Happy Hour Release Party for Jasper Magazine Spring 2022 - Thursday, June 9th at Black Rooster Rooftop Bar

Join us as we celebrate all the artists honored in the spring 2022 issue of Jasper Magazine for the official release event at 5:30 on Thursday, June 9th at the Black Rooster’s beautiful rooftop bar.

Among the artists we’ll be celebrating are cover artist Lindsay Radford (written by Kristine Hartvigsen) and centerfold Michael Krajewski (which was shot by Brad Martin in the Black Rooster itself!)

In a jam-packed 64 pages you’ll find another piece by Kristine Hartvigsen on Mike Miller’s new novel, The Hip Shot, as well as excerpts from Jane Zenger and Angelo Geter’s new books of poetry from Muddy Ford Press.

Music editor Kevin Oliver put together a detailed section of new music called “10 to Watch” featuring new work from Saul Seibert, Katera, Desiree Richardson, Tam the Vibe, Rex Darling, Space Force, Admiral Radio, Hillmouse, Candy Coffins, and Lang Owen, with contributing writing from Kyle Petersen and Emily Moffitt.

Tam the Vibe

Stephanie Allen writes about Josetra Baxter and Tamara Finkbeiner’s Walking on Water Productions and their new series Secrets in Plain Sight, with photography by Bree Burchfield.

And we highlight Columbia artist Quincy Pugh as well as feature Will South’s interview with Tyrone Geter all the way from Gambia.

The Three Graces by Quincy Pugh

USC filmmaker Carleen Maur helps us understand more about the art of experimental filmmaking.

Emily Moffitt profiles visual artists Rebecca Horne, Lucy Bailey, and designer Diko Pekdemir-Lewis.

Ed Madden curates poetry from Juan David Cruz-Duarte and Terri McCord.

Christina Xan details the incredible success of Cooper Rust and her non-profit organization, Artists for Africa.

Cindi Boiter profiles SC Arts Commission executive director David Platts, with photography by Brodie Porterfield, and writes about the new public art, Motherhood by Nora Valdez, with exquisite photography by Stephen Chesley.

Motherhood by Nora Valdez, phot by Stephen Chesley

And finally, we memorialize two pillars of the Columbia arts community, Mary Bentz Gilkerson and Wim Roefs, whose loss this spring we are still reeling from.

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We look forward to seeing you Thursday night.

The event is free and Black Rooster’s regular rooftop bar will be serving drinks and food. Come by for happy hour and grab a drink, a magazine, and a hug from your favorite folks. Or plan on staying a while and grabbing dinner or snacks.

Thanks to restauranteur extraordinaire Kristian Niemi for hosting us.

We can’t wait to see you and show off these exceptional artists who call Columbia, SC home!

Artists for Africa Hosts 9th Annual PostCard Event in Support of Original Art and Kenyan Youth

When Cooper Rust traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2012 as a volunteer dance instructor, she didn’t expect the experience to stick so strongly to her skin. It did, however, and soon after her return to the states, she founded Artists for Africa, a non-profit organization that supports and provides dance, new experiences, education, and shelter to Kenyan youth.

 In the past decade, the organization has grown, led by C. Rust (Executive Director) and her sister Brie Rust (President), and now hosts a plethora of events in both Kenya and South Carolina, such as bringing dancers from Nairobi to study and perform at the University of South Carolina. 

One of these events, almost as old as the organization itself, is the PostCard Art Event, an evening that pairs small, postcard sized art with drinks and finger foods for a collaborative, community-oriented experience. Next week, the 9th annual PostCard will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn. 

The evening begins with a cocktail hour and appetizers in the spacious lobby, and at 7:00pm, the ballroom will open to reveal the art donated from various established and emerging artists across the United States. Patrons can peruse the art for around an hour as they continue to enjoy drinks and snacks. 

Over 50 artists are included in this show, including some familiar Columbia names like Bonnie Goldberg, Bill Davis, Rob Shaw, Rebecca Lynn Horne, and the Honors Art Students at Dreher High School. 

The art is available first come, first serve, for $65 per 4” x 6” piece. While the artists sign each piece, these signatures are on the back. Thus, before purchasing, the artist remains anonymous, and patrons are able to select art based on individual desire and attraction. Beyond the small art, larger pieces will also be available, including jewelry and ceramics, each appropriately priced. 

PostCard Art is one of two major annual fundraisers for Artists for Africa, making it one of the organization’s vital events. “100% of the profit goes to support our mission of providing arts and educational opportunities to vulnerable children in some of the world’s poorest slums in Kenya,” B. Rust shares. 

The organization is particularly looking forward to this year’s event after having to move online during the pandemic. “We are very excited to see everyone and share the evening,” B. Rust says. “We have moved our event to the Hilton Garden Inn downtown and are really excited to share this newly renovated space with everyone.” 

B. Rust credits and thanks the group’s Board of Directors, plus their friends and family, for the time they have and will donate to “organize each detail, set everything up, and get it all wrapped up at the end of the evening.” Further, the expenses of the event are generously covered by sponsors, so all money from ticket sales will go directly to Kenya and C. Rust’s efforts in Nairobi. 

If you want to see unique art and support education and opportunity for African youth, be sure to attend this year’s PostCard Art. The event will be Wednesday, February 16th at 6:00pm at the Hilton Garden Inn in Columbia. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door and can be purchased here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5344995  

2nd Annual Artists for Africa benefit performance this weekend at Columbia Music Festival Association Artspace

 

This Saturday and Sunday, August 10^th and 11^th, Artists for Africa, a newly formed non-profit organization with goals to provide arts education to impoverished children in Africa, presents the 2^nd annual benefit performance at the CMFA Artspace on Pulaski Street in the Vista.

Artists for Africa Founder, dancer and teacher Cooper Rust, has recently returned from her second stint in Nairobi, Kenya, teaching ballet to young children in the area. In 2012, Rust was able to coordinate an effort that raised nearly seven thousand dollars for the cause in one weekend of performances. Thanks to the work of Artists for Africa, an additional 300 underprivileged children in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya were able to enjoy after school arts classes, giving most of them their first opportunity of this kind.

Rust initially traveled to Kenya in 2012 to work with Anno’s Africa, an organization based out of the United Kingdom promoting education resources in Africa. Artists for Africa joins Anno’s Africa and One Fine Day, based out of Germany, in the global fight for arts exposure and education for these children. A year later, Rust has again just returned home from Kenya and says, “I have all the confidence in the world that Columbia will once again come together to support me and this beautiful cause.”

The concerts include performances by members of the Columbia City Ballet, Columbia Summer Repertory Company, Trustus Theatre’s upcoming production of “Ragtime,” and Milwaukee Ballet among others. Saturday evening’s show includes a silent auction and food and beverages donated by Villa Tronco, Rosso, Gervais and Vine, Tin Roof, Blue Marlin, and Cellar on Greene. Framing of the artwork donated by The Frame Shop, City Art, Haven's, Frames and Things, Framing Plus, House of Frames, Picture Perfect, and Just Susan's Framing.

The events, sponsored by Top Hat Sweepers and the Columbia Music Festival Association, begin at 7pm on the 10^th and 3pm on the 11^th. Tickets for the 10^th are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and for the 11^th are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

For more information, please visit www.artistsforafricausa.org or to purchase tickets, call (803) 467-9004.

-- Bonnie Boiter-Jolley

Artists for Africa - A guest blog by Cooper Rust

Columbia continues to amaze me.  After training and dancing in Boca Raton, New York City, Milwaukee, Las Vegas and Santa Barbara, I feel that I have been part of arts communities in cities big and small and all over the country.  But it is right here in Columbia where I find the most supportive and most giving artists of all.

I spent the off season from Columbia City Ballet in Nairobi, Kenya, where I was honored to volunteer with Annos Africa, providing after school classes in the arts to children living in some of the world’s most impoverished slums.  The level of poverty was so extreme -- it was appalling.  But equally remarkable was the level of joy that I saw in the faces of the children in their ballet classes.  In those dirt floored rooms, with no mirrors or barres, the children morphed into the same fairy princesses and princes that our own young dancers become.  The inspiration and beauty of ballet knows no international or socio-economic  boundaries and each of the students demonstrated their own determination to master each skill and to learn each combination.  The staff who works with them in the most meager of facilities with such limited resources do an amazing job of sharing their love of their art with the students and in giving them the creativity, confidence and the self esteem that only studying a discipline of the arts can give a young scholar.

Back here at home, I have shared my experiences with my  peers . We, as dancers, don’t have the income to be able to write the checks it will take to include another slum or another arts discipline in the Annos Africa project.  However, we have something unique to us, as Columbia’s professional dancers, something only we can give to the project and to our community.  The response to my desire to produce a performance, dedicated to these children, was immediate, strong and sincere.  Over and over I have heard “how can I help?”

Many hours  of choreographing, staging and rehearsing has gone into the production of Artists For Africa.  Each artist has given generously of their time, talent and resources to make this event happen.  It has been a remarkable journey for me, both personally and professionally, to have the opportunity to experience first hand the bountiful graciousness that is Columbia’s dance community.  I am honored to be home, and to be part of this family of artists.

Please join us on Friday, September 21, 2012 at 6:30pm or on Sunday, September  23 at 2:00pm at the CMFA Art Space, 914 Pulaski Street. For tickets or information, please call Cooper Rust at (803) 467-9004.

-- Cooper Rust