The Jasper Project Announces the 2025 Galleries Season by Christina Xan

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

~Cb

Down Home by Christopher Lane

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

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

Tortoise Tears by Rebecca Horne

Harbison Theatre

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

SPRING (January–May): Jeffrey Miller

FALL (September–December): Rebecca Horne

 

Jordan Sheridan with her installation The Mother

Koger Center for the Arts

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

January: Jordan Sheridan

February: Toni Elkins

March: Thomas Washington

April: Richard Lund

May: Chris Lane

June: Jakeem DaDream

July: Virginia Russo

August: Lori Isom

September: Jeff Amberg

October: Colleen Cannon-Karlos

November: Sean Madden

Lauren Tillar - Compton Sun

Meridian Sidewalk Gallery

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

January–March

       Emily Wright

    Chris Lane

        Marion Mason

April–June

         Mark Dreher

         Vanessa DeVore

         Sharon Licata

July–September

         Camille Johnson

         Lauren Tillar

         Renee Rouillier

October–December

         Beth Morgan

        Robert Sargent

 

Laurie McIntosh - Low Country Boil

Motor Supply Company Bistro

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

January–March: Mary Ann Haven

April–June: Rodgers Boykin

July–September: Steven White

October–December: Laurie McIntosh

Judy Bolton Jarrett of Art Can Studio, Chapin

 Sound Bites Eatery 

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

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

January: Josef Berliner and Wilma King

February: Sharon Funderburk

March: Lucy Spence

April: Kelley Pettibone

May: Devon Jeremy

June: Pat Gillam

July: Judy Jarrett

September: Candace Catoe

October: Renea Eshleman

November: Judy Maples

December: Holiday Show – Artists TBA!

Tiny Gallery

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

January: Betsy Kaemmerlen

February: Lindsay Radford

March: Mia Estrada

April: Linda Cannup

May: Colton Giles

June: Lisa Alberghini

July: Jean Capalbo

August: Abby Short

September: K. Wayne Thornley

October: Devon Corley

November: Yyusri

December: Ornament Show – Artists TBA!

 

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

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

By Emily Moffitt, Visual Arts Editor, Jasper Magazine

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

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

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

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

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

This Thursday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

featuring

Visual Artist Jean Lomasto

Thursday, October 3rd 5:30 - 8 pm

Sound Bites Eatery

1425 Sumter Street

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

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

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

Ellen’s Artist Statement:

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

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

CALL for Visual Artists -- Jasper is Accepting Applicants for the 2025 Jasper Galleries Series

We’re looking for a few good artists!

It’s already time for Jasper to plan our schedule for the 2025 Jasper Galleries Series and we want to hear from YOU! Just follow the instructions on the handy graphic above to let us know you are interested in sharing your work with the Jasper Project and your adoring fans.

In addition to our online 24/7 Tiny Gallery, Jasper has gallery spaces at Motor Supply Bistro, Sound Bites Eatery, The Nook at the Koger Center for Arts, the Lobby Gallery at Harbison Theatre, and at the Sidewalk Gallery in the Meridian Building Windows at Washington and Sumter Streets in downtown Columbia.

Application Deadline is October 15th.

We’re looking forward to hearing from YOU!

Special thanks to the good people at Motor Supply Bistro, Sound Bites Eatery, Koger Center for the Arts, Harbison Theatre, and the Meridian Building for supporting Columbia’s visual arts community by opening their walls to the Jasper Project for programming. We encourage you to support these businesses with your patronage. And if the walls need some love in your place of business, please contact our

Galleries Manager, Christina Xan at cxan@JasperProject.org,

to make plans for a Jasper Galleries arrangement custom created for you and your clientele.

Art Reception Double Feature at the Koger Center by Emily Moffitt

The Koger Center for the Arts underwent a large cosmetic upgrade during the summer months, including new carpet and the installation of telescopic seating in their large rehearsal room to create a black box theatre. Aside from the physical facelift of the building, the two gallery spaces now hold new exhibitions for patrons to enjoy before an event or any time throughout the day. The two new exhibits are “The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition” in the Gallery at the Koger Center, and in the Nook, one of our Jasper Galleries locations, Marius Valdes is the featured artist of August. A large-scale opening reception for both exhibits is scheduled for August 15, 2024, from 5:30 – 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.  

The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition features the winners of the Koger Center’s annual art competition. The 2023 iteration winners are Yvette Cummings, Roberto Clemente de Leon, Gerard Erley, Jo-Ann Morgan, and Susan Lenz. “The Project: A Call for Art” is a competition that began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and is dedicated to uplifting and featuring visual artists across the state of South Carolina.

A variety of media is included in this exhibit: from oil paintings to sculpture, from collage to quilting. Stop by the Gallery at the Koger Center and mingle with artist peers from across the state!

 As a member of the Vista Guild Association, the Koger Center for the Arts is proud to partner with the Jasper Project in Third Thursday Art Night. We feature a different artist every month in our rotating gallery, The Nook, with an opening reception on the month's Third Thursday. August 2024's featured artist is Marius Valdes.

Marius Valdes is an artist currently based in Columbia, SC. Valdes has been recognized by design publications such as Graphic Design USA, HOW, Print, Communication Arts, Creative Boom, Creative Quarterly, Step, and industry competitions including American Illustration, and The World Illustration Awards. In 2022, the UK's Creative Boom website named Valdes as one of its "20 Most Exciting Illustrators" to follow.

Valdes is a Professor at the University of South Carolina. He teaches graphic design and illustration in the GD+I program in the School of Visual Art and Design. He lives in Forest Acres with his wife, Beth, and their daughter Emma. Mary, the dog, is always around for a good laugh.

Elisabeth LaRose Paints the Floral and the Spiritual for Jasper Galleries at Sound Bites

Elisabeth LaRose is a multimedia artist with a distinct love for watercolor. In the month of July, she will be the featured artist for Jasper Galleries at Sound Bites Eatery. 

LaRose has never been a stranger to art, with her earliest memory being of her mother—an artist herself—showing a young LaRose how to create shading with crayons: “I always knew from those early days that being a creative was my passion,” she shares. 

LaRose would go on to study art at the University of South Carolina, while working a full-time job. After school, she would focus on her job and raising her family, but she still continued to fill her spare time with making art. Her watercolors of historic homes from this time can still be seen hanging in various businesses and homes in Winnsboro. 

It was during this that LaRose expanded her techniques across a variety of media and began to teach art lessons—though some mediums have remained favorites. 

“I have always loved the versatility of watercolor. It can be loose and impressionistic or controlled and detailed which is my favorite,” LaRose shares. “Acrylic is next on my list of favorites because I love to paint on wood and glass.” 

LaRose would continue to hone in on her skills during her time living in Charlotte, North Carolina—painting murals in homes on Lake Norman—and upon returning to Columbia—painting on rocks, windows, and wood at Mill Creek Greenhouses.

Throughout all these places, LaRose continued to be inspired by her own feelings and experiences: “For as long as I can remember, every time I see something that touches me deeply, I automatically start to think about how I can portray those feelings creatively,” she shares. 

Specifically, her time working with plants opened an avenue that has become one of the clearest and most striking repeating images in her work. 

“Nature is my muse along with a love of spiritual symbols; so much of my work contains these elements,” LaRose details. “The garden is my happy place, and my hope is that my paintings evoke a feeling of peace and foster a love of all things natural in our beautiful world.” 

Recently, LaRose joined the South Carolina Artist Guild and has enjoyed the opportunity to show her work with local businesses and shows in Columbia. As she says, “My enthusiasm for my work is greater than ever, and I look forward to finding new inspirations to integrate into my craft.” 

One of these inspirations is her ever-shifting spirituality—most recently the “Native American practice of Shamanic journeying”—which takes forefront in LaRose’s show for Jasper Galleries at Sound Bites. 

“My style just has always been detailed and realistic. I love all things mythical and spiritual, both Native American and Eastern (Buddhism),” she details. “I have become fascinated with Adinkras in the last couple of years. They are African symbols. They are in many of my paintings chosen for this [Sound Bites] show.” 

Elisabeth LaRose’s show opens at Sound Bites Eatery on 1425 Sumter Street on Thursday, July 11th. The opening will take place from 5:30pm—8:00pm, with the restaurant’s full menu available.

Darren Young Creates Textured Familiar Paintings for Jasper Galleries at Motor Supply Bistro

Opening reception Friday July 12 6 pm

Local painter Darren Young is Jasper’s newest featured artist for Jasper Galleries at Motor Supply Co. Bistro, where for the next three months, patrons can enjoy their farm-to-table meals alongside a curated selection of beautiful oil paintings.  

Young received his BFA in Painting at East Carolina University and his MFA in Painting at Indiana University before studying with Wolf Kahn and Janet Fish at Vermont Studio Center. Now a resident of South Carolina, he paints and draws from observation. Specifically, he is “primarily concerned with creating interesting compositions with shape, color, and light” and his “subject matter is usually of places and people [he is] familiar with.”

“The way that I think of style is it’s basically a person’s point of view on how they want to express their feelings on a canvas,” Young shares. “Years of looking at other great painters does have an effect on an artist, but at the end of the day, you go within yourself and let the mind in the heart express your point of view of how you relate to the world.”

Young’s work—mostly oil, but some acrylic—shifts as the viewer walks across its line of sight. Wide brushstrokes and thick layers create unique texture, causing the images to shift and take shape as one strides up to, and walks back from, the painting.

“I want a painting to look like it was painted, and impasto or building up layer after shows that process very clearly—much the same way that an artist like Frank Auerbach does,” Young details. “Artists like Paul Gauguin and [Henri] Matisse excite me for their color use, and I think about using that kind of an expressionist palette for the most part because it feels natural as a reflection of who I am”

Viewers of Young’s current show will find both natural landscapes intimate to Young—like sunsets and lighthouses—as well as spaces he traverses in his day-to-day life—like he and his family’s living rooms, dining rooms, and porches. 

“What others consider ‘mundane’ I try to exalt to a ‘higher level,’ amplifying those things around me that I live with day-to-day similar to how an artist like Edward Hopper did,” Young shares.

Darren Young’s work is now up at Motor Supply in the Vista and will be up until the end of September. Join us for his Opening Reception on Friday, July12th from 6:00pm—8:00pm.

Marion Mason and Ginny Merritt at Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery

The Jasper Project has been delighted to include the work of two former visual arts educators, Marion Mason and Ginny Merritt, as well as that of Lucy Bailey and Judy Sellers in out Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian Building on Washington and Sumter Streets in Downtown Columbia this spring.

About his work, Marion Mason says, “I am a visual artist who taught high school Art for
forty-two years. I earned the Bachelor of Arts Degree in studio art (sculpture concentration) from the University of South Carolina, and the Master of Fine Arts Degree (in sculpture) from the University of Georgia. In addition, I earned the Master of Education
(adult & community education) from Carolina. I began my 42 year HS Art teaching career as the artist-in-residence, and on-site coordinator, at the former Richland District One Artistically Talented and Gifted (ARTAG) High School Program. Currently I teach various visual arts courses and serve as the Fine Arts Department Head at White Knoll High School.
Since retiring from teaching in January, 2019, I am now a full-time professional artist again, and exhibit and sell my sculpture, pendants and earrings. Over the years I have shown and won awards at many local, state, regional, and national competitive and invitational exhibits.”

 According to Ginny Merett, “My collage work shows the deconstruction of beauty and an escape from reality inspired by stylish women in my life and around the world. I am nostalgic about family gatherings, women’s fashion in the early 1900’s and by personalities I meet day to day. My focus is on taking parts and pieces from current-day media to create present moments, social commentary, and new personalities. My art has been shown in solo and group exhibits at 701 Whaley Hallway: community art gallery, Stormwater Studio, ArtFields, Koger Center for the Arts, the Jasper Project, USC’s McMaster Gallery, SC State Library and Fair, and other local venues like Sound Bites Eatery, Trustus Theater, She Festival, Cottontown Art Crawl and Melrose Art in the Yard. Her work is published in the Jasper Project’s Jasper Magazine Spring 2019 and Fall 2022 editions, and in Sheltered: SC Artists Respond During the 2020 Pandemic; and in Bullets and Band-Aids, Vol. 3.”

Welcoming Judy Sellers as one of our Featured Artists at the Meridian Sidewalk Gallery

At the Jasper Project, we’re delighted to welcome Judy Sellers as one of our featured artists at Jasper’s Sidewalk Gallery space at the Meridian Building, viewable 24/7 along Washington and Sumter Streets.

About her work as an artist Sellers says, “I grew up in Iowa and moved to Texas in sixth grade. After a year at Austin College, I worked as a keypunch operator at the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and graduated in education from USC in 1969. After
retirement from 30+ years as an elementary school teacher and librariam, I delved into reading, gardening, bridge, and my artistic journey.

While I initially dabbled in painting, my focus on improving as an artist came later. I've marveled at art in museums around the world, finding inspiration in the expression of great artists. My artistic journey has had its ups and downs, as drawing doesn't come naturally to me. Yet, I persist, always seeking originality and growth.

I've had the privilege of studying with professional artists like Shanna Kunz, Cynthia Rosen, and Julie Steenhuis, gaining respect for their unique perspectives. While I draw inspiration from various artists, I remain true to my own path. I continue to love and learn about art in all its forms.

Additional artists featured in Jasper’s Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian include Devon Corley, Tennyson Corley, and Lucy Bailey!

Featured Artist at Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian Building - Gretchen Evans Parker

Gretchen Evans Parker

Gretchen Evans Parker, CPSA/CPX - OTRL/ret., Is a retired pediatric/hippotherapist (horse) occupational therapist. She has embarked on a second career in fine art since retiring. The avant garde medium of colored pencil allows her to achieve great detail and realism in her paintings. In her wildest dreams, Gretchen could never imagine how well-received her art would be nor where it would take her.  

Her commissioned portraits hang in homes around the Midlands and North America. Her work has won many awards and honors including signature status in the Colored Pencil Society of America. She is also a juried member of the International Guild of Realism. Gretchen has written extensively on colored pencil artwork.

Her work has been featured in several publications locally, nationally, and internationally. In the evening, to relax from a day at the easel, Gretchen creates baskets from pine needles and found objects. They can take weeks/months to complete. Many become gifts or commissions.

- Kimber Carpenter

Josef Berliner’s “Black and Blues” Collection Now Featured in the Jasper Galleries’ Nook

Reception

Thursday March 21st

5:30 - 7 pm

The Nook at the Koger Center for the Arts

The Jasper Project is proud to welcome Josef Berliner as our new artist-in-residence in the Nook, our gallery location in the Koger Center for the Arts. The opening reception for his show coincides with March’s Third Thursday—the 21st—and goes from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Dedicated to making the world a more beautiful place “one canvas at a time,” Josef has held the drive to create art since he was a child. His artistic journey grew with every gifted sketchpad and drawing pencil, until he got to college where he double majored in Theatre and Studio Art.

Josef affixes the signature “Jobey” to his paintings; in Josef’s words, “Jobey is the more outgoing and confident alter ego. Behind the mask is a thoughtful, somewhat shy, and introspective artist.” His confidence as an artist shines through with each portrait in the exhibition, all focused on different Black women musicians who helped shape the blues and jazz scenes.

Josef has been recognized as a contributor to many charitable causes, always willing to give of himself as much as possible. He has been cited for his participation in organizations such as Bullets and Band-Aids, the USC Department of Dance Gala (in which he also serves as a board member), the Atlantic Institute, and was most recently honored as a featured artist for the Artists for Africa winter event.

He works predominantly in oil on canvas, with a keen eye for detail and the innate ability to look far deeper than the mere surface, all the while seeking for a level of perfection that, while perhaps unattainable, is indeed his ultimate and far-reaching goal.

Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian Building Featured Artist - Debi Kelley

The Jasper Project welcomes four new artists to our 24/7 gallery space in the large streetside windows of the Meridian Building along Washington and Sumter Streets in downtown Columbia. Our board of directors member and Sidewalk Gallery curator, Kimber Carpenter, shares the goods on a new artist each week. This week we’re featuring the artist, Debi Kelley!

Debi enjoys painting classic cars/trucks, wildlife and the colorful landscapes of the South. She is currently an Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America and a Master Pastelist with the Southeastern Pastel Society.  She is also a member of the Pastel Society of SC and the Crooked Creek Art League.  She has received awards in international, regional and local shows, including the Pastel Society of SC, Southeastern Pastel Society, Union County Arts Council, Fairfield County Arts Council, Spartanburg Art Museum, SC State Fair and Crooked Creek Art League.  Her work has also been exhibited at ArtFields.
"My goal as an artist is to draw the viewer in to the painting for a closer look by using liberal touches of color, unusual angles, and detailed drawing to capture movement and life.  I want my audience to create their own story while traveling through the painting."

Join The Jasper Project for Dogon Krigga’s Closing Reception and Artist Talk at Koger

The Jasper Project and the Koger Center for the Arts have teamed up to showcase the work of Dogon Krigga in The Nook, the rotating Jasper Gallery in the latter’s second floor lobby. The work will be up until the third week of March, but we will host a Closing Reception and Artist Talk for the exhibition on March 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Dogon will be present to give a talk about Afrosurrealism in art, what inspires them to create, and the intentions behind each piece. Additional prints and merchandise of Dogon’s will be available for purchase during this reception! We are excited to work with Jared Johnson, the onsite photographer and reporter, for the evening, who will be moderating the talk.

Dogon’s Artist Statement:

I use vinyl, paper, and other media on a variety of surfaces to create mixed media collages and murals printed on vinyl, paper, and other adhesive substrates. I draw inspiration from spiritual principles and esoteric concepts found across the African Diaspora to create surrealist artworks at serve as portals into other worlds, and viewsations of Queer, Black people, culture, and identity in an alternate dimension. I use these materials and approaches to encourage the viewer to experience and seek the subtle and unseen worlds, while reflecting on their place in it. I use my work to challenge the status quo and disrupt the conventions of what we know to be cisgendered, heteronormative, and patriarchal ideologies, while offering something beautiful and uplifting in its place. Through this creative process, I seek to make a real way of being in, thinking of, and viewing the universe that celebrates, preserves, and restores historically excluded communities.

Jasper Welcomes "Embracing Your Inner Child: The Art of Cait Patel" to Jasper's Tiny Gallery for March

DOT MATRIX

Cait Patel, also known as “The Blissful Hippie,” has been popping up around the local art scene with her bright, inviting abstract paintings for some time now. Learn more about Jasper’s March Tiny Gallery artist here!

Patel has called South Carolina home for life, growing up around the Cayce area. She has loved art since she was a child, inspired by her father, who is also an artist and one of her biggest supporters. This led to her studying Studio Art at the University of South Carolina and graduating with a degree in 2014.

“I used to love drawing, which was my focus in college, but as I got older, I got more into abstract work,” she recalls. “I was inspired by the great abstract artists of the past like Matisse and Picasso and that has very much influenced the kind of work I do now.”

Once she started painting, Patel couldn’t walk away from it, saying that she “love[s] painting because of how free and colorful it is.”

Mostly, Patel focuses on abstract expressionism, presently inspired by the flowers and plants she collects around her home. Her paintings are an encapsulation of the nature around her everyday life, and this liveliness is key to her work.

“My goal is to create something and nothing at the same time. I love color and want to brighten spaces with my work,” Patel shares. “But I love that everyone can see something different in a heavily abstracted work of art.”

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Patel continuously works to connect to her inner child—something she believes everyone has—and she hopes her work will help others connect to this as well. Part of this connection is letting go of “rules and restrictions” of what her work “should” look like.

“I don’t want to put a lot of restriction on myself when creating a new painting because I want it to be the truest expression of my feelings in that moment,” she says. “However, if I want to create a cohesive set of pieces, I may stick to one color scheme or style for a body of work.”

When it comes to actually putting a piece on canvas, Patel rarely has a concrete plan, instead selecting a color scheme and simply going with the flow. Though ideas may form in her head, she tries to resist any boundaries, following the piece as it grows and shifts organically.

“I also frequently ‘finish’ a piece and hate it and then immediately paint over it. I feel a work isn’t fully finished until I can look at it and say, ‘I love this, and it makes me feel like an artist’, she says. “That’s typically my gauge of when a piece is done. This can take anywhere from three days to three months.”

For this Tiny Gallery show, Patel made a whole new slate of pieces, each rife with the unboundaried colors she loves. On the show, she says:

I like to think of this show as my Summer Love collection. I wanted to evoke feelings of excitement about spring flowers and warm weather. Two things which I dearly love! I want my paintings to be eye catching and bright and to inspire others to their creative pursuits. My favorites are probably “Dot Matrix” and “Boba Party.” I love bright neon colors juxtaposed with black as it tends to really make a piece pop! I also have been experimenting more with having the frame be a part of the artwork, which is why I really love “Dot Matrix.”

Excitingly, this is Patel’s first solo show. Though this is the case, she has participated in other shows, and she recently took part in the Art for Africa fundraiser, which is an experience she holds dear.

“I really love doing fundraisers or gift pieces as an artist,” she says. “I love being able to use my art voice as a way to help others.”

To peruse and purchase her works from this show, check out Jasper’s virtual Tiny Gallery, and to stay updated on Patel as she continues to work towards larger piece and an in-person gallery show, follow her on Instagram @the_blissful_hippie

Jasper Collabs with Richland Library for A BIG TINY GALLERY Art Exhibition March 15th through ARTISTA VISTA

The Jasper Project is delighted to join forces with Richland Library for A BIG TINY GALLERY, an art exhibition inspired by the Jasper Project’s Tiny Gallery series which originated in the Jasper studio at Tapp’s Arts Center in October 2018 and transitioned to an online only project early during the Covid pandemic. A BIG TINY GALLERY will feature a selection of previous Jasper Project Tiny Gallery artists who were invited to show and sell physically smaller pieces of art at affordable price points that would ostensibly be more attractive to beginning art collectors and other artists. No art measures more than 25 inches in any direction or is priced over $250.

The exhibition will open on Friday March 15th  from 7 – 11 pm during Richland Library’s OVERDUE: Curated for the Creative event, with a closing reception on Friday, April 19th from 6:30 – 8:30 as part of Richland Library’s celebration of Artista Vista.  Both events are free and open to the public.

Visual artist and Jasper Project board of directors member, Keith Tolen, is managing this project, working with Ashley Warthen, who is a librarian and arts coordinator at Richland Library.

Artist - Renee Rouillier

Participating artists include Tennyson Corley, Ginny Merritt, Chilly Waters (Richard Hill), Regina Langston, Benji Hicks, Ron Hagell, Christopher Lane, Keith Tolen, Lucas Sams, Lindsay Radford Wiggins, Thomas Washington, K. Wayne Thornley, Jeffrey Miller, Kathryn Van Aernum, Mary Ann Haven, Fred Townsend, Adam Corbett, Crush Rush, Vanessa DeVore, Pascal Bilgis, Michael Krajewski, and Sean Rayford.

Artist - Sean Rayford

The Jasper Project will oversee sales of art via QR codes, scannable with a smart phone anytime the library is open.  Proceeds go directly to the publication of Jasper Magazine.

The Jasper Project is an all-volunteer organization with no paid employees and a working board of directors who manage a number of multidisciplinary projects ranging from the Second Act Film Project to Fall Lines literary journal, the Play Right series, and many more one-off adventures. For more information please visit JasperProject.org.

Opening Friday March 15th  from 7 – 11 pm during Richland Library’s OVERDUE: Curated for the Creative

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Closing Reception on Friday, April 19th from 6:30 – 8:30 during ARTISTA VISTA

Closing Reception for Michael Krajewski's Jasper Galleries Exhibition at Sound Bites Eatery, Saturday, March 2nd

Please join the Jasper Project on Saturday March 2nd from 1 - 3 pm at Sound Bites Eatery as we celebrate the closing of Michael Krajewski’s Jasper Galleries exhibition.

1425 Sumter Street

Columbia, SC

Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian Building Featured Artist -- REGINA LANGSTON

Regina Langston

Gina’s paintings embody the goddess mystique, celebrating the curves and edges of the feminine form using intense colors and vividly bold compositions. While she often varies her subject matter, her work largely focuses on the female figure as well as on the myriad faces of the nonbinary human spirit.

At first glance, it is easy to see the influences of Picasso and Klimt in Gina’s paintings. However, she has a wide portfolio of inspiration, including the whimsical post-war modernist work of a lesser-known painter, the late Friedensreich Hundertwasser of Austria, whose wildly colorful work was punctuated with organic shapes and spirals.

Gina returned to the Palmetto State with her family in 2018 and currently resides in The Avenues of Cayce. Her work has been exhibited at numerous SC venues, including 701 Whaley, Tapp’s Arts Center, University of South Carolina at Beaufort, and – most         recently – as part of Jasper Magazine’s “Tiny Gallery” series. She was featured in The Limelight, A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, Volume II, published by Muddy Ford Press in 2015. She has a studio in downtown Columbia, where she creates her own works and accepts commissions

Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery at The Meridian Building Featured Artist - CAROLINE CLARK

Caroline Clark

My functional ceramic sculptures highlight a sense of joy and wonder in everyday items. I explore my own variations of the hidden symbiotic systems of coral reefs and mycelium networks: systems that seem simple and beautiful at first, but upon closer examination are wildly complicated and predicated on mutual care. These systems in which every part depends on the others, and in which every part is vital and precious, draw a parallel to our human communities and support systems and invite examination of our own interconnectedness, growth, and movement.

I believe in magic. Not the potions and poof! kind, not the creation of another more beautiful and mysterious world, but the deep and unshakable knowledge that this, our world, is more extraordinary, strange, and awe-inspiring than any I could imagine. My work highlights that magic, refines and amplifies it, revealing a secret world nestled into the fabric of our own.

Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery at The Meridian Building Featured Artist - BOHUMILA AUGUSTINOVA

Bohumila Augustinova

Augustinova spent her childhood in Czechoslavakia, now known as the Czech Republic.  She recalls that her younger years were spent always making something and that she could “never keep her hands still.”

My mom and dad were very supportive, so even as a small child they taught me how to knit, crochet, sew, cook and use power tools.”  Augustinova remembers, “My mom and I used to make all the costumes for me and my brothers, and I was making my own clothes by the time I was 9.”

Augustinova used to experience and passion to pursue fashion design, which she received a degree in, but soon after, she desired a fresh artistic venture and has since worked with primarily wire art and pottery, being self-taught in both.

Augustinova notes that beyond being inspired to make art, the process of making is inspiring and therapeutic all on its own.  She insists that the mutable clay sliding under her hands and the constant hum of the wheel moving is meditative, and she often throws with her eyes closed.

“What I hope is that people will see my pottery as usable art.  Almost all of my pottery is fully glazed and food safe.  I love seeing flower arrangements in my vases, and I love people drinking out of my cups.”  Augustinova effuses.  “One of my favorite pottery moments was when a friend told me that he was visiting a friend and his tea was served in one of my mugs.”