFramed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan

Sunday, April 28 | Seating starts at 2:00 p.m. | Play 2:30 – 3:15 p.m. | Reception 3:15 – 4:00 p.m.

FOR ONE DAY ONLY!

What do you get when you mix up visual art, two wacky playwrights, and five performers with too much time on their hands? You get UnFramed Art: The Spit Hits the Fan, a short original adult comedy brought to you by the Stars of Politically Incorrect Theatre (SPIT) Players. It’s a bizarre companion piece to Interior Lives: Modern American Spaces, 1890-1945, loosely inspired by works in the CMA-exclusive exhibition. The zany cast of characters — performed by Nick Good, Emily Harrill, Tiffany James, Perry Simpson, and Kathy Sykes — comically interprets how the art speaks to them and gives voice to what possibly might be the story behind the art. The 45-minute play is produced by Larry Hembree, cowritten by award-winning playwright Lou Clyde and Perry Simpson, and directed by Emily Harrill. Please note that the production is sponsored by no one. UnFramed Art contains some mature language and themes, so discretion is advised. Arrive early to enjoy the galleries prior to the performance. Beer, wine, and light snacks for sale. Brief reception with light refreshments to follow. $20 / $16 for members. Join today!

Buy Tickets

South Carolina's Own Sergio Hudson at Columbia Museum of Art!!! Get excited!

From our Friends at Columbia Museum of Art:

The Columbia Museum of Art is pleased to announce Sergio Hudson: Focused on the Fit, an exhibition showcasing the work of iconic fashion designer and Midlands native Sergio Hudson, on view Saturday, November 18, 2023, through Sunday, June 30, 2024. Organized by the CMA in partnership with Sergio Hudson Collections, LLC and community curator Megan Pinckney Rutherford, this exhibition showcases the remarkable moments of a designer who fell in love with fashion at 5 years old while living in Ridgeway, South Carolina, and has become one of the biggest names in the industry today.
 
“Many things are happening in my life that I could only dream of — this exhibition at the CMA is one of them,” says Hudson. “I feel very lucky, and I hope my story can inspire other young men in South Carolina to believe in themselves and follow their passion.”
 
Hudson will be at the CMA on November 18 for a special opening day program — tickets go on sale to museum members on Monday, October 16.
 
“As a lifelong lover of fashion, I am thrilled to be the community curator behind this exhibition showcasing the incredible work of my dear friend, Sergio Hudson, a successful Black fashion designer that was born and bred right here in the Midlands and is well on his way to becoming the next iconic American designer,” says Rutherford. “I am honored to get to share his story with a community that inspired and supported him, and also with the next generation that I’m sure will be inspired by his familiar beginnings.” 
 
Born and raised in Ridgeway, Hudson has always taken inspiration from the strong women in his life, particularly his mother, Sheldon Hudson, who introduced him to sewing. Since launching his first eponymous label in 2014, his fresh perspective on luxury American sportswear has taken the fashion world by storm. Hudson’s high-profile clients include Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Kamala Harris, Kendall Jenner, Issa Rae, Rachel Brosnahan, and Keke Palmer, a close friend whom he has called a muse.
 
Hudson’s philosophy is that fashion should be for everyone and include everyone. He designs to empower the wearer and often includes a nod to the ’90s of his youth. Focused on the Fit features eight signature garments from key moments in his revolutionary career alongside more than 20 sketches and drawings exploring his career from the early days winning Bravo’s Styled to Rock in 2013 up through the present day.
 
“Sergio is an example of what it means to ignite a passion and never let go of the dream. Focused on the Fit is not only a show about fashion, but also a story of how one makes their mark in the world,” says CMA Director of Art and Learning Jackie Adams. “We are so proud to present Sergio’s work right here in his home state, and we hope this show will inspire and educate visitors about a creative visionary driven to make a difference in how we choose to show up in the world through fashion.”
 
This exhibition is organized by the Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina, in partnership with Sergio Hudson Collections, LLC and Community Curator Megan Pinckney Rutherford.

About Megan Pinckney Rutherford
A Charleston native, Megan Pinckney left the Lowcountry to attend the University of South Carolina where she earned a degree in fashion merchandising. She began developing her social media skills during her reign as Miss South Carolina USA when she was tasked with managing the title’s account across several platforms. Since then, she’s developed Shades of Pinck, a lifestyle brand + online moniker that serves as a lady’s guide for styling yourself, your home + your travels. She believes in champagne for breakfast, that pink is a neutral, and that life is only what you make it! When Megan isn’t creating digital content for local + national brands, she’s supporting the arts community of South Carolina, encouraging her generation to become more involved in local politics, cheering on her beloved Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium, and spending time with her 2-year-old son, Teagan.

Columbia Arts Academy to Perform at Carnegie Hall!

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Excel as a student at Columbia Arts Academy!”

~~~~~~~~~~

On Saturday, July 8th, music students from the Columbia Arts Academy will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City! The performance begins at 1 p.m.  

The students are invited to perform one acoustic piece each. Regarding what kinds of music they will be tackling, founder Marty Fort says, “I’m very excited for the program. We’ve got performers from age 7 to 65 performing piano, violin, voice, guitar, drums, and it’s a real eclectic mix. We’re performing everything from Chopin to KISS and that says it all.” 

He goes on to say, “Admittedly I’m a little nervous to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Being from Columbia, starting out playing in Five Points at the age of 15 at Rockafellas and now being on that stage in New York City, it’s pretty surreal. But I’m thankful for the experience, the staff, teachers, students, and parents for all being a part. It’s a key part and perfect way to help our 20th Anniversary for Columbia Arts Academy”. 

This isn’t the first time Fort has taken his students on exciting excursions. In fact, it is becoming part of his modus operandi. In the past Fort has taken students on the road to such iconic music locations as Graceland, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and Columbia’s own Koger Center for the Arts.

Columbia Arts Academy Student and Faculty Performing at Graceland

Columbia Arts Academy Student Shane Manning Performing at Koger Center for the Arts

Screen capture of Metallica’s Kirk Hammett social media post — performing with (pictured) Columbia Arts Academy Founder Marty Fort at Columbia Museum of Art, 2020

Family, friends, and supporters of all kinds are encouraged to attend if they are able, and tickets are $25 each. For more information about the performance, what audiences can expect, and to purchase tickets, visit the Columbia Arts Academy website.  

And watch this space as Jasper continues to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Columbia Arts Academy in the weeks to come! To give back to the community, the school is hosting a special 20th Anniversary celebration Friday August 4th through Sunday August 6th. The public is welcome and encouraged to stop by any of their locations in Columbia on Rosewood Drive, Lexington on Barr Road, and Irmo on Lake Murray Blvd.

By Liz Stalker

Grammy-Winning American Songster DON FLEMONS at Columbia Museum of Art

From our friends at Columbia Museum of Art —

The Columbia Museum of Art presents More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series Featuring Dom Flemons, the season two finale of the popular concert and conversation program, on Friday, June 23, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The evening features The American Songster himself, Dom Flemons, GRAMMY Award winner, two-time EMMY Award nominee, and 2020 United States Artists Fellow. In the pre-show conversation, series host and ethnomusicologist Dr. Birgitta Johnson and Flemons discuss his passion for storytelling through old-time music, his experiences with the award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, and his current projects that champion the Black contributions to American folk music.
 
“For two years, the More Than Rhythm train has passed through a myriad of genres and celebrated the indelible impact of Black artists and musicians on the rich fabric of American music,” says Dr. Johnson. “From sacred music to the blues, soul to hip-hop, classical to jazz, we have experienced some of today’s most innovative and genre-expanding artists from around the country. For our season finale event at the CMA, we are pulling into our final stop and digging into the ebony roots of American folk music with The American Songster, Dom Flemons.” 
 
Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor, music scholar, historian, record collector, and the creator, host, and producer of American Songster Radio Show on 650 AM WSM in Nashville, Tennessee. He is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife, and rhythm bones. Co-founder of the beloved Carolina Chocolate Drops, Flemons left the group in 2014 to pursue his solo career.
 
In 2018, Flemons released a solo album titled Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys on Smithsonian Folkways and received a nomination for “Best Folk Album” at the 61st GRAMMY Awards. This record is part of the African American Legacy Recordings series, co-produced with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. In 2020, Flemons was selected for the prestigious United States Artists Fellowship Award for the Traditional Arts category, which was generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Available now, Traveling Wildfire is Flemons’ first new album since Black Cowboys and second for Smithsonian Folkways. In it he turns to an important, overlooked voice that he's proudly rediscovered: his own. Flemons is on tour this year traveling across the country.

“Be it string band, old-time music or Piedmont blues, Flemons is a GRAMMY winning multi-instrumentalist and storyteller who has been a part of amplifying the often-erased contributions of African Americans to American roots music styles,” says Dr. Johnson. “As a founding member of the acclaimed Carolina Chocolate Drops and as a solo artist and board member of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, Dom is a leader in connecting people — young and old — to Black folk music pioneers in the blues and country music. His recent album Black Cowboys illuminates another hidden gem in American music and folklore — the songs and stories of the original cowboys of America’s westward expansion. Our season finale show with Dom will also be a time to thank our More Than Rhythm audience regulars who have helped the series grow and make a powerful mark in Columbia’s thriving art and music scene for the last two years.” 
 
Series host Birgitta J. Johnson, Ph.D, is a jointly appointed associate professor of ethnomusicology in the School of Music and African American Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. Her research interests include music in African American churches, musical change and identity in Black popular music, and community archiving. She has published articles in the Black Music Research Journal, Ethnomusicology Forum, Liturgy, Oxford Bibliographies in African American Studies, and the Grove Dictionary of American Music.
 
Dr. Johnson’s recent publications include a chapter about 21st-century gospel archiving in The Oxford Handbook of Musical Repatriation, a chapter about gospel remixes of Beyoncé songs in Beyoncé in the World: Making Meaning with Queen Bey in Troubled Times, and sacred themes in the music of Outkast in An OutKast Reader: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Postmodern South. She has been quoted or featured in media and news outlets such as Rolling Stone Magazine, NPR, Vox, Public Radio International, and South Carolina ETV. 
 
A multi-instrumentalist and singer, Dr. Johnson has performed professionally and/or recorded with artists and ensembles from a variety of genres including the Southeast Symphony Orchestra of Metropolitan Los Angeles, the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Francisco Aguabella’s AfroCuban Folkloric Group, and the ESPY Awards with Justin Timberlake, The O’Jays, Yolanda Adams, Talib Kweli, and BeBe Winans. At USC she teaches courses on world music, hip-hop, the blues, African music, Black sacred music, Beyoncé, and the history of ethnomusicology.
 
More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series Featuring Dom Flemons
Friday, June 23 | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Conversation at 7:00 p.m. | Concert at 8:00 p.m.
Galleries and bar open at 6:00 p.m.
Free admission
 
Presented by the Baker & Baker Foundation. This program has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. This program is supported by a Connected Communities grant from Central Carolina Community Foundation.

Jasper Welcomes Lucas Sams to First Thursday at the Bourbon Courtyard

It’s the Jasper Project’s second First Thursday at the Bourbon Courtyard and, this time, we’re excited to welcome Columbia-based visual artist Lucas Sams.

Sams is a multi-media artist living and working in Columbia, SC; an alumnus of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, the University of South Carolina, and Temple University, Tokyo, working in painting, sculpture, film, digital/multimedia, sound and installation art, with works exhibited in major art festivals, galleries and alternative spaces, and featured in Jasper Magazine, the SC State Newspaper, Garnet and Black Magazine, and the Timber Journal of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Sams is bringing a selection of his work to the Bourbon Courtyard for a one-night-only exhibit on Thursday, October 6th, as part of First Thursdays on Main.

Start your evening as early as 5 pm with a cocktail from Bourbon’s cutting-edge bar offerings while enjoying the art and chatting with the artist, then move on down Main Street to Columbia Museum of Art and one block over to Sumter Street and Sound Bites Eatery where Jasper is also hosting the opening night reception for First Thursday Artist in Residence, Marius Valdes.

It’s just like old times and we can’t wait to see you on and off the streets!

Coming Up at CMA--Adia Victoria and More than Rhythm: A Black Musical Experience

It’s nice when successful artists come home. Sure, there are sometimes sour grapes in the back (what some like to call the anti-Hooties), but for the most part South Carolinians welcome their success stories back with pride and grace. That will be easy to do on Friday, August 26th when Columbia Museum of Art welcomes Adia Victoria to their Conversation and Concert titled More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series Featuring Adia Victoria.

Singer-songwriter and poet, Adia Victoria, was born in Spartanburg, SC and lived in the upstate until she left high school and moved from New York City to Atlanta and finally to Nashville where she resides today. She released her first album, Beyond the Bloodhounds, a reference to Harriet Jacob’s autobiography, Incident in the Life of a Slave Girl, in 2016, followed by Silences in 2019 and A Southern Gothic in 2021, which was written mostly in Paris.

Having toured internationally for the past few years and performing some gigs in the US with Jason Isbell and the 400 unit, Victoria is performing in Columbia as part of a multidisciplinary event that will include song, poetry, dance, and discourse. Dr. Mason Hickman, musician and civil engineer with a uniquely math and science approach to his guitar work, will be performing with Victoria and Dr. Birgitta Johnson, professor and ethnomusicologist at the University of SC will be performing host duties.

According to the CMA, the “More Than Rhythm series returns for its second season with a special performance from South Carolina native and globally recognized blues musician Adia Victoria. On break from her world tour, Victoria joins host and ethnomusicologist Dr. Birgitta Johnson to discuss her journey as an eclectic 21st-century blues artist before taking the stage with guitarist Mason Hickman. Their performance includes original poetry paired with dance interpretations by Columbia-based dancer Erin Bailey.”

The CMA galleries and bar will open at 6 pm with a Conversation at 7 pm, followed by an 8 pm concert. The event is free, but seats must be reserved by contacting the museum.

WILL SOUTH - Sig Abeles Writes a Memoir

Sigmund Abeles (b. 1934), Self-Portrait in a Hat/Drawing, pastel on paper, collection of Nora Lavori.

            Sig Abeles was born in New York but raised in South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach. His mother had a bad, well, a horrible marriage, so she packed up little Siggy and headed for Dixie where relatives lived nearby. It was Mrs. Abeles’ (pronounced “a” as in hay and “beles” as in Belize) idea to start a seaside hotel (only it was cheaper to be off Highway 17, not quite on the water) and it would be there that her son grew up to love the sea, riding horses, and Brookgreen Gardens. From there, he would eventually make his way back to New York with dreams of becoming a great artist. After all, his pal, Jasper Johns, had not done so bad.

            And, in his own way, he did become that great artist and one of the more recognizable printmakers of the late 20th century. Which means he needs a book of some kind to declare that this is the case.

            “Sig, what about that memoir you’ve been threatening to write for the last twenty years?”

            “Oh, I got busy,” he drawls, with a manner of speaking that betrays echoes of a drawl mixed in with vintage New York aggro and a healthy dose of Yiddish inflection.

            “Busy with what?” I bug him. Most artists need to be pushed until they get to the edge of the cliff, then they’ll happily jump by themselves.

            “Well, there’s my lady, and I’m her man. We need time together.”

            After having been divorced three times, Sig got a girlfriend at the age of sixty-seven, and they are still together after twenty years. Their first date was a walk in the park, literally Central Park. For Sig, ever the romantic, it had been love at first sight.

            “I hope you found a nice Jewish girl, as your mom wished for you to do.”

            “"No, oddly, I didn't. Not even back when I lived with mom.” And he chuckles, ever the gleam in his sharp, highly trained eyes. “Not that I didn’t spend a lot of time looking.”

           “I’m happy for you, Sig. Really. That said, happiness schmappiness. You need to get your life story down in print. You are a first-class bullshitter, and your story would be a good read—the boy from down yonder who made good in the big city. It’s the great American story, isn’t it? Fate would have had you working in your uncle’s grocery story over in Florence, but you defied fate, or something like it, and followed your heart.”

            “Ah, yes. That I did. It really all started in Brookgreen Gardens.”

            “Tell me about that. Maybe later you can write it down and get this show on the road.”

            “Sure. I’ll tell you about it. That spot was where my living education took place at a time when the rural deep South lacked museums of history, nature, and art. I was given either a box of Ritz crackers or a box of Del-Monte raisins as a standard snack and would go sit on my perch and learn with my eyes. On any short list of why I became so damned lucky as a dreamer, human being, and artist, Brookgreen Gardens, a mere seventeen miles south of my Myrtle Beach home, comes in as a close contender for the top. It was where I cut my “art-teeth,” and I would doubtfully have become a professional artist without that magical collection of American figurative sculptures set in formal gardens. Throw in the zoo of local animals, which I also soaked in repeatedly until I was full, and I was able to learn what no one school or teachers could have possibly provided me.

            My lady friend, Nora, likes to tell folks about my “eagle-eye.” In a museum or at an antique show my eye leads me to the absolute best thing there almost instantly. That visual acuteness was developed at Brookgreen. The mystery of how in the world a sculptor could observe a model and somehow translate and transform clay into a convincing, living form for eternity still bowls me over, even though I now understand and practice those processes. The two huge subjects of my personal passion, the human, especially female, body and the grace and power of the horse remains fulfilling, thanks to that rich and exciting collection. From my vantage point on our rooming house’s steps overlooking US 17, I sometimes would spot a huge flatbed truck with a sculpture, sometimes wrapped in tarps with just a huge thigh or shoulder exposed on the way to that ever-evolving Brookgreen. I would run into the kitchen shouting, “Ma, a new sculpture is going to Brookgreen, please, when can we go down to see it, say really soon! OK? Please?”

            Because of Brookgreen Gardens, I knew the name and the sculpture of Anna Hyatt Huntington long before I had heard of Auguste Rodin. The same is true for the names of Gertrude Whitney and Malvina Hoffman before even knowing about Michelangelo, or the way-out, biting wit and satire of Henry Clews before Francisco Goya became a greater favorite and influence. It still seems like an odd happenstance of counter-intuition that it was the lady modelers who were the early heroes for me, not the men. In fact, the first time I “touched” art (and maybe it touched me) is evidenced in a snapshot of me as maybe a four-year-old on a family picnic where I was pulling the tail of a bronze lion by Ms. Huntington.”

            “And, from there to where, my friend? Tell me a little about your time at USC.”

            “My time at USC would prove to be a mixed bag, maybe even a mixed-up bag. In the 1950s, one could argue, correctly, that Columbia was at the epicenter of conservative American mores focused on truth and righteousness and was a national leader in the suppression of civil rights. No irony there, right? It was thus an unlikely place to be if one’s goal were to learn about mysterious creative strategies that might unlock the door to an artistic life. On the other hand, it might be a good place to learn business strategies involving tobacco and the manufacture of cigarettes and how to deny their danger to the health of the world. I knew instinctively things were going to be bumpy when I discovered the art department offered not one course in sculpture. Not. One. A place like Brookgreen Gardens never came up in conversation, however much I loved that place so dearly. It was my launching pad.

            The greatest professor there for me was Bob Ochs who taught American history and was a Lincoln scholar. God, how I loved hearing him dress down those students falsely proud of the Old South. He would happily tell them that their family were not plantation or slave owners, but rather were white trash who desperately needed to distinguish themselves one bare notch above Black Americans. Bob later became a friend, bought some work, had a house in Majorca, was awfully close to Jasper Johns, and was uniquely special—it was a privilege to have known him.

            I was supposed to be a pre-med student. Mom wanted me to be Chief Surgeon to the Free World. But I struggled with math, chemistry, and biology classes. I wanted art like no other desire; it was obsessional. USC's art faculty was comprised of interesting individuals. My favorite art professor was Augusta "Bucky" Wikowski, the adorable, eccentric art historian. She was widowed by the time I met her. Bucky was a great traveler and storyteller. She truly brought slides alive with her insights. Her pronunciation of profile as "pro-feel" delighted me as did her recounting to me over drinks on her Devine Street hillside home of the personae she assumed during her full summer travels to Europe and Mexico. Once she passed herself off as white Russian aristocracy, another time as a famous madam. Long after I left Columbia, the Columbia Museum of Art had arranged a show of her paintings, which were done either while traveling or from sketches made during those trips.

            However, Bucky was extremely modest about her canvases, very self-effacing. When it was time to deliver her exhibition, she stacked all her framed works against the back bumper of her station wagon and then proceeded to back over them all, busting frames and stretchers, doing grave damage to the best of her years of labors of love and remembrance.

            Often, I ranked myself in USC's art department as the fair-haired freshman (or fair-haired sophomore by the time I noticed my post pre-med mistake) while Jasper Johns was the fair-haired senior. The Jasper Johns event of memory was the farewell Mr. Graduate party for Jap after which he roared off in his snappy red sports car to fulfill his dream of going to New York to study at the Art Students League of New York with Yasuo Kuniyoshi. At the time, Jap's works were small watercolors leaning toward Paul Klee and rose period Picasso, sensitive and poetic. Jap's parting words to me were that when I made my way back to New York to look him up and he would help me find a place to live and work, which I did but neither a studio and apartment nor the job worked out for me. I do remember one day when Jap and I were at MOMA and he just said, “the New York Art World is run by four hundred male homosexuals.”

            In 1955, soon after the Supreme Court decision in favor of desegregation, I was called into the president of the University of South Carolina’s office. I had passed out leaflets around campus in support of civil rights, and taped fliers to walls. This work was modest in relation to what was to come in the 1960s, but it was enough to get you into plenty of trouble in South Carolina in the ‘50s. Certain of my views seem to have been influenced by northern proponents of freedom for all (radicals, that is), and the president, had this to say to me: "If you owe them so much (these radicals), why don't you move north to live with them?"

            I responded that I was at USC to get a degree and it was my intention to finish it. My records were on his desk, and he looked them over and proceeded to tell me that with the summer schools I had attended, I had enough credits to graduate. (I had put in five semesters of undergraduate work.) "If you agree to leave USC after this semester, we will send you a bachelor’s degree in June." In essence, he gave me a bachelor’s degree as a way to kick me out of school, similar in spirit to how Southerners will say, “Well, bless your heart!” when they mean “Screw you!” So, I finished that semester and moved to New York, took a small apartment in Greenwich Village on Charles Street and started making art.”

            You must have hundreds of stories.”

            “I do. But I wouldn’t know how to end it.”

            “That, Sig, is a good thing. Now, write the rest of it.”

Note: Sigmund Abeles has completed a first draft of his memoir, and, with a good deal of luck, should be out and readable in a year or two.

Will South is an independent artist, curator and writer based in Columbia.

Jasper is Thankful for YOU - a message from Cindi

From the bottom of our hearts, we are …

At this time of year those of us at the Jasper Project like to say thank you to the universe for the treasures that have come our way, just like everyone else.

In addition to all of you who support our mission by donating, volunteering, spreading the word, participating in our projects, and reading what we write, I am also thankful for our hardworking board of directors. The Jasper Project board of directors give of their time, energy, and their own wealth and blessings to keep Jasper afloat and actively serving the needs of our arts community at the grass roots level that we believe is so important.

Here are some of the things this board has done for Jasper this year: They have sold tickets, hung posters, hauled and delivered magazines, put up stages and run sound and light for performances. They have baked and prepared food, picked and arranged flowers, balanced our books, filed our taxes, managed projects, written articles, consulted with artists and donors. They have donated their own funds, and so much more.

They also shared with us the people, places, and things in the greater Columbia arts community that they are thankful for themselves.

Read on to see what they had to say..

—Cb

Jasper Project board vice president & director of Harbison Theatre, Kristin Cobb says, “I am thankful for Larry Hembree because he is always willing to lend a hand to all of us in the arts world.”

L-R Joe Hudson, William Cobb, Kristin

~~~~~

According to USC professor Drue Barker, “I am thankful to live in a city with a thriving contemporary dance community with leaders like Erin Bailey, Martha Brim, Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, Stephanie Wilkins, and Wideman-Davis!” 

Christina Xan, who writes articles and manages the Tiny Gallery project, in addition to always being at the ready to help out wherever she can, agrees, saying, “I’m thankful for Stephanie Wilkins because she has used her compassion and skill to carve new, unique spaces for dancers and dance in Columbia.” 

Stephanie Wilkins and Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, co-founders of the Columbia Summer Rep Dance Co.

~~~~~~

Our intern Stephanie Allen, who is also an excellent writer and devoted to the cause, says, “I’m thankful for the CMA because they continually make themselves accessible to students like me and create open, welcome spaces for the community.”

~~~~~

Web Maven and graphics guru Bekah Rice, says, “I'm thankful for the MANY outdoor markets in Columbia because they make buying local goods, especially art, more accessible and provide artists and artisans in our community more opportunities to make a living.”

~~~~~

Jasper Project board president Wade Sellers says, “I’m thankful for an independent film community that continues to create and grow while supporting their fellow creators. The past ten years have seen imaginative new voices emerge in our city. More importantly we have seen those filmmakers get to know each other, share ideas, and share their skills. Our city and the surrounding areas are the rare place where roadblocks that usually hinder access for independent filmmakers don’t exist. I look forward to the new stories these filmmakers will tell in the coming years.”

~~~~~

Bert Easter, who manages the Jasper Gallery in the Meridian Building in downtown Columbia, says, “I am thankful for ceramics artist Virginia Scotchie of USC who has partnered with me to show student work alongside her art at the Jasper Gallery at the Meridian on Main and the display windows along Washington and Sumter Street.

I am also thankful for the neighborhoods who have had art-in-the-yard events. These meet-the-artist events have been fun,” Easter continues. “I am thankful for the city’s poet laureate, Ed Madden. He’s so cute... oh and he does poetry and art stuff too.”

Columbia City Poet Laureate (and Cutie) ED Madden

artist - Virginia Scotchie

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Paul Leo says, “I am thankful that we have a lively Opera scene here in Colombia, between the productions of The Palmetto Opera Company and The Southeast Division Metropolitan Opera Competition which is starting back up in January 2022 at Columbia College. Columbia's art scene is rich in the preservation of the classical art forms as well as encouraging new and innovative art forms. That is what makes it a truly great city!”

~~~~~

Board member and manager of the Lizelia project Len Lawson says, “I'm thankful for Columbia Museum of Art, Writer-in-Residence Ray McManus, and Drew Barron for the excellent work on the Hindsight 20/20 Series and Binder Podcast of which I'm grateful to have been a part.”

~~~~~~

Thanks to all of our diligent board members including Grayson Goodman, Al Black, Barry Wheeler, Diane Hare, Christopher Cockrell, Laura Garner Hine, and Preach Jacobs.

If YOU feel like you might have a gift to offer the Jasper Project by way of contributing to our publications, helping out at events, or even applying to be a member of the board of directors, please let us know! We’re always looking for sisters and brothers in the arts who want to join us in our labor of love.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Jasper Project!

REVIEW: Kirk Hammett's It's Alive! at Columbia Museum of Art - by Christofer Cook

Hammett’s Panoply of Genre Treasures a Delightful Submersion into the Dark Fantastic

Merchant of menace, Vincent Price, once opined; “I trust people who are violent about art as long as they aren’t closed-minded. But, unfortunately, most art blowhards are also art bigots”. Price’s position on such observers suggests that the art world is forever infested with subjective perspectives on its ever-changing product. These so-called critics do nothing but praise that which they like and denigrate that which they find distasteful, gauche, sophomoric. But the real challenge is to seek the beauty, skillful craftsmanship, and precision within a work whose subject matter may very well be anathema to the beholding eye.

Thankfully, horror aficionados remain undaunted by their naysayers. These bastions of blood become impervious to criticism and continue to amass works of art that represent the absolute best of the macabre and the fantastique. Perhaps no one exemplifies these purveyors of genre art more so than Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist of those meisters of metal, Metallica. Hammett’s collection of horror and sci-fi movie props, costumes, and memorabilia has gradually and insidiously taken over his San Francisco home like the creeping crud in George Romero’s The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill, based on Stephen King’s Weeds. In Hammett’s case, though, his growing horde is not an organic pestilence, rather it is a miscellany of fine objects d’arte.

An exhibit of Hammett’s select acquisitions can be viewed through May 17th at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina. It is an adventure through a portal of spellbinding wonder the moment one steps inside. We are first impacted by an immediate blast of visual splendor. Just beyond the gallery’s glass doors, welcoming us to the experience, is a mammoth title card in rich, vivid colors. It is the identical illustration that graces the cover of Hammett’s latest book by the same name; IT’S ALIVE! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Posters from the Kirk Hammett collection.

The image is a nostalgic throwback to the pre-code era of the comic book covers of yesteryear. These dog-eared horrors in four colors were often secreted between the mattress covers of millions of American acne-ridden kids we now affectionately refer to as “monster kids”. The gargantuan signage prepares us for the terrors adorning the gallery walls beyond—an antediluvian cemetery features from end to end. In the foreground, an undead arm bathed in crimson light breaks through its terrestrial bonds. Worms crawl, wriggling about the extremity. In a show of rebellion that only a zombie could display, the hand brandishes the ubiquitous devil-horned symbol denoting rock-n-roll, metal mayhem, and all things dark and dangerous.

The sideshow-like mural is an effective precursor to the devilishly delightful designs to come. As one rounds the right corner into the gallery, stunning vintage posters hang in reverence to the by-gone age of German expressionism; Wiene’s 1920 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Gade and Schall’s 1921 Hamlet,  Murnau’s 1922 Nosferatu, and Lang’s 1927 Metropolis. The process most commonly used to create these works of visual wonderment was stone lithography. Color was limited, the form was time-consuming and expensive. Few have survived. Hammett’s relics, however, those extant to us today, remain unphased by time or the elements.

The exhibit continues in a celebration of the advent of atomic energy, film noir, and drive-in picture shows. Our eyes are immediately drawn to the center of one salon wherein what appears to be an industrial-sized, copper-rust electric powered insulator from the set of James Whale’s 1931 fright feature, Frankenstein. It is breathtaking to behold and fits in perfectly with the surrounding lithoes.

Nearby is a glass case featuring a small selection of lobby cards. These were smaller photos on thicker stock that were used to dress the lobbies of cinemas. These lobby cards are mana to collectors and while there are still plenty out there in abundance, they are increasing in value as supply in the market begins a slow descent. They have been beautifully preserved and many of the images shown are actual screenshots from the films they promote.

The philosophy being, that if audiences were unsure of what creature feature to take in next, they would be inspired by the colorful action shots they were guaranteed to see on the big screen. No pretentious posing in the photos, what you saw was what you’d get. The lobby cards were also less expensive for Hollywood promotion houses to print and duplicate. Hammett’s are a joy to take in and are in the finest of condition.

No collection would be complete of course without a heaping helping of Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney. Classic one-sheets from Hollywood’s golden age of horror cinema and into the 1940s are well-represented; Browning’s 1931 Dracula, Freund’s 1932 The Mummy, Waggner’s 1941 The Wolfman, and Arnold’s 1954 The Creature from the Black Lagoon all framed with care, stare back at us in monstrous malevolence. Featured in the show are two beautifully commissioned life-sized figures; Boris Karloff from Ulmer’s 1934 The Black Cat, and Bela Lugosi from Halperin’s 1932 White Zombie.

Hammett’s sheets from the 1950s reflect much of our fears and trepidations of the decade’s technological innovations; Korean War weaponry, hydrogen bombs, nuclear attacks, and the launch of the Soviet “Sputnik,” an innovation that effectively began the space race.

It was also about this time that the process of creating these advertising marvels moved from stone lithography to offset printing. Hammett himself has observed that a comparison of poster designs from the ‘20s and ‘30s and those of the ‘40s and ‘50s are as disparate in design concept as they are in topic. Whereas the earlier one-sheets exhibited a wide array of artisans, techniques, styles, and palettes, the later years conveyed a style more formulaic.

When atomic age epics such as Haskin’s 1953  War of the Worlds filled the silver screen during Saturday afternoon matinees, the cinemas were plastered with depictions of sci-fi scenes to assault the senses; damsels fleeing in fear, Martians invading rural America, interplanetary battles, infernal machines, and giant warships from outer space destroying everything in their path with death rays.

Hammett has these carefully protected artifacts in seeming perpetuity. His assessment is true. If one lines the posters up side by side it is possible to see the beginnings of the ‘floating heads’ phenomenon so rampant in our present-day distilled culture of quick, cheap, and fast photo-shop. The fonts used for titles are similar, almost identical in many cases, and the colors, a revolving palate of red, yellow, green, and black.

A few pieces are suspended in the glow of track lighting giving respect to the later films of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Polanski’s 1968 Rosemary’s Baby, Friedkin’s 1973 The Exorcist, and Scott’s 1979 Alien bring Hammett’s collection to a chronological stopping point at the twentieth century. For metal enthusiasts, a selection of Hammett’s monster-laden guitars are on display as well.

Though overall, the It’s Alive! experience is an excellently curated and crafted showcase of genre treasures, it is not without its challenges. This particular art show is theatrical in nature and would have benefitted from a few effects that would have enhanced the observer experience. Conspicuously glaring was the white-hot track lighting in the galleries. Though it is a common and standard approach to display (after all this is a visual artform), such bright light hitting the sheets, props, and costumes betrayed the genre. A dimmer setting of vintage incandescence might have provided an atmosphere more befitting the gothic milieu.

Absent from the experience was the use of low underscoring throughout the museum. Instrumental soundtracks and/or orchestrated music of the Wagnerian catalog would have set the mood at a higher level of stimulus. As it is, the absolute silence does nothing to benefit the tour. One oversight appeared to be an original standee promoting Cooper and Schoedsack’s 1933 King Kong. The cut-out is placed too close to a wall so as not to give the observing eye the benefit of depth and dimension. To pull it out from the back wall even a couple of feet would have made a marked difference in the illustration of Kong’s glory.

In the end, Hammett’s collected works are a stunning visual representation of a long ago time, in darkened cinemas, where the crunching of popcorn, the sipping of sweet cola and the screaming of teenagers at mutant, malformed Martians up on the big screen was as splendid a Saturday afternoon as one could imagine.

Christofer Cook holds an MFA, an MA, and a BA. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, The Dracula Society, and the Dramatists Guild of America. His latest plays are Amityville, An Edgar Allan Poe Christmas Carol, and a stage adaptation of House on Haunted Hill. His published script, Dracula of Transylvania (Advised by Dacre Stoker), is the first theatrical treatment of the novel written in collaboration with a member of the Stoker family since the 1920’s when Bela Lugosi played the title role on Broadway. It is currently available at the Columbia Museum of Art’s gift shop.

CMA Writer-in-Residence Ray McManus Brings Top Names to Poetry Summit

The Columbia Museum of Art’s (CMA) Writer-in-Residence, Ray McManus, will be hosting his newest project this coming weekend: a Poetry Summit featuring three award-winning poets: Nickole Brown, Jessica Jacobs, and Ashley M. Jones. During his residence last year, McManus developed the Write Around Series where local poets read ekphrastic work they write inspired by the CMA’s galleries. The Poetry Summit will be one half-day event that continues this tradition of celebrating the marriage of poetry and visual art.

The idea of a Poet Summit came to McManus from Kwame Dawes, back when the South Carolina Poetry Initiative would hold an annual event where poets came from around the state to both read and lead workshops at the CMA.

 “It was an amazing experience and helped to foster incredible comraderies that South Carolina poets still have today,” McManus recalls, “I want to try and bring that back.”

This summit is a workshop created for writers in any stage of their craft. Participants will work with each of the poets during the workshops, where they will gather ideas for crafting poems that push the boundaries of writing, especially in relation to art. Writers will ask themselves the questions: what do we feel when we are in the presence of art? How do others react to it? How do I put those concepts into words? And then, they will learn to generate their ideas so that both they, and others, can experience it.

McManus’ decision to bring in Brown, Jacobs, and Jones to lead this summit was not a difficult one, as he has been scheming of ways to bring these women to the city since he first encountered their poetry. He learned of Brown through her poem, “Fuck,” (a stunning read) and then met her in person during a reading in Nashville. McManus met Jacobs at this event as well, and “immediately ran out” to buy her debut collection, Pelvis with Distance.

“Both poets are just so inviting in their work and so generous with their spirit and kindness,” McManus expressed, “I knew if I could get them to Columbia, we would be better for it.”

He garners the same enthusiasm for Jones, who he met while doing a reading together at the WOW Symposium in Spartanburg. About her debut collection, Magic City Gospel, McManus most appreciates the way she “wrestles with place and the past” – two themes pervasive and pertinent in Southern writing.

Beyond his admiration for their work, McManus recognizes these poets as “seasoned, committed teachers when it comes to craft and pushing the boundaries of form.” As is apparent in their bios, they each have something unique and wonderful to bring to the table, some element within their souls to share to those who will participate – a way for all to grow together in their art.

Nickole Brown

Brown is the author of two books of poetry: Sister (2007) and Fanny Says (2015). The latter won the Weatherford Award for Appalachian Poetry. Brown is currently the editor for the Marie Alexander Poetry Series and teaches at two programs: the Sewanee School of Letters’ MFA Program and the Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC-Asheville. She currently lives in Asheville with her wife, fellow poet Jessica Jacobs. Brown released a chapbook, “To Those Who Were Our First Gods,” last year, and an extension of the ideas traversed in the collection will appear in a chapbook next year entitled “The Donkey Elegies.”

Jessica Jacobs

Jacobs is the author of two books of poetry: Pelvis with Distance (2015) and Take Me with You, Wherever You’re Going (2019). Her initial collection won the New Mexico Book Award in Poetry and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Jacobs is no stranger to teaching, having both led workshops and been a professor in multiple programs including UNC-Wilmington. She is currently the chapbook editor for Beloit Poetry Journal and lives in Asheville, NC, with her wife, Nickole Brown. 

Ashley M. Jones

Jones is the author of two poetry collections: Magic City Gospel (2017) and dark / / thing (2019). She has received a multitude of awards for her work including the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award, the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Prize for Poetry, and the Lucille Clifton Poetry Prize, among others. Currently, Jones teaches at both the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Alabama School of Fine Arts. She is also the founding director of the Magic City Poetry Festival, also in Birmingham.

Pretty impressive, right? I think McManus said it best – “Simply put, these three poets are some of the sweetest badasses I know.”

 The event takes place Sunday, November 3, from noon to 5:00 p.m. with a free public reading, book signing, and reception on Boyd Plaza at 4:00 p.m. Participation is $20 for non-members, $10 for members, and $5 for students with ID. Registration is required for the workshops, and the price of the ticket also includes admission to the galleries, including the new exhibit “Van Gogh and His Inspirations”. The public reading, book signing, and reception are free.

 For more information on how to experience what these poets have to offer, visit the CMA’s website: www.columbiamuseum.org. 

by Christina Xan

BIG & BOLD AT THE COLUMBIA ART MUSEUM BY OLIVIA MORRIS

 

"This is the simplest form / of current: Blue / moving through blue; / blue through purple; / the objects of desire / opening upon themselves / without us.” — "The Way Things Work", Jorie Graham

This is how it feels to walk through the Columbia Museum of Art's Big & Bold exhibit. The  exhibition room is flooded with bright color and light, every painting and sculpture seems iridescent.  For example, the painting Cape II by Sam Gilliam is a series of currents and pools of color, threading against and bleeding into one another.  The piece looms over spectators, several feet taller than any person.  Most art exhibits are curated under a certain theme, typically unified by the subject of the work or similarities between the artists.  However, Big & Bold isn’t a collection 20th century cigar paintings, or a display of Southern female photographers.  The work displayed was chosen for its emphasis on artistic concepts outside of the subject — every work seems to be an exploration of texture, luminosity, or medium.  The exhibit also seeks to answer the question: does size matter?

Gilliam (born Tupelo, MS 1933) is a color field painter, meaning he poured acrylic paint directly onto an unprimed canvas.  Except, color field painting was too flat and literal for Gilliam.  He began bunching up the canvas, so that the paint flowed in the particular direction he wanted.  The canvas itself was used as art, adding newfound element — a more holistic, immersive feeling to the work.  Similarly, David Budd's painting Mars Black is a plain, all-black canvas, at least from afar.  However, closer, one can see that Budd was obsessed with what goes into making a painting, every little brush stroke.  It shows each layer of glimmering paint, each lifted scale, a city of texture.  This piece illustrates how much effort goes into each individual stroke, the entirety of the excoriating art-making process.  Each work in Big & Bold has a sense of innovation to it and a larger-than-life history.

For example, the most famous piece is inarguably a print from Andy Warhol’s Mao series.  This 1976 print displays Mao Zedong, the totalitarian Chinese ruler, in gaudy neon colors, lathered on his face like stage makeup.  A man named Bruno Bischofberger encouraged Warhol to paint a picture of the most important person in the 20th century, suggesting he do Albert Einstein.  However, Warhol chose to do Mao.  With that, he turned a man who campaigned against individualism and capitalism into a monument to artistry and consumerism.  Warhol rapidly reproduced the prints of Mao in different sizes and color schemes — the height of product availability, a harlequin oxymoron.

Big & Bold displays that size does matter.  It helps convey a feeling and a story.  A photorealist, Chuck Close’s Phil is a hyperrealistic, enormous portrait of the composer Philip Glass.  Close (born Monroe, WA, 1940) suffers from face blindness, a neurological disorder that affects the patient's ability to recognize faces.  The photograph confronts that troubling reality, and emphasized his ability to overcome his disorder, with two-dimensional, stationary faces being all that he can understand.  This struggle would not seem merely as pronounced if Phil could hang in a bathroom.  Amy Fichter’s illustration Breasts, a series of colorful lines that form a women’s boldly stuck-out chest, stands against the societal rejection of women’s bodies.  It wouldn’t be nearly as rebellious and unabashed if it could fold into a back pocket.  Most strikingly, however, Big & Bold shows how important certain things are to the artists, and what they want to say the loudest.

The exhibit runs through October 23, 2016 - for more info check out Columbia Museum of Art

THE DAUFUSKIE ISLAND EXHIBIT at CMA -- BY OLIVIA MORRIS

The Columbia Museum of Art is currently displaying "Daufuskie Memories", an exhibition of photographs by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, being shown until August 7.  Through the late 70s and early 80s, Moutoussamy-Ashe explored the people, customs, and buildings of Daufuskie Island, a sea island off the coast of South Carolina.  The series is comprised entirely of black-and-white gelatin silver prints.

The island is famous for its rich preservation of Gullah as result of its tight-knit community and isolation from the mainland.  Gullah is a culture and language developing from the descendants of enslaved Africans in the Lowcountry region, a fusion of Africa and the English South.  In "Emily's Son at Nursery School During Naptime", a young boy is sprawled out on a mat beneath a stove. Hung up behind the stove is a sheet that reads, "moja — 1 // mbili — 2 // tatu — 3," and continues to ten.  The words are numbers in Swahili.  The stove is also labeled "stove", this time in English.  On the other side of the room, propped against the wall, is a Dr. Seuss-themed corn-hole board.  The Daufuskie islanders are suspended between two worlds, yet still largely separate, wedged between the stove and the wall.

The photos display a wide range of activities, each with its own motion, emotion, and composition of light.  "Shrimper Pulling in his Line" shows a young man at work, dressed in a striped shirt and a bucket hat, pulling a net onboard a ship.  Fishing was the nucleus of the island, a staple at the dinner table and the main sector of the economy.  The island was also deeply religious, and home to the First Union African Baptist Church.  Several photos — of weddings, young piano players, a woman fixing her daughter's shoes — feature the starkly white, thin-pillared church.  The western influence on faith becomes undeniable in "Susie Standing Next to a Holy Picture", where a woman tightly smiles next to a picture of an unrealistically Caucasian Jesus.

There are pictures of people at funerals, on oxcarts, and drawing water from cast iron hand pumps.  There are scenes of boats in winter, of children buried in each other's arms.  However, the vast number of photographs are of just of people — mid-sentence, smoking cigarettes, gazing deeply back at the viewer.  Moutoussamy-Ashe emphasizes the roles of both human interaction and solitude throughout her collection, reminding the viewer that everyone is so much more than a single action the camera catches them in.

Moutoussamy-Ashe captures these lives in an incredible transition and tragic disintegration.  In the early 60s, Daufuskie islanders started to sell their land to private corporations and disperse throughout the mainland.  Moutoussamy-Ashe caught the last historical glimpses of the island before it became known for its 20-hole golf course and its members-only residential club.  The photographs hold a spirit and landscape that has been widely gentrified in the 21st century.  The photographer herself spoke on the subject, "because the Daufuskie I photographed no longer exist, I know now that these photos are an invaluable archive for the islanders and greater American society."

Girls Rock the Block at First Thursday by Ony Ratsimbaharison

On Thursday June 2 at 6 pm, Girls Rock Columbia will host a block party at Boyd Plaza in front of the Columbia Museum of Art. The event, called Girls Rock the Block will be held as part of First Thursday on Main, Columbia’s monthly arts event on Main Street. It’ll be a free event with live music and food by the Wurst Wagen. All proceeds will go to benefit Girls Rock Columbia, so that they can continue to enrich the lives of our community’s youth.

If you haven’t heard, Girls Rock Columbia is our local chapter of the Girls Rock Camp Alliance (GRCA), which is an international coalition of organizations that aims to empower women and girls through music education, to foster confidence and self-esteem. GRCA was founded in 2007 in Portland, OR, and now has over 60 camps worldwide.

This will be Columbia’s 4th annual Girls Rock Camp, and it will be bigger than ever. I spoke with Mollie Williamson, executive director of Girls Rock Columbia, about this event and all of the organization’s exciting developments.

Instead of the usual one-week camp they’ve had in the past, this year Girls Rock Columbia will launch its two-week teen leadership program, where teens ages 13-17 will have camp the first week and return as teen leaders for the general camp the following week, which is for campers ages 8-12.

“They’ll be acting as peer mentors—repairing gear, facilitating workshops, and just largely contributing to things running smoothly,” Mollie said. “We’re super excited to give them the opportunity to lead!”

Girls Rock Columbia has also started an internship program this year and implemented their first board of directors in January. The camp itself has also grown; there will be 24 teen campers in the first week, and 84 during the general session, a huge jump from the original 17 campers its first year. In the past, campers were offered 10 workshops, and this year there will be 40.

With all these changes, Girls Rock needs as much help from the community as possible. The block party on Thursday is one way people can get involved, since proceeds will go to Girls Rock to help with programming. Live music will be performed by Jacksonville, FL electronic group Tomboi, and locals Can’t Kids and Paisley Marie, all of whom have been involved with Girls Rock.

“We’ll have a table at Girls Rock the Block, so stop by and shoot the breeze with us!” says Mollie.

For more information on Girls Rock Columbia and this fun event, check out girlsrockcolumbia.org

Columbia Museum of Art Wins National Medal for Museum and Library Service

Congratulations to the Columbia Museum of Art for winning the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest honor awarded to such an institution and, this year, awarded to none more deserving.

Those of us who have been around Columbia long enough remember when the art museum was some incommodious space where we only went on field trips if we were children and for very specific openings if we were adults. The art museum represented a type of art that didn't really have a place in our lives.

Yes, there were a few lesser-known pieces by better-known artists in which we felt a sense of municipal pride, and yes, many of us had our favorites in the museum's collection or a painting or two with which we enjoyed some special relationship. But even with the art we loved, we were bad lovers. There was nothing about the walls on which the art lived that invited us to visit. We approached the building carefully--like we were visiting the rich old lady down the street with our Ps and Qs at code yellow, careful to wipe our feet before entering, using our church voices or not speaking at all.

Let's call those The Bad Old Days. 

Few institutions experience the kind of renaissance CMA has realized over the past few years.

Where patrons once tiptoed through the galleries, today we celebrate in them. We gather there like a huge extended family and feel welcome within its walls. Rather than reverence we feel a sense of comfort and community and homeyness. We visit the spaces because it makes us feel good or we just need a fix of the art we know belongs to us. And it's not just the art currently hanging on its walls. Columbia Museum of Art has given us the art of Warhol and Leibovitz and O'Keeffe and Curran and more. By empowering our community with a working knowledge of art history and art appreciation Columbia Museum of Art has created a place in our lives for the art it exhibits and the place where it exhibits it - our museum home.

Again, congratulations to everyone at CMA for a honor so well deserved.

CMA Offers Ambitious Look at African-American Art via REMIX

The Columbia Museum of Art opens a new year of programming by presenting a major exhibition featuring some of the most important artists of the 20^th century and today.

REMIX: Themes and Variations in African-American Art and its accompanying catalogue focus on work that reassembles and reconfigures prior sources from history and culture into new works of art. The 45 works in the show represent some of the most innovative and influential African-American artists including Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, and Romare Bearden, alongside contemporary superstars like Kehinde Wiley, Kara Walker, and Fahamu Pecou. Nine South Carolina artists are included such as Leo Twiggs, Michaela Pilar Brown, and Colin Quashie. This show is curated and organized by the CMA, which is its only venue.

The lively form of the works - paintings, sculpture, works on paper, video, and textiles - showcase diverse styles that explore the American experience. "In the face of our current divisive political climate, it is important to deconstruct the master narrative," says Jonell Logan, independent curator specializing in contemporary American art and REMIX essayist. "REMIXprovides us that opportunity - to include more voices in the conversation of history, identity, and the image - and to provide a truer picture of what our world, our society looks like."

The exhibition opens on Friday, February 5, and runs through May 3. The CMA is offering free admission to the exhibition during regular public hours on opening weekend (February 5 - 7), courtesy of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.

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REMIX Programs

Ongoing: February 5 - May 3

-         Guided tours every Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

-         TAP Multimedia Tour available on your own smart phone or on iPod Touch devices provided by the CMA.

-         Thirty-minute "Spark Tours" every Friday at 2:00 p.m.

-         We will also feature thematic Art Explorer Backpacks and baby guides that are tailored to the REMIX exhibition.

 

Evening for Educators with special guest REMIX Artist and Art Educator Willis "Bing" Davis

Wednesday, February 3 | 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.

This is a free event at the Columbia Museum of Art for all South Carolina educators. It's the perfect opportunity to meet colleagues, enjoy light appetizers and libations, preview special exhibitions and upcoming programs, and enjoy gallery talks and creating works of art.Professional Development renewal credit forms available.

Willis "Bing" Davis is the founder and president of EbonNia Gallery and SHANGO: Center for the Study of African American Art & Culture, both located in Dayton, Ohio. Born in Greer, South Carolina, Bing has a master's degree in education from Miami University. He has been an important artist, teacher, lecturer and community leader for over 50 years. In 1997, he received the Ohio Art Educator of the Year Award, and in 2010 he was given a major career retrospective at the Dayton Art Institute and the University of Dayton.

 

REMIX Lecture: Jonell Logan

Friday, February 5 | Noon

Jonell Logan, independent curator and consultant specializing in contemporary American art, speaks about the themes that shape modern and contemporary African-American art. Free with membership or admission.

Arts & Draughts

Friday, February 5 | 7:00 - 11:00 p.m.

Art, drink, and be happy! Enjoy tastings of Catawba Brewing's White Zombie Ale from The Whig, live music, food trucks, REMIX-inspired art projects, DIY activities from Izms of Art, Richland Library, and What's Next Midlands, plus photo booths, scavenger hunts, short films from the Nickelodeon's past Indie Grits festivals, unique perspective tours by local artist and designer Dalvin Spann, remixed Shakespeare performances by Darion McCloud and NiA, and One Columbia with the Art-O-Mat. DJ Preach Jacobs provides the soundtrack for the evening. Presented by Cyberwoven. Sponsored by The Whig, WXRY, and Free Times. $9 / $5 for members or renew your membership that night and get in free.

Learn to Draw in a Day Workshop

Saturday, February 6 | 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Devote a day to drawing with master draughtswoman Mary Hendrix. Experiment with pencil, charcoal, conté crayon, and more as you examine the work of contemporary artists like Damond Howard and Whitfield Lovell in our REMIX exhibition and in the CMA collection. All materials included. $75 / $60 for members.

 

Printmaking REMIXED

Tuesdays and Thursdays, February 9, 11, 16, and 18 | 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Learn the finer points of printmaking in a four-night class that explores techniques like drypoint and incorporating gold leaf to create multimedia masterpieces with art educator Jimmy Hiller. These techniques date back to the days of Raphael and Rembrandt but are still being used by artists today. Explore the work of contemporary artists like Radcliffe Bailey and Kehinde Wiley featured in our REMIX exhibition and the CMA collection as you design, print, and assemble your own modern creations. All materials included. $250 / $200 for members.

 

Artist Salon: Damond Howard

Friday, February 12 | Noon

The artist salon series features gallery talks about a wide range of subjects, topics, and disciplines. These talks showcase the artwork on view at the CMA. In this salon, SC Artist Damond Howard discusses his work in REMIX: Themes and Variations in African-American Art. Free with membership or admission. Sponsored in part through Leslie's Legacy Fund.

Sweet on CMA

Saturday, February 13 | Noon - 3:00 p.m.

Come have a lovely time at the fourth annual Sweet on CMA family fun event. Get creative at art stations, play the valentine bean bag toss, take the "Young at Heart" tour, try the "Two of a Kind" gallery hunt, and make art-inspired valentines. And don't miss Columbia Marionette Theatre's performance of Anansi the Spider at noon and 2:00 p.m. Free. Sponsored by Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers. Free.

 

*ArtBreak: An Exploration of African-American Art on View with USC History Professor Dr. Bobby Donaldson

Tuesday, February 23 | Café at 10:30 a.m. | Lecture at 11:00 a.m.

ArtBreak is a program that looks at art through a different lens. A speaker, typically from outside the art world, gives insight into their worldview by sharing their interpretation of works of art at the CMA. Begin your morning at 10:30 with coffee and pastries, and then enjoy the program at 11:00. Free with membership or admission. Sponsored in part through Leslie's Legacy Fund.

Gala 2016: In the Mix: From Vintage to Vogue

Saturday, March 5 | 7:00 p.m. - Midnight

The annual CMA Gala is a themed party that draws art lovers from across the Midlands. The 2016 Gala celebrates our major spring exhibition, REMIX: Themes and Variations in African-American Art, in an evening filled with extraordinary cuisine, décor, and entertainment including Reggie Sullivan and His Music Machine, DJ Irv, and Life in Notes and Steps, original jazz and dance by Mark Rapp and Stephanie Wilkins. Tickets are $150 ($75 tax deductible).

 

Passport to Art: Mix It Up

Sunday, March 13 | Noon - 3:00 p.m.

This FREE drop-in studio program for families features thematic hands-on art projects and a family tour. Create, cut, and collage a masterpiece based on the artwork of Mickalene Thomas. Join us and get inspired at 1:00 p.m. with a tour of the galleries. Free.

*Lecture: Fahamu Pecou

Wednesday, March 16 | 6:00 p.m.

Fahamu Pecou, a popular artist featured in REMIX, presents an engaging lecture and answers questions about his works in which black masculinity, commercialism, and commodity are interwoven with hip hop theory. This talk gives visitors of all ages a chance to interact with the artist directly, just steps away from his incredible Rock.Well painting. The talk is followed by a book signing of the illustrated catalogue of the exhibition. $7 / $5 for members.

Gladys' Gang: Lost and Found

Wednesday, April 6 | 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

What is a 'found object' anyway? We'll delve into found objects - what they are and how can we use them in art. We'll read stories and explore the REMIX exhibition, searching for found objects, and then create our own spring sculptures in the studios with recycled materials. Participants (ages 2-5) and their adult companions explore art through the introduction of elementary art terms such as color, line, shape and texture during the Gladys' Gang series. This program includes story time and a creative studio activity related to the art exploration theme. Free with registration.

 

*Theatre of the Oppressed

(First) Thursday, April 7 | 7:00 p.m.

As a part of Columbia's First Thursdays on Main, Shannon Ivey Jones leads an interactive storytelling performance that touches on issues raised in the REMIX exhibition. Free.

 

*Artist Salon: Leo Twiggs

Friday, April 8 | Noon

The artist salon series features gallery talks about a wide range of subjects, topics, and disciplines. These talks showcase the artwork on view at the CMA. This month, South Carolina Artist Leo Twiggs discusses his work in REMIX: Themes and Variations in African-American Art. Free with admission or membership.

 

CMA Educator Workshop with REMIX Artist Damond Howard

Saturday, April 9 | 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Designed for small groups, in-depth educator workshops use the museum's art collection and exhibitions to introduce new ways of thinking about the curriculum and to show innovative teaching approaches. Each educator receives an illustrated teacher packet and a certificate of participation. $30 includes lunch.

Tour and Tasting

Sunday, May 1 | 6:00 p.m.

$65 / $55 for members

Enjoy the exhibition, REMIX: Themes and Variations in African-American Art, with a guided tour on the last weekend of the show. Doug Aylard from Vino Garage furthers your wine education with a selection of American wines alongside light appetizers.

Columbia Museum of Art has a Busy September Planned

 

From Marilyn to Mao: Andy Warhol's Famous Faces

On View in the Lipscomb Family Galleries through Sunday, September 13

The CMA presentsFrom Marilyn to Mao: Andy Warhol's Famous Faces, a thematically focused look at the artist's influential silkscreens and his interest in portraits.Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is central to the pop art movement and one of the best-known 20th-century American artists. From Marilyn to Mao uses 55 of Warhol's acclaimed portraits to explore pop art's tenet of the cult of celebrity, the idea that pop culture adores the famous simply because they are famous. Warhol exploited society's collective obsession with fame like no artist before or after him. The exhibition celebrates the Mao suite, an anonymous gift to the CMA of the complete set of 10 silkscreens Warhol created in 1972 of Mao Zedong, chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1949 to 1976.

Warhol first gained success as a commercial illustrator before becoming a world-renowned artist. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s-concepts he continued to examine throughout his career. His art forms a mirror of the rise of commercialism and the cult of personality. He was not a judge of his subjects as much as a talented impresario who brought thousands of people into the pantheon of fame, if only for fifteen minutes. Some, such as Marilyn Monroe, got a few more minutes.

In addition to Marilyn Monroe and Mao Zedong, the exhibition includes the faces of Judy Garland, Muhammad Ali, Sigmund Freud, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Albert Einstein, Annie Oakley, Theodore Roosevelt, Giorgio Armani, and Superman, as well as two self-portraits by Warhol, to name a few. The majority of the works outside of the CMA's Mao suite are loaned by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Penn. The CMA has also secured a partnership loan with Bank of America to borrow seven pieces from their collection. The run of the exhibition is filled with an array of related evening and daytime programs for adults and families.

Identity

On View in the Community Gallery through Sunday, September 27, 2015

Warhol interrogated the concept of identity, which remains at the core of the American experience. From Marilyn to Mao: Andy Warhol's Famous Faces provides the broader community the opportunity to both appreciate the enduring qualities of his art and to question the nature of fame and identity. How do we understand fame and identity in relation to others or to our own sense of self? Can we, like certain celebrities, politicians, or artists, remake ourselves? How are these concepts a part of the 21st-century experience? The Identity exhibition, a community gallery show whose opening coincides with Arts & Draughts on August 14, attempts to address and perhaps offer answers to these broad questions. The CMA has invited four established Columbia artists - Michaela Pilar Brown, Ed Madden, Betsy Newman, and Alejandro García-Lemos, who have each chosen one or more artists to mentor. Together each group creates a work or installation that responds to the questions of identity raised in the Warhol exhibition.

The Art of Joseph Norman

On View in Gallery 15 through Sunday, January 10, 2016

African-American artist Joseph Norman is a Chicago native whose lithographs mesmerize the viewer with an exploration of dark human emotion and raw commentary on black life in America. The Art of Joseph Norman introduces two complete print portfolios: Out at Home: The Negro Baseball League, Volume I, and Patti's Little White Lies. While Norman's work is said to be concerned with social injustice, inequality, and conflict, it is equally about love, transformation, and self-reflection. T

Gallery Tour: From Marilyn to Mao: Andy Warhol's Famous Faces

Saturday, September 5 & 12 | 1:00 p.m.

A guided tour provides an overview of the Gladdddthematically focused exhibition, From Marilyn to Mao: Andy Warhol's Famous Faces, featuring 55 of Warhol's famous portraits to explore pop art's tenet of the cult of celebrity, the idea that pop culture adores the famous simply because they are famous. Free with membership or admission.

Gallery Tour: Highlights of the CMA Collection

Every Sunday | 2:00 p.m.

Free

A guided tour provides an overview of European and American art in the CMA collection. This family-friendly tour features masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo from the Samuel H. Kress Collection and the American galleries.

Gladys' Gang: Join us for this popular series! Gladys' Gang is a free, early childhood arts and literacy program for ages 2-5 that focuses on preparing children for kindergarten. Using art as a guide, children and their adult caregivers enjoy story time and a visit to the galleries followed by a hands-on art project in the CMA studios. The program is held the first Wednesday of each month from 10:00 until 11:00 a.m.  Spaces are limited. Reserve your free spot in Gladys' Gang at columbiamusuem.org

I'm a Little Teapot or Coffee Pot

Wednesday, September 2 | 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

Join us for some stories and songs and visit to the galleries to find some tea and coffee pots followed by art time in the studios where we will work together to decorate a tea pot.

Baker and Baker presents: Beethoven Cello Sonatas with A.W. Duo

Friday, September 4, and Saturday, September 5

Doors at 6:00 p.m. | Concert at 7:00 p.m.

2015 is the year of Beethoven for the A.W. Duo-Alyona Aksyonova on piano and James Waldo on cello. During their two-night stint at the CMA, the duo plays the complete cello sonatas. In the spring of 2014, the duo went on its second regional tour of the southeast, during which their performance at Church of the Good Shepherd in Columbia, SC was recorded by SCETV South Carolina Public Radio. This past summer, the duo had its debut at Alice Tully Hall with the ICN International Music Festival and made its first appearance with the Highland-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina. Cash bar. Both nights: $25 / $20 for members / $5 per night for students. Single night: $15 / $12 for members.

About Face Drawing Sessions

Mondays, September 7 & 21: Topics vary | 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Tuesdays, September 8 & 22:

Portrait Drawing | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Figure Drawing | 7:15 - 9:15 p.m.

Looking for a supportive and friendly environment to hone your artistic skills? About Face Drawing Sessions are for you! There's no instructor, but there is a group of inspired artists, representing a wide range of abilities, who love to draw from the live model. Must be 18 or older to participate. Mondays: $12 / $10 for members / $5 for students. Tuesdays: $10 / $8 for members / $5 for students. Includes both sessions.

Passport to Art: Set the Table

Sunday, September 13 | Noon - 3:00 p.m.

Create a still life collage using a variety of different materials during this free drop-in open studio for families. Enjoy a self-guided tour or join the family-themed tour at 1:00 p.m. Free.

Dinner in White

Sunday, September 13

Cocktails at 6:00 p.m. | Dinner at 7:00 p.m.

Based on the incredible Diner en Blanc events that have popped up in cities around the globe, Chef Ryan Whittaker and 116 Espresso and Wine Bar are excited to present their own Dinner in White here at the CMA. The museum transforms into Warhol's factory for a totally unique dining experience. Come dressed in all white and bring an item for Warhol-inspired table decoration; the table with the centerpiece that pops the most will win a prize basket. Enjoy cocktail hour in our mod '60's lounge, then indulge in a multiple-course dinner inspired by the works in the Warhol exhibition. All proceeds go toward supporting the CMA educational mission. $120 / $100 for members. See the CMA website for details on discounted pricing for groups of 4 or 8.

Contemporaries' Oktoberfest

Thursday, September 17 | 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Come and enjoy a fun-filled evening of music, brats, and beer. $20/$5 for Contemporaries members.

CMA Jazz on Main: Trumpeter & Vocalist Joe Gransden: Songs of Sinatra and Friends

Friday, September 18 | Doors 7:00 p.m. | Concert 7:30 p.m.

Clint Eastwood referred to Joe Gransden as "a young man with an old soul and a classic voice."  On September 18, Joe brings that classic voice (as well as some smoking trumpet playing) to the CMA as he kicks off the third season of the Jazz on Main concert series. A native of New York, Joe Gransden has become one of the premier performers in the Southeast.  On the heels of a new release entitled "Joe Gransden: Songs of Sinatra and Friends," Joe joins the Noel Freidline Trio for an evening of music from "ol' blue eyes" himself, as well as other Rat Pack era greats such as Dean Martin and Tony Bennett. Individual Tickets: $35 / $28 members / $5 students. Season Tickets: $140 / $100 members. Premier Table Seating: $300 for 6 guests & 2 bottles of wine, $200 for 4 guests and 1 bottle of wine. Purchase tickets at columbiamuseum.org or (803) 799-2810. Presented by Family Medicine Centers of South Carolina.

ArtBreak

Tuesday, September 22 | Café 10:30 a.m. | Lecture 11:00 a.m.- Noon

ArtBreak is a program that looks at art through a different lens. Each session features a speaker who gives insight into their worldview by sharing their interpretation of works of art at the CMA. This month, begin the morning at the museum with pastries and coffee sold at the pop-up café by Drip followed by a talk from Pam Bowers, USC professor of Studio Art, who discusses nature in art. Free with membership or admission.

En Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop

Saturday, September 26 | 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Join The CMA, Congaree Land Trust, and artist David Phillips at Goodwill Plantation for a unique art and history experience. $45 bring your own art supplies/$75 includes art supplies. Box lunch included. Information and registration: congareelt.org or 803-988-0000

Warhol Community Gallery Salon

Sunday, September 27 | Noon

Free

The community gallery show, Identity, features artwork that responds to the questions of celebrity and identity raised in the Warhol exhibition.  The CMA welcomes two of the four Columbia artists, Michaela Pilar Brown and Ed Madden, along with the young artists they've chosen to mentor and collaborate with, to discuss their work.

"CMA Chamber Music on Main" Returns with Pianist Adam Neiman

The Columbia Museum of Art presents the fourth concert in the 13^th season of "CMA Chamber Music on Main"on Tuesday, March 10, 2015, at 7:00 p.m., intimately set in the museum's DuBose-Poston Reception Hall. Artistic director and internationally acclaimed cellist Edward Arron hosts an evening of chamber music with the Columbia debut of a composition by American pianist Adam Neiman.

Neiman is hailed as one of the premiere pianists of his generation, praised for possessing a truly rare blend of power, bravura, imagination, sensitivity, and technical precision. He is described as "...a new genius of the piano, capable of obscuring the legacy of the legendary interpreters of our epoch" by the Italian newspaper Corriere dell'Umbria. Tuesday's concert features his 2013 composition for violin and piano.

Maria Bachmann on violin, Hsin-Yun Huang on viola, and Neiman join Arron to perform:

• Franz Schubert - Adagio and Rondo Concertante in F Major for Piano Quartet, D. 487
• Adam Neiman - Serenade for Violin and Piano
• Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns - Piano Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 41
• Antonín Dvořák - Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Opus 87

Final concert of the 2014-2015 on Tuesday, April 28.

Presented by U.S. Trust. $40 / $30 for members / $5 for students. All seats are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Happy hour at 6:00 p.m. Concert begins at 7:00 p.m. Museum shop and galleries open during happy hour.

For tickets and program information, visit columbiamuseum.org

Arts & Draughts Friday Night w/ local brew - by Abby Davis

The 19^th installment of Arts & Draughts is happening this Friday, February 6^th, and you do not want to miss it. The Columbia Museum of Art will be filled with art, music, food, beer, entertainment, and the inevitable happiness that these things bring about.

River Rat Brewery will be offering tastings of their Broad River Red Ale. Phil Blair says, “This is the first time we’ve used a true local brewery and the response has been tremendous. I’m really looking forward to seeing people discovering it for the first time and seeing the brewery experience the program for the first time.” The Wurst Wagen, Bone-In Artisan Barbecue on Wheels, and The Belgian Waffle Truck, will provide the food.

There will be musical performances from Charlotte’s Sinners & Saints, Amigo, and Zack Joseph from Nashville. Blair says, “Our only real focus on the musical performances is quality; every act is handpicked by me with the goal of having the best show we can put together. I look for artists that aren’t oversaturated, that I think the diverse crowd will enjoy seeing and hearing, artists you don’t have to have any prior knowledge of, artists that are clearly talented and enjoyable.” The music will even extend outdoors with tunes provided by the Greater Columbia Society for the Preservation of Soul.

In addition to treats for your taste buds and ears, the event will feature docent-led tours, a puppet show by Lyon Hill, live chess in the galleries, screenings of Indie Grits Film Festival shorts, a scavenger hunt through the galleries, a Love-ly photo booth, creator space to make artful valentines, and even more.

Blair says, “We try to have as many interactive projects and as many galleries and gallery tours available as possible and partner with people doing cool things any chance we get. We really want people to be able to engage with the museum and the program in whatever way they enjoy most.” His favorite aspect of the event is “seeing the whole being more than the sum of the parts – Columbia embracing a real, diverse group of cultural components as one celebration.”

The event usually draws close to 1,000 people, but continues to expand. The last Arts & Draughts in November set an attendance record with close to 1,3000. Blair says, “Though it’s the 19^th installment, it almost seems new. We’re looking forward to growing and adding different elements in the future. Now that it’s proven that Columbia really enjoys this event, it’s our duty to make it fresh and keep it interesting.”

Tickets are $8, $5 for members of the museum, and available at columbiamuseum.org/artsanddraughts/event?e=5-3&s=4.

-by Abby Davis

Get Osamu Kobayashi While You Can - Thursday night at 80808

 

The process of painting is a power struggle. I take my paintings one way; they want to go somewhere else. And when they go somewhere else; I drag them in another direction. In the end, the paintings usually wins.

My work is reductive in form, often compositionally centered, and employs a spontaneous and intuitive array of colors, shapes, and textures. Using these elements I create visual dualities: chance vs. control, organic vs. geometric, warm vs. cool, large vs. small, etc.

Like a good story, the elements that comprise each work push and pull off of each other, creating a unified structure that stays contained--but never becomes subdued--within its own parameters.

The aim is to create work with a sensation similar to that of a clear thought: the idea has its bases covered; there’s no room for argument. In reality, however, these paintings can never be clear thoughts; they are much more open than that. They are more of a confrontation: between what I desire to know and what I can never know entirely. -- Osamu Kobayashi

If you read the most recent issue of Jasper you know how proud we are of our native son Osamu Kobayashi whose visual arts career has already lifted off the launch pad, sparks flying, smoke roiling, and is making that last almost slo-mo ascent into space. Right now, we can shade our eyes against the brightness, but soon he'll be another one of those star-like satellites in the sky that we can identify by its placement and history, but no longer actually touch. (Unless we sneak in a visit with him when he comes home to see Shige and the rest of his family on one of those rare, super-artist holidays.)

Watch this video by Brian Harmon starring Columbia Museum of Art chief curator Will South as well as Osamu's very proud brother Shigeharu Kobayashi to learn more about Osamu's upcoming exhibit this Thursday, December 12th at Vista Studios Gallery 80808 at 808 Lady Street.

Don't miss a chance to meet and chat with Osamu while he's in Columbia.

See you Thursday night at this free Columbia arts event.

Read more about Osamu here.

CMA brings a Ceramics Workshop - Ladies Night Out (can dudes come, too?) - Arts & Draughts - Rahul Pophali concert at Baker & Baker

Columbia Museum of Art Adult Art School: Ceramics Workshop

Explore the expressive possibilities of hand-building and decorating functional earthenware pottery. Learn hand-building techniques using underglazes and slips to create a variety of surface textures and designs and how to successfully fire work. This two-day class is designed for all levels of experience with clay, and allows you to both create three-dimensional objects and address the issues inherent to decorating these forms. The objects you create from clay will become three-dimensional canvases on which you can explore your own personal style and artistic voice.

Instructor Kristina Stafford is currently working as education coordinator at the Columbia Museum of Art. Since earning her MFA from the School for American Crafts at the Rochester Institute of Technology, she has also worked as a Professor of Art at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA, and Artist-in-Residence at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY. Stafford has work in galleries from South Carolina to New York and continues to enjoy an active studio process.

Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2, 2014

Noon - 4:00 p.m.

$100 / $80 for members.

And ...

"Ladies' Night Out" is a celebration of women, fashion, and art, featuring fabulous food, local artisans selling their work, and the mind-blowing sounds of DJ Alejandro. (But we hope the dudes can come, too!)Guests can peruse wares and shop with vendors, whose offerings include scarves by Alicia Leeke, purses by Mary Catherine Kunze, and jewelry by Cindy Saad, among others. The CMA's deluxe gift-wrapping station will be available to beautifully package parcels. Attendees also have the opportunity to view the Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera exhibition. Hors d'oeuvres are provided by Earth Fare and a cash bar will be available for wine, beer, and a specialty drink prepared just for the occasion.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

$10 / join or renew your membership that night and get in for free.

And ...

Another Great Arts & Draughts

The Columbia Museum of Art hosts the next Arts & Draughts on Friday, November 7, 2014. Art, drink, and be happy! Special thanks to our sponsors The Whig, WXRY, Jam Room, and Free Times.

The BANDS: •Stephanie Santana •Can't Kids •ET Anderson

The FOOD: •The Wurst Wagen •Bone-In Artisan Barbecue •Fair Food Truck

The BEER:

Enjoy a beer tasting of selections from Widmer Brewery of Portland, Oregon and Cash Bar provided by The Whig. •Widmer Brrr seasonal ale - a hoppy Northwest-style red ale •Widmer Hefeweizen •Widmer Alchemy Pale Ale

And MORE...

•Unique perspective tour: "A Queer Tour of the Gallery" led by USC Director of Women and Gender Studies and Jasper Literary Arts Editor, Dr. Ed Madden. •Exhibition Tours of Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera led by Bauer Westeren. •Dance: Rockwell-inspired dance demo by the Richard Durlach and Breedlove dance team - (catch Durlach & Breedlove at the Nov, 21st JAY Awards ~ Big Apple Swing!) •Film screenings of The Norman Rockwell Code, a short film parody of The Da Vinci Code. •Dr. Sketchy's Live figure drawing sessions at 8:15 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. •Rockwell-Inspired Photo Booth •D.I.Y. Art projects •Interactive art •Scavenger hunts

Friday, November 7, 2014

7:00 - 11:00 p.m.

$8 / $5 for members / join or renew your membership that night and get in for free.

And ...

Baker & Baker Presents the Art of Music

The Columbia Museum of Art Hosts an Evening with Tabla Master Rahul Pophali

The Columbia Museum of Art hosts the next Baker & Baker Art of Music concert with tabla master Rahul Pophali on Sunday, November 9, at 6:00 p.m. Pophali is one of the most versatile tabla players in today's younger generation. A dazzling performer and an incessant innovator, he has carved a niche for himself in the world of percussion music.

"Tabla is the principal rhythm instrument in North Indian Classical Music," says Pophali. "It is widely used in different styles of Indian music and in fusion with world music today. The art of tabla-playing features spontaneous improvisations alongside renditions of traditional repertoire.

I believe my music is a journey, an adventure into the realm of sounds and rhythms. I draw inspiration from the audience and surroundings to fuel my creativity. I am looking forward to performing at the Columbia Museum of Art; a place replete with works of art will surely inspire the best out of me!"

Pophali began concert performances at an early age and, since then, has toured extensively in several countries in Europe and Asia. His desire to explore various possibilities with the tabla and an urge to experiment led him to perform with several reputed world, rock, flamenco, and jazz musicians across the globe. Passionate about spreading his art form, Pophali has conducted workshops and lecture/demonstration sessions for several institutions and music schools in India and Europe.

Sunday, November 9, 2014. Doors at 5:30 p.m. Galleries open. Concert at 6:00 p.m. $12 /

$10 for members / $5 for students

For more information on all these exciting CMA events and offerings, visit

columbiamuseum.org