Q & A with Jasper's Featured Tiny Gallery Artist Mia Estrada

Cindi Boiter March 24, 2025

White Colt by Mia Estrada — Size: 4.5”x4.5”
Medium: Acrylic gouache on wood $30

Jasper: Tell us a bit about you. Where did you grow up? Was art in your childhood/family? What led you to art?

Mia Estrada: I grew up in Lancaster, SC. It’s a small town, for fun you’d usually meet up at the Sonic or the Walmart as those were the only places to really go to. Art was a big part of my childhood; my mom has a print of a Henri Matisse painting that I would study when I was little. She also had a rule that all of us, us being me and my three siblings, all had to either do a sport or an art. My brothers chose music, my sister soccer, and I did art and horseback riding. I’ve been doing art for as long as I can remember, it’s just always been a part of me.

Jasper: Tell us about your education as an artist.

Mia: I went to Andrew Jackson High School and Middle School for their Arts Focus program. That was the first time I really started to get better at art. Now I am a senior at the University of South Carolina getting my BFA for Graphic Design and Illustration.

Jasper: What led you to your preferred medium?

Mia: My preferred medium is acrylic gouache; I came about this through my internship at Iris + Marie Press. I used to mainly use watercolors and Prismacolor for my work, but the acrylic gouache is just awesome. It has all the benefits of watercolors but the coverage of acrylic paints. The colors are also very vibrant and create a great texture. Using these paints for my work gives me the flat yet vibrant look I prefer for my pieces.

Jasper: What kind of styles do you use within your respective medium?

Mia: I used to struggle with my style. Originally, I thought all art had to be realistic which led to me thinking all my pieces had to be perfect. With the acrylic gouache, there’s almost an immediacy to the work and it makes me work a bit quicker. Now, I tend to create much more simple but colorful pieces, which I truly enjoy.

Jasper: Tell us about the themes or ideas you usually chase in your work.

Mia: In my work, I try to go for a more folk-art style. The simplicity of it is so comforting to me, along with my love for visiting the mountains and seeing that style brings me back to that joy. A subject that is heavily featured in my work is horses. Going back to my childhood, I have crude drawings of horses from when I was little. There’s a joke that artists hate to draw horses because of their awkward proportions, but I am the complete opposite. They are my absolute favorite things to draw. In a broader sense, I tend to stick to animals in my work. Translating them into my style is a bit of a process. I usually do multiple studies of a subject in pencil as true to life as I can, then I break it down until it is a bit simpler yet recognizable.

Jasper: Tell us about the journey you embark on when you create, both emotional and literal/mechanical.

Mia: When creating, I like to put on a good playlist and mess around in my sketchbook. With my sketchbooks, I like to start the first page off by writing a paragraph of my intentions for the sketchbook. I usually have an idea of what I want to create, these ideas usually hit me in the most inconvenient times when I am away from my sketchbook. This usually gives me time to refine my head, from there I sketch and continue refining until I am happy. I start the final piece either right after or two weeks later. I usually feel finished with a piece a few days after I finish it. I let it live on my desk and look at it throughout the days, fixing and adding things as I feel necessary.

Jasper: Tell us about this show specifically.

Mia: This show, which I’ve named “Small Joys,” are all paintings of subjects that bring me joy. These pieces are also smaller, so the name came naturally. All the works featured are made for this show. My favorite has to be “White Colt,” while painting him he just came off so sassy and full of personality. The mindset I had going into this show was to show flora and fauna that I have seen throughout my life that brought me joy. I love making people happy and bringing joy with my work, so in sharing subjects that bring me joy, I hope to bring that joy to others with this show.

Jasper: If you’ve done any shows or won any awards you’d like us to highlight, let us know!

Mia: I was an artist in the “Pen Pals” show at Good for the Sole in Five Points.

Jasper: What’s your favorite memory and/or experience as an artist so far?

Mia: My favorite experience as an artist was tabling at Soda City Market and seeing people enjoy my art. Having that in-person interaction and sharing my work with others is so rewarding and something that will never get old.

Jasper: What’s in the future for you? And where can we see your art after this show?

Mia: I will be moving to Washington, DC to live with my boyfriend and continue my art journey. I share my art on my Instagram (@mearts03) and will be making a website soon.

Mia Estrada is a Latina illustrator based in Columbia, South Carolina. She specializes in digital art, but traditionally specializes in acrylic gouache, ink, and watercolor. Her art mainly features animals with a spotlight on her favorite, the horse. Mia currently attends the University of South Carolina as a senior and is majoring in Studio Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design and Illustration.

Check Out More of Mia Estrada’s Art at

Jasper’s Tiny Gallery Site

through March 30th!

Poetry of the People featuring Brooklyn Brown

Cindi Boiter March 8, 2025

This week's Poet of the People is Brooklyn Brown.

Every year, two or three young poets meander into Cool Beans and adopt Mind Gravy Poetry as their home away from home. They are in love with poetry, but put off by the way they have been taught poetry; they believe the best poetry is from the heart - understandable and not obtuse.

Brooklyn is a bolt of light in a fearsome night and assures me that poetry is cradled in good young hands.

~Al Black

Twenty-year-old Brooklyn Brown is a student at U of SC and believes that art is activism. She practices this notion through her poetry. She hopes to be a voice for young people who are struggling with the ups and downs of early-adulthood while also confronting bigger world issues. A creative from a young age, Brooklyn often expresses the turmoil of her own adolescence in her writing. Brooklyn is inspired by the classic romantic and confessionary poets that came before her, and hopes to connect with her readers’ senses through concrete language and vivid imagery, believing that good poetry is not only understood, but felt.

Peeling Oranges

I split my finger

on a piece of paper

yesterday.

today,

you want oranges.

you enjoy the way

the pulp does glut

your shallow throat.

and if the consumption

should bring you pleasure,

I will peel and peel–

only stopping for a moment

inbetween, to wince

at the citrusy sting.

____

Question

I have a question—

for legislators who have

an obsession with oppression,

and teaching lessons

that put people in their proper places

assigned by the shapes

of the features on their face,

or the colors of

the skins

that they live in.

I have a question—

for the men in these positions

at the top of their systems,

I have question,

about my body,

about its most vital organ,

not my mitochondria heart,

but my ovaries, of course.

I think that they are art—

But, do their brush strokes

maim you?

because they paint a mirror image of

the same ones that

made you?

Is it self loathing or a hatred

for the woman who created the soul

that would grow to rule

the bones of a man so cruel

as you?

Is it because your mother put

her foot down

since your father was

never around?

Do you still feel the weight of

her on your little head

each night before bed

while you lay to rest

next to your wrinkling wife,

who you’d stab with a hunting knife

if the decision of that fatal incision

would not make you

look like a bad guy?

do you dream that

your work to earn

the respect of your daddy even

after he’s dead will pay

as well as the price of the

people you damned to hell,

because maybe,

in heaven you’ll throw a ball

back and forth and

and back and forth

with him?

and your miserable actions

will be worth

the poison of your politics,

because at least you remembered

to pray about it?

oh, and I have a question—

for the righteous and resolute;

if I don’t believe in the same god as you,

must I burn for the sins that

killed your savior?

must I adhere to the rules of a ruler

who I owe nothing to, just because

you say that’s what I should do?

are millions of us wrong just because

you will die on the hill

where you took a red pill

that told you you were right?

well, what if

my mother’s words

are my hymns,

and when I hear them

they give me breath

like my mind has grown a lung,

and I worship the earth—

because it is she

who is my creator,

I’ve been my own savior

since birth, and I crucified myself to stand

up straight and tall today?

Is it not good

enough for you,

that I am imprinted

on the opposite side

of your same copper penny?

Will you not rest

until I pass

your grueling test,

until you’re sure that

I’m a perfect copy

of your idealistic embossing?

I’m left deafened by your preaching

that drowns out children’s cries

who we could have helped

if you’d just be quiet, and listen

for one minute.

so my question is—

If you died today

would you die a martyr,

or a failure?

was your mission for goodness lost

under your hunger

to indoctrinate innocents?

Would Jesus be proud

of your mansion,

while hungry kids imagine

a fridge full of food

in a kitchen as big

as the one that your

god-honoring

family dines in tonight?

you make sure to lead

in saying grace,

but did you ignore

your teenage daughters’

pale face

as she stares

at her untouched dinner plate?

Do you thank god for the meal

that the help prepared,

and ask for blessings

before your son runs

to the bathroom, to hide

eyes full of acidic tears

because he fears to be

feminine, so feeling

feelings makes him scared?

I have a question—

for leaders who

don’t lead by example;

is it purpose or power,

that fuels you?

is it oath or ego?

that is my question.

____

Dreams

A river flowing through

my dreams,

taking pictures far

from me;

good and bad,

and in between–

they all float down

the angry stream;

until my mind is fresh

and clean,

and I wake up on my

sheets serene,

only dampened

by the feelings

that the erosion

left behind overtime.

I dreamt a dream

of better things,

and then I dreamt

I grew white wings

and flew too close

to a star, ‘till I burned

and turned

torched and charred.

Lard with color and

poignant plotlines,

I dream some dreams

of beautiful things–

that dense and darken

before I wake,

and then my memory

my dreams doth take.

____

TREPIDATION

The trepidation

of my twenties

is tilling over my

noisy nerves

which wont shut up

about my body,

or the boy

that i'm afraid

will get bored of it–

and I think when

I am an old lady

I’ll eat the pies

I bake instead

of giving them

away;

I’ll put extra cream

into my coffee cup;

I’ll write a book

for young people

to read;

I think I’ll smell

like nectarine–

and maybe I’ll learn

to play guitar and sing.

I think i’ll feed pigeons

by a fountain,

and climb

a big mountain;

just to say it’s

something I did;

I think I’ll mentor

a creative little kid.

I think I might frequent

local art galleries,

and be known by some

as “that quirky old lady”;

I think I’ll travel more,

with someone I adore–

I think I will make a lot

of soup out of peas,

that no one will like

to eat but me.

I think i’ll reach out to a friend

from high school

and spend more

of my summers

in a swimming pool;

I think i’ll wear

a cute swimsuit,

and ignore the way it fits

my herky-jerky divots.

I think I’ll start to pray;

not to god,

but to my mother, who

I wish could live forever

and always be there

to give me her best answers.

I think I’ll have children;

in the form of house cats–

and wear colorful

bucket hats.

I think I’ll care less

about what people

think, and I will finally love

all of my body;

because when I wrinkle

and begin to grey

I’ll thank my bones

for carrying me

every day–

even when my tattoos

begin to fade

I’ll still have stories

to tell the twenty-somethings,

as well

as secrets to take

to the grave;

and when I think

about my face

and how it might look,

in a few decades–

I smile at the picture

and wish that

I could hug her

she looks like me,

but softer;

she’s full of forgiveness

and laughter

she's a spitting image

of her golden mother,

she’s got paleing hazel

eyes like her father,

and the confidence

of her brother.

But I am her,

and she is me–

she is everything I can be

So I don’t have to wait

to heal my heart,

or create my art;

I think I just have to start.

Jasper Congratulates Winning Student Poets in the My Streets, My Stories Competition

Cindi Boiter March 6, 2025

My Street, My Story:

Celebrating History and Community through Youth Expression

In 2024, Columbia-area high school students were invited to participate in “My Street, My Story: Celebrating History and Community through Youth Expression,” a visual and literary arts contest created by the USC Center for Civil Rights History and Research. Inspired by the Center’s exhibition, Intersection on Main Street: African American Life in Columbia, in the Columbia Museum of Art’s Our Story Matters gallery, students were encouraged to use their preferred methods of artistic or written expression to create a body of work drawing connections from the stories of community and resilience of the Historic Black Business District in Columbia to their own present-day experiences in their community.

The Jasper Project’s executive director, Cindi Boiter, was asked to serve as an adjudicator of the creative non-fiction portion of the competition and subsequently offered to further promote the participants in the project by publishing the winning poems in Jasper Online.

Winnings student poets include first place winner Alana Hills, who is a 9th grader at Richland Northeast High School; second place winner, Maelyn Carter, an 11th grader also at Richland Northeast; and third place winner, La’Cora Howell, an 11th grader at Ridge View High School.

Congratulations to all three winners whose works are published below. And be sure to pick up a copy of the spring 2025 issue of Jasper Magazine (May 2025) where you’ll find Alana Hills’ poem in print!

Sarah Mae Flemming

by Alana Hills

In the quiet of the South, where the roads were long, Sarah Mae Flemming

Stood strong, where others felt wrong.

A woman of courage, though her name not yet known,

She fought for her rights, and she stood all alone.

In the year of ‘54, the city of Columbia’s heat, she took a seat where

The world would meet.

On the bus, in the back where the rules did not bend,

But Sarah Mae’s heart said, “This must end.”

She was no Rosa, yet her spark lit the fire,

A young woman’s act, a fierce, quiet desire.

Before the marches, the protests, the chains breaking free,

She challenged the laws with quiet dignity.

Her name, though less famous, was no less bold,

For Sarah Mae Flemming was part of the story untold.

She planted a seed, one not yet in full bloom,

That would later explode in the fight for room.

To sit where she wished, to stand on her feet,

Her quiet rebellion, her victory so sweet.

A life of resistance, a spark in the night.

Sarah Mae Flemming – a champion for right.

Alayna Hills is a ninth grader at Richland Northeast High school who is enrolled in both full-credit and half-credit classes with the goal of graduating early and attending college. “I want my poetry to be discovered so that I can be recognized for my writing abilities and so college professors will possibly acknowledge my work,” she says. “I have big goals, and I hope that my writing helps me reach them.”

~~~~~

Black Woman Extraordinaire

by Maelyn Carter

Black Woman Extraordinaire

mess with her, don't you even dare.

Always willing to give those she loves her ALL because she cares.

Delicate as an exotic jewel or stone…She’s oh so rare.

Wearing her Sunday-go-to meeting hat with oh so much flair.

She and Grandpa James Oh what a couple! What a pair!

And a powerful love is what they shared.

She’s seen so much pain and loss almost too much to bare.

When she walks into the room with all of her century plus poise and grace they all stare.

All those years still walking in her light yet she doesn't boast or put on any airs.

So fine and classy No one can compare.

She has experienced many of her years on this earth fighting discrimination, racism, oppression,

some say beyond repair.

All of it so unfair.

She says to me “Chile wear your Full Armor of God and always prepare.

Grandma says live right and I declare, you will make it to the other side over there!

Where there is no pain, no suffering or despair.

Grandma says but you better beware because the devil is always trying to scare,

catch you in a snare and your salvation he will not spare

Grandma says always be aware trust in the Lord and Stay in prayer.

She doesn't have much but her knowledge and wisdom makes her a billionaire.

The best moments are sitting at her feet in her favorite old chair while she combs my hair.

Grandma says if you don't know your past you ain't going nowhere!

My great grandma 101 yah that's her Black Woman Extraordinaire!

Maelyn Imani Carter is an 11th grade student a Richland Northeast High School. For Maelyn, writing poetry is a way to express herself, inspire, and share her view of the world. She has published Compilations by Maelyn, which features twelve of her most powerful pieces. Maelyn has received several awards for her community outreach initiatives. She most recently was named the Lovis 2024 award recipient, an award given to student who make a major difference in their community. She has also recently performed at the Soda City Poetry Festival and has recited her poems in many venues throughout the state.

~~~~~

She

by La’Cora Howell

Sometimes, I just wanna escape. I just wanna get away from all my problems. Maybe I should. Just go. Drop it all and leave this world. I don’t fit in here. Not this city, not this town. Not here. Maybe on a different planet, my mistakes didn’t form a target on my back, or maybe I wouldn’t be an outcast. Maybe, if I was somewhere else, people wouldn’t judge every expression my face makes without control. My size, my face, my hair, my clothes, my skin.

Why hate? Why bother the unspoken? AM I fresh, new bait luring through the deep? Am I unwrapped? Unused? I’m choking. Am I dying? With only a part of me slowly at part. She’s exquisite. She's fearless. She's kind and successful in many ways. She's noteworthy and genuine. She wants to grow. She's ready to lead the way. I am tired. I'm tired of the deluge and weight of everything and everyone controlling how I feel and what I want and do and say and like and my whole entire existence, and i just want to wrap it all up and shove it in a tight little box and throw it off a bridge into a never ending river of pessimistic things and energy and let it all go. Drown. Drowning under the weight of everything everyone predicts and foretells on my life. I can feel their words shove their way through my throat and up my nose and in my ears, fiercely flooding my body, soon taking me under and suddenly, I get pulled out.

Why? Who would save me? I was almost ready to endorse this death. Ready to give up, and let my problems take my life. There he tells me; this isn't worth it. He speaks life back into my soul. He lifts me back up out of this flood and puts me on my feet. Just by his presence I could tell who he was. He holds my hand as he walks me to my proclamation. He shows me what I am and what's worth living and who needs me, so they don't get dragged down, just as I did. He showed me my real sympathy. He is God, my father, and then “she” was brimful. She was a free spirit and was ready to take control. She was whole.

La’Cora Howell, a 9th Grader from Ridge View High School, was inspired to write this piece by some of the experiences and hardships she has overcome “unblemished.” La”Cora says, “I have a true connection and truth with this poem, and I hope people going through similar things as I once did, and honestly still am, take this poem as inspiration.”

Al Black's Poetry of the People featuring Xavier Khalil

Cindi Boiter March 3, 2025

This week's Poet of the People is Xavier Khalil.

A few months ago, Xavier showed up at Cool Beans for Mind Gravy, he sat quietly in the back, eventually, he shared on open mic and kept coming back for more. He made friends with the regulars and felt confident enough to have his own 30 minute feature.

Xavier is a kind and passionate poet with a voice that needs to be heard and I am blessed to have him in my creative life.

~Al Black

Xavier Khalil is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He has been involved in the arts from the age of 8; participating in oratorical contests in elementary school. He moved to Beaufort, South Carolina to receive better education opportunities and lived with many family members while attending high school. Creative writing has been a lifelong hobby for Xavier, and more recently has found his love for poetry in 2023. The 22-year old's poetry reflects the essence of the Black queer experiences surrounding themes of spirituality, love, activism, and life's quarrels with grief and addiciton. These passions are further extended in Xavier's work through his podcast Choosing Joy and various social media platforms where he constantly advocates for humanity. He is an alumnus of the University South Caolina Aiken where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communicaiton with a minor in Sociology. Currently Xavier is working on his Master in Higher Education and Student Affairs degree at the University of South Carolina in Columbia."

“Meet Me”

Meet me at the coffee shop

Across the street from the Horseshoe –

Park by the meter

And, I’ll meet you at 2

This scene fits us

Is there an us?

Is it too early to discuss?

Maybe an idea we both want

I trust.

No matter I just want you –

I mean be with you –

I mean experience you –

Wait.

I just enjoy your company

Is all

How we engage

In conversation

And swoon as each other talks

Its cute

How we banter

Going on about psychology

(Stanza 5)

Sociology, biology

Theology, geography

Nationalities

Whew its…

And did you say

Music?

You be the R&B

To my neo-soul

You go On & On

Like Erykah’s songs

Making my soul glo

You’re “Golden” boy

Like Jill

Caught constantly

Giving me the feels

And chills and thrills

From Black history

To Mariah vs Whitney

Singin’ lil songs

Hearing you, “Say My Name”

Can we admit we’re

(Stanza 9)

The Children of Destiny?

After this please

Let there be more

Don’t let it end

Once you close your car door

After this

Come see me

Not in my visions or dreams

Comes see me, physically

Come see me, again, spiritually

Strip me emotionally

Nigga come see about me!

And allow me to be naked – fully

Sorry, if that’s too much

If, it was too strong

I’m sorry

I promise I wont do any wrong

Don’t run, please…

I’ll just be your friend

I know that love’s too scary

And we don’t want this to end

(Stanza 13)

So, I’ll just be your friend

May the love of our bond

Grow true

And organic

But until then…

Meet me at the coffee shop

Across the street from the Horseshoe

Park by the meter on Monday

And I’ll meet you at 2.

"Bridges and Railroads"

Driving across the Broad River Bridge

It’s so different now

So the same

So opposite simultaneously

Chocolate neighborhoods

Replaced by golf courses

Shops for mommas and poppas

No replaced by corporations

Because they bought someone

Reparations

Thanks to high taxation

Chocolate faces

Moved to other chocolate places

Across the bridge – 2 or 3 –

On the other side of train tracks

2 or 3

Only for suited giants

To do it again

Killing off the wildlife

Destroying their land

Mossy, ancestral trees

Collapse

No care for the significance

Removing black bodies

Further from themselves

Because you pull them

By the root

It’s now deer season

But the bullets aren’t hitting

The right young Buck.

The shooter is jailed

While the true hunter

Mounts the bodies on the walls

Using the black bodies

And the brown/red skin

As rugs and mink coats

As you dwell in a home

Erected in a plot of land

That was once their own

Ignorance of the beautiful

Culture and bodies that inhabit

Are encouraged

Looked at as anomalies

Oddities of black magic

and spirituality

Not realizing

These beings are

Slowly being ostracized

Tantalized by outsiders

Who see their existence

As profit

And the lost minds

Haven’t a clue of what to do

About it.

Displaced

Shoved into obscurity

In massive fish tanks

Of barren yards

And unstable mobile homes

Chocolate people

Are losing their way.

In their home

Didn’t think I’d see the day.

“Brown Boys Feel Fluorescent”

I make you feel like

A white boy?

Some safety

Visibility

Security

You adore from me?

I validate you

And give you innate freedom

In tandem

Denying myself that same

The right to exist

And be cherished

For the humanity

In your brown body

I make you feel

Like a white boy

Brown boy

I cherish

You make me feel like

Like a spirit

You make me feel like

Like a spirit

So big

Infinite

Free and confined

You give me space to be wild

You to have grand emotions

To obsess

To express

Display feelings

Be passionate

But, in making

Me feel my spirit

Makes me feel

Trapped in this human experience

I inherited

This one that you hardly

Acknowledged

This body you barely

Touch

This figure

That houses the very spirit

You freed

I make you feel

Like a white boy?

Not spoiled, but entitled –

Deserving.

Privileged.

You make feel like –

Like a spirit

Not holy; certainly not evil

Just too free

Too astral

Unfortunately

You only see that

The reinforcement of

Perfection

Not giving a human connection

I am guilty for this

I am merely a reflection

Of how you view

What is perfected

So in making you

Feel like a white boy

-protected-

You make me feel like Spirit

-easily neglected-

Picking and choosing

When to feel my presence

Yearning for me

But so displeased by

Your imperfection

My love you constantly

reject it

Oddly, I cannot be mad

At you

Because seeing my spirit

Means the “white boy”

In you wants to protect

Protect my pride

Protect my freedom

Protect my ambiguity

My duality

Protect me from your truth

Protect my vibrant spirit

From being dimmed by you

Brown boy

Blue bird

Look at your reflection

In the river

Let the water cleanse your feet

It’s not whiteness you feel

It’s a freedom you’ve been denied

The freedom that heals

A freedom I had no clue

I could even give

As I look

My spirit

Shines outside this skin

It glows outwardly

And vibrates through me

Within

Standing parallel

Across the street

We a re on

You and me

Living separately

The Spirit you see

In me

Is shared

We share it with Thee

So, I thank you

Thank you for helping me to see

Brown boy I made feel safe

Thank you for recognizing

My grandness

The protection

The freedom

The privilege I afforded

It didn’t make you feel “white”

It finally made things

Feel to a degree

Alright

And you important

Hand to hearts

Eye to eye

Soul to soul

Brown boys make

each other feel free

protected and safe

Brown boys dance

In the dark

In the nighttime

Becoming jovial

-effervescent-

Transcends them

To fluorescence

Brown boys made

Each other feel like glowing

Bright, white

Hues

I never made you

Feel like a white boy

I simply made you feel your spirit, too.

“It’s Foggy Outside”

It’s foggy outside

In these times

There are blurred lines

Where cars and worlds

Collide

It’s cold and wet

Out here

Be careful

Don’t slip

The weather makers are

Praying on your downfall

Our downfall

If you will

They want hit and runs

They want blame

They want pointing fingers

Stinging scars and burns

Cause by their flames

It’s foggy outside

Be careful walking

Through these low clouds

Be careful stalking

For your next meal

Stay low to ground

Look out for your neighbor

Don’t hurt each other on your prowl

In these times

Wanting to thrive

What a luxury to be

Alive

Right now we just survive

Until the sun dies

Behind the rain clouds

The sun still shines

But the time we once had

Is no longer on our side

Its of essence

And its precious

As the fog children

Walking in the midst

Of a global depression

It’s cold

It’s foggy

It’s rainy

It’s nasty

Barely sunny

It’s the time slipping

Down the road

And through our fingers

Please feel the hope

The faith

That still lingers

Don’t be fooled by

The occasional peak

Of sun during dark day time

Don’t let the warm day time

Dry up your inside

Don’t let confusion make

Your temperature rise

Be looking out the window

Because its foggy outside

The Art of Fashion -- SC Designer Diko Pekdemir-Lewis of Anton & Maxine Unveils Spring/Summer '25 collection

Cindi Boiter February 6, 2025

For most of us, an elegant fashion show with too-fab creations draped on too-beautiful bodies is something we only get to see on screen. But Diko Pekdemir-Lewis, of SC’s own artisanal fashion brand, Anton & Maxine, is bringing us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the art of design when she presents an in-house fashion show, En-Cloth-Sure, on Saturday, March 1 from 6 to 8 PM at 713 Saluda Ave, Columbia, SC to unveil her Spring/Summer '25 collection.

"After eight years of participating in various fashion shows and twice at New York Fashion Week, this in-house fashion show is my way of giving back to my loyal local customers and friends," says Diko Pekdemir-Lewis, designer and owner of Anton & Maxine.

"The fashion show will take place right where all of my designs are created, reminiscent of the intimate gatherings once hosted by Chanel and Dior. Guests will enjoy wine and light hors d'oeuvres, followed by a captivating fashion show with close-up views of the models wearing the collection. Attendees can even try on garments and place custom orders directly from the studio, which is an exclusive experience that is becoming rare in today’s fast-paced fashion world."

The show’s title, "En- cloth-sure," is a play on the word "enclosure," inspired by the idea of enclosing fashion in a smaller circle. The collection features Asian-inspired designs, particularly influenced by Pekdemir-Lewis’s favorite designer, Yohji Yamamoto. Expect to see lots of black linen with oversized, loose fits that are perfect for warmer weather, as well as the new coat style.

Diko Pekdemir-Lewis is the creative force behind Anton & Maxine, a luxury fashion brand rooted in handmade craftsmanship and elegance. Pekdemir-Lewis’s formal training includes a three-year apprenticeship in bespoke tailoring and dressmaking, followed by a Bachelor's degree in Fashion Arts from Modeschule Schloss Eller in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2014, Pekdemir-Lewis launched Anton & Maxine, named after her two daughters, Antoinette and Maxine. Now based in Columbia, Anton & Maxine continues to deliver true luxury and quality garments that blend timeless craftsmanship with modern design.

ESSAY: The Free Times 2024 Power List, A Response by Cindi Boiter

Cindi Boiter December 24, 2024

The yearly designation of the Midlands’ most powerful people, provided by our friends at the Post and Courier’s Free Times, always creates ambivalent feelings for me, as well as others, I’ve been told. This year, I was happy to play a small part of the nomination process and see recognition given to many of the folks I nominated. But, as always, I was perplexed by the concept of the project and what its purpose is.

The Free Times Power List 2024, published December 18th, seeks to recognize 30 of the Midlands’ most influential arts, food, and cultural leaders. The criteria for acknowledgement are growth, innovative programming, and bringing national attention to the area, like Lula Drake’s Tim Gardner whose rightful place on the list was established when he won Columbia’s first ever James Beard award and the Kiki and Tyrone Cyrus team at Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles, who also received acclaim in the James Beard competition. Robbie Robinson of City Limits Barbeque was recognized, as well.

Clearly, restaurant owners who frequently put their own financial livelihoods on the line are deserving of praise, especially those like Kristian Niemi who is committed not just to his patrons but also to the local farmers who provide the food for his restaurants. Restaurants are essentially small businesses but they can have a large impact on their communities by providing gathering spaces where we all feed both our appetites and our culture. The team at Transmission Arcade is a great example of a group seeing a city need and addressing it head-on with fun and innovative programming. But missing from this year’s list are the owners of coffee houses, like Greg Slattery and Sandra Moscato of Curiosity Coffee Bar, who provide places where patrons gather to scheme and collaborate on projects that make us better. Slattery and Moscato are absolute warriors for the health and care of their corner of Columbia. Jasper honors them.

Some of the most deserving recipients of this year’s honors were organization leaders like Nate Terracio (Koger Center for the Arts) and Kristin Cobb (Harbison Theatre) who have used their pivoting power to open their stages to local artists and arts organizations and they have done so without slapping their names on the logos of the organizations they represent. Of late, we’ve seen free concerts and performances on Koger’s new stages and in their lobby. Harbison Theatre has welcomed many local artists and arts groups onto their stage. And both theatres are the homes to Jasper Gallery sites where we are privileged to present the work of exclusively Midlands area artists.

Kudos to Free Times for shining a light on the work and generous spirits of a nice handful of local artists like Ija Monet, Terrance Henderson, Michaela Pilar Brown, Sean Rayford, and the unofficial mayor of the Congaree Vista, Clark Ellefson. The list of powerful artists could have included dozens of names, but I am thankful for what we got and honor those recipients with pride and admiration.

It was also encouraging to read that Dr. Bobby Donaldson was included in this year’s list as perhaps the most deserving recipient of the honor. Donaldson’s accomplishments represent the best example of an individual working for the greater good without asking for anything in return. I’d love to see more folks like Donaldson recognized for their visions for a better Columbia and a better South Carolina.

But how does one separate and compare the work of rectifying history, like Donaldson does, with that of making menus and making art? Food, arts, and culture, the three areas where Free Times looked for leaders, are overlapping zones in the Venn diagram of community life with food and art being among the most meaningful contributors to culture.

I have other questions.

Does a Power Person have to be well-paid or even paid at all for their work? Where does volunteerism come into play? I ask this because, and I’m only a little tongue-in-cheek here, I personally know an entire board of directors who work the equivalent of part-time jobs and more to support their organizations and the people they serve. I bet you do, too, and I bet you’re not even thinking of the same organization I am. (Yes, I’m unapologetically thinking of the Jasper Project team and how much I love to sing their praises for the tireless efforts they make to nurture the arts.)

Does the Power Person have to do the work themselves or does the work of the minions below them count as their contribution, too? I mean there’s a lot of dollar signs represented by some of this year’s power people. A lot of fur coats, fancy cars, and trips to Mexico, too. Can a Power Person do the exact same job year after year after year and still be recognized? Does it matter if the organization a Power Person represents is a frequent advertiser with the Post and Courier? I hope not, but I’ve heard that rumor, too. And while we’re at it, should a Power Person be recognized for essentially doing the job they are paid to do? How much money do some of these 501c3 Power People make anyway and how much of their salaries comes from the pockets of Soda Citizens?

Finally, what exactly is the point of the Power List? It harkens me back to school days when popularity was weirdly the goal for so many people. I know few people who didn’t suffer at least a little angst about whether they would be accepted or rejected by their peers. I’d like to think most of us have grown out of that by now. Singling out individuals who, if you followed the rules of the popularity pecking order, were even better than their peers via projects like “senior superlatives,” which I see as the seed of projects like the Power List, was an even more stark way of separating the bad from the good and the good from the better. That said, I married a “Most Likely to Succeed” high school senior superlative recipient and, what can I say? He was and is, so what do I know?

To those who deservingly found themselves on this ostensibly elite list of individuals, congratulations and keep it going. We are genuinely proud of and happy for you. To those who found themselves there whether they deserved to be or not, this means we’re watching you and what you do with your power even more. And to those who were completely overlooked, go forward with the knowledge that your work matters if it matters to you. Arbitrary lists and accolades are less important than the people you affect with your talents, generosity of spirit, and good work.

~~~

Merry Christmas from all of us at the Jasper Project. We love what we do, and we’re trying to grow better without growing bigger so we can stay true to our mission to be public servants of the arts in the greater SC Midlands Community. Thank you for your support and thank you for reading Jasper Magazine and Jasper Online!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

(Full Disclosure: Kristin Cobb, executive director of Harbison Theatre at MTC is a board member of the Jasper Project Board of Directors. There is no financial exchange related to the profits made for artists or Jasper between any of Jasper’s Gallery sites and the businesses that host them. Also, this column was offered to Free Times as an installment in this writer’s regular column, Further Consideration, but was pleasantly and respectably passed on)

The Jasper Project Announces the 2025 Galleries Season by Christina Xan

Cindi Boiter December 15, 2024

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

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!

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

Meridian Sidewalk Gallery

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

January–March

Emily Wright

Christopher Lane

Marion Mason

April–June

Mark Dreher

Vanessa DeVore

Sharon Licata

July–September

Camille Johnson

Lauren Tillar

Renee Rouillier

October–December

Beth Morgan

Robert Sargent

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!

Al Black's Poetry of the People featuring Bo Petersen

Cindi Boiter December 14, 2024

My last Poet of the People for 2024 is Bo Petersen. I have known Bo Petersen for several years, but had never engaged him as a poet until a couple years ago.

Bo is a kind, gentle and quirky (in all the ways quirky can be good) poet who has the gift of making his readers smile and want to become his friend. Hearing Bo read his work is to sit in his living room with a cup of hot chocolate, a plate of Oreos, and sharing the fragile beauty of being alive.

~Al Black

Bo Petersen is aimlessly good on his feet. Published since he was a child, relieving him of having to grow up. (Or if you have to: Wrote the non-fiction Washing Our Hands In The Clouds, Kachi, a book of verse and photography, Fezziwig Press, 2023. Also, Soldiers Stories - a book of vignettes about World War II veterans, published by the Gaston Gazette. Short stories and verse in nearly four dozen journals.)

Aurum

“Know who you are. Know the mystery you celebrate”

burnishing,

burnishing

tongues

ice rill fingers puckered numb, the steel sieve

sun

“he’s his own worst enemy”

a crude pan in a cold hand

burnishing

new blaze

who has sinned so he is blind? neither

is he blind or do we see

all it takes is spit

a little humility

“well, theoretically it’s a good scenario

but there’s a practical impediment”

so i glean

fool’s gold

flecked

insensibility

civilization demands emancipation, demands

or all is intrigue

the grave weight of this given earth frees

into Whose hand we

sieve, despite what we believe spirit agleam a particle stream

shook of space, dust

shining

spirit

is beauty, beauty is

spirit

all we know of earth

imperfect

cultivate

create

love

perfects

or all is just creed

o i’d like to be Learn’d, i guess

adeptly key in a daunting Op-ed

screed a piece out of Poetry to bleed their heads

o i’d learn’d to be like, i guess

all i yearn is beauty,

simply,

beauty

suffices

go on, ask

what it is i dream

in chanting streams, in ulule tongues, ulule

reeds,

i am stealing wings.

as dismissive as these

radiate coals in the cold

i leave

flights of white ibis flashing dawn

egret in pairs lifting in shine

from a shook pan in mist freeze

(who died waiting sale)

gone, gone, no mournful white

joy

8,000

souls unslaved

off Gadsden’s pitch dock

to the salt harbor

splayed

blanched bones scraping hissing sands

with no grave

- for the IAAM, Charleston

Nativity

ignorant would it be to whisper

Lord

we’ve blasted past

the purpled robes, the mock angelic

thinlit candle in the cold sepulchre

of our souls

light years

we are weaned

past pretense

past dwarf planets

swelled of gravid moons

out the far womb of what we now know

pulses

I tell you

yet

push

not in the patinas you don’t see

the blood, the spew

bowels

the dread in the eye of the man who had been told

there is nothing like this

to be

the strangely agape sheepherders

the magical jangles

of robed wanderers of stars

nothing, he must have thought, nothing

like this

you could conceive

(the point)

poetry,

the point is,

where

metaphor becomes parable

song,

sense.

Poetry of the People with featuring Richard Garcia

Cindi Boiter December 1, 2024

This week's Poet of the People is Richard Garcia. Richard Garcia is one of the stalwarts of poetry in the low country of South Carolina. I knew of him long before I knew him. He is a wonderful advocate and mentor for other poets as well as a wonderful award winning poet in his own right.. I encourage you to buy his books and attend any of his readings in your area - he will not disappoint.

~Al Black

Richard Garcia's poetry books include The Other Odyssey, Dream Horse Press, 2014, The Chair, BOA 2015, and Porridge, Press 53, 2016. He has received a Pushcart Prize, and been in Best American Poetry.

Then

A knock on the front door,

but no one is knocking.

My mother is upstairs again

threatening to jump out the window.

And there is my best friend Tito.

The swish-swish of metal roller-skates.

Father Harris from All Saints Episcopal Church

crosses the street holding my book

with two hands as if it were heavy.

He wants an inscription, something clever,

for his future granddaughter—should I tell him

that my book has not been written yet,

that he is dead now, and I am dead now,

that my mother's house

and All Saints Episcopal Church have taken wing

like two swans made of smoke,

swans that I might have imagined?

But that was now and this is then.

Tito says, Let's go back to Buena Vista Park,

let's go cardboard-sliding down the musical sand dunes.

•

American Gothic

My grandfather was the captain of a tall ship that sailed around the horn bearing rum and whiskey and always, just for me, a barrel of rock hard candy from the isle of Madagascar. My grandfather told me stories that made me dream of pirates, nice pirates that never hurt anyone. My grandfather waved goodbye to my grandmother as his ship sailed away with the tide. My grandmother and I waited for the sails of Grandfather's ship to reappear on the horizon. Tell me again, Grandma, What was the name of Grandpa's ship. It was called, she reminded me, The Constellation of Falsehoods. OK, I lied. I never knew my grandfather or my grandmother but I recall their picture on the wall. They appeared to be sad farmers. He was holding a pitchfork. She looked like she had just swallowed a large sour ball.

•

Message from Garcia

My brother was the rain.

He was also the sun.

My brother was a sun shower.

We used to sleep in the flames

of the gas fireplace when it was turned on.

but, since my brother was the rain,

the fire never harmed us.

My brother sang to make the moon come out.

He read to me from the pages of sand dunes.

Sad stories, always, sad stories.

Back in the olden days, television

was not invented yet.

We would cut a hole in a box and stare at it.

My brother was the first Mexican-American

basketball star. San Francisco

News Call-Bulletin—Headline:

message from Garcia:

He breaks the record for points in a game.

Next game, double, triple guards on Garcia.

Me, I was an expert at dying.

I would clutch my chest and slowly spin

to the sidewalk. I would lie there

for a long time, twitching spasmodically.

The players from the other teams

complained about my brother.

That Mexican, they said,

he slips through us like rain.

•

Freedom

You are sitting up in bed reading a detective novel. Your eyes are open but you are asleep thinking you are awake. In this novel you are at Roosevelt Middle School with your girlfriend at your first sock hop. You have never been to a sock hop, and don't know how to do the bop, the dance the white kids are doing. So you do the steps taught to you by your Black friend, Felton, although at that time he was a Negro. The dance he taught you was called the Texas Hop. Soon all the white kids in the gym are dancing the Texas Hop. But your mind is flowing backwards. It's the case you are working on: The Case of the Missing Tar Baby and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Where they stolen, lynched, or did they run away together? The Tar Baby and the Pillsbury Doughboy have escaped from a chain gang. They have built a raft and are drifting down the Mississippi river toward freedom.

•

Jasper's Poetry of the People Featuring Brittany Jones

Cindi Boiter November 23, 2024

This week's Poet of the People is Brittany Jones. Brittany has been writing poetry for quite some time and has recently started performing spoken word. Spoken word has expanded her depth and reach as an artist. Her recent performance at Mind Gravy was a well accepted success and we look forward to her future on the spoken word and poetry scene.
~Al Black
Brittany Jones, also known as Shai (pronounced “shy”) Moonlight is a Columbia based poet, host and artivist. After over two decades as a strictly page poet, Brittany began performing spoken word in March 2024. Now a member of the Poetree Family and New Danger, she works as a healthcare professional by day and is the mother of three amazingly unique kids. She feels her purpose in poetry is to be an ever-changing and ever-present light.
_______
Momentary Distraction
There
Is extra femininity in my stride
When I walk by
A HARD working
Black man
It is instinctual
I see him and feel my posture correct
Subconsciously straighten stray locs
Anticipating potential admiration
He may not be my type
And I don’t have to be his
But maybe
He’ll be drawn to my melanin
Or my proportions
BUT…if I am his type
I want him to enjoy watching my hips sway freely
The see the subtle jingle and bounce that naturally reverberate with each step
And, I don’t need to see him
Watch me walk by to know that he might
So I
With my head held high
Nod, smile
Find something to compliment
“Have a blessed day, handsome!”
And go on about my business
And him to his
I hope you appreciate
This momentary distraction
As much as I
_____
Jahzara Nicole
On April 8th, 2007
The prettiest little girl we laid on my chest
I had seen her big brown eyes in my mind
Before I knew she was in my womb
And at that moment
I chose to mother her
Despite offers and ours
I
Chose
Raising her to be who she was called to be
Over the potential of what my life could have been
Mind you — I was a child
Just 6 months into adulthood
More years then I could imagine away from womanhood
Yet thrust
By my own hand
Into motherhood
At least two statistics
Teen & Single
Now
Throw in “Black”
And the fact that her father would die before knowing that she would be born
So I named her in an effort to combat all of that
‘Jahzara’
It is Ethiopian for ‘blessed princess’
Because despite my immaturity
Or his non existence
She would be
Blessed
My Ace is now 17
Less than one year from my age I was when
She was conceived
And she
Had grown to be
My very best friend
The first person to know me through and through
She’s
The reason I can never give up
Beautiful in heart, mind and spirit
She has my face…
Copy. Paste.
She is
The coolest chick with
Signs if my personality
Like interests discovered daily
The best big sister
More like the “little mama”
And every time I look at her
I see those
Big, brown eyes
I’d seen in my mind
Before I knew she was…..
_____
Now. Then. Again.
Every now & then
My mind runs so fast
I almost lose it
In fact
I have a time or 2
But
Grace & mercy allowed me to catch up
I am
Educated, medicated, therapized
And still
I’ve found myself sinking
Again?!
Longing for non-existence
Teetering the fine line between coping and addiction
Why won’t this thing loose me!?
After all the alter calls…
I’m still finding more peace in alcohol
and I’m tired
Butttttt
My therapist says she’s proud of me
That I’ve made so much progress
And I agree…
Today
But what about tomorrow??
When my chemicals get to “imbalancing” again
When
Focusing on
Mindfulness, gratitude and moon phases
Make no changes
And all I can do is……
Ruminate on
What could have been
And what should have been
Or what would have been
Seemingly, blind to my blessings
Just Praying
“God please, let me make it through this feeling…
Again…”

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

Cindi Boiter November 17, 2024

by Cindi Boiter

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

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

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

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

There may be booze.

Join us!

Join the Jasper Project and SCAA for a Reading and Launch Celebration of Southern Voices – Fifty Contemporary Poets Edited by Tom Mack and Andrew Geyer

Cindi Boiter November 6, 2024

By Cindi Boiter

Poetry and place come together beautifully in Tom Mack and Andrew Geyer’s (editors) new book, Southern Voices – Fifty Contemporary Poets (Lamar University Press) Which launched on October 1st on the campus of University of SC at Aiken, where Mack is a distinguished professor emeritus and Geyer serves as chair of the English Department. The two previously worked together editing the fiction anthology, A Shared Voice: A Tapestry of Tales (Lamar University Press, 2013), and have joined forces once again to bring us a new and intriguing look at contemporary poetry from the South.

“Because of the overwhelming success of that collection of paired tales, the folks at Lamar University Literary Press wondered if we could put together an equally attractive book of poems,” Mack says. Mack also edited Dancing on Barbed Wire (Angelina River Press, 2018) which Geyer co-wrote with Terry Dalrymple and Jerry Craven. “We knew from the outset of the multi-year project that we wanted to cover the whole South from Virginia to Texas, from Arkansas to Florida; and we thought that 50 would be the minimum number of poets (4-6 poems by each) that we would need to do justice to the complex geography and culture of this distinctive region of the country.”

South Carolina poetry aficionados will not be surprised by the list of distinguished contributors to Southern Voices, among them Jasper’s own poetry editor and inaugural Columbia city poet laureate, Ed Madden, along with Libby Bernadin, Marcus Amaker, Ron Rash, Glennis Redmond, and forty-five equally accomplished poets from across the region.

“Once we decided on how many poets to include in the book,” Mack says, “we divided the South in half. Because I had edited the South Carolina Encyclopedia Guide to South Carolina Writers (USC Press) and managed the USC Aiken writers’ series for over a decade, I volunteered to invite 25 poets from the Atlantic coast, the part of the South I know best. Drew (Geyer), a native of Texas and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, focused on Southern states from Alabama to west of the Mississippi.”

The theme of “place” features prominently in this collection, Mack says. “It thus made sense to invite as many state and local poets laureate as possible since those individuals had already been selected by governmental entities to represent a particular locale. All of the Southern states have state poets laureate; and some states, such as South Carolina, have poets laureate who have been selected to represent cities and towns. Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Rock Hill, for example, have municipal poets laureate. Thus, we were expecting that most of the poems submitted by each invited poet would focus on place: physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological. We were not disappointed.”

But the co-editors recognized early on that the representation of contemporary Southern poets looks increasingly different than in decades past, as it should. “From the very beginning of the process, we wanted to put together a book that reflected the changing demographics of the region, its growing diversity and burgeoning equality of opportunity. Thus, in choosing our invitees, we kept gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation in mind,” Geyer says.

In his introduction to the volume Mack writes, “Perhaps no other region of this vast country is haunted more by the past. In the case of the American South, heavy lie the legacy of slavery and the specter of the Civil War. … Yet, the winds of change can be felt throughout the American South, due in large part to both a generational and demographic shift—the region is consistently being enriched by transplants from other parts of the country and other nations of the world.”

“This Southern Voices collection is a testament to how far we’ve come,” Geyer agrees. “The poets in this anthology are Black and white and brown, straight and LGBTQ+, native Southerners and northern transplants—a mélange of artists from across the Greater South most of whom have served as the poets laureate of their states and/or local communities. These are the poets whose work everyday folks living in the South chose to represent them. The diversity of voices that you’ll find in this incredible volume is reflective of the people who make the place what it is.”

Launch celebrations and readings for Southern Voices are scheduled throughout the state. The public is invited to attend the Columbia event, sponsored in part by the Jasper Project and the South Carolina Academy of Authors, from 6 to 8 pm on November 14th at All Good Books in Five Points. Poets scheduled to read from the collection include Ed Madden, Glenis Redmond, Libby Bernardin, and Ellen Hyatt.

A version of this article appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Jasper Magazine - Available now throughout Columbia

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

Cindi Boiter October 1, 2024

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

Poetry of the People with Evelyn Berry

Cindi Boiter September 21, 2024

This week's Poet of the People is Evelyn Berry. Over a decade ago, led by Evelyn Berry, an inspired group of Aiken High School students would pile in a car and journey to Columbia to attend Mind Gravy Poetry. I am fortunate to still know several of them through the wonder of Facebook—and Evelyn continues to lead and soar above us all. Some day, we will say we knew and were energized by Evelyn Berry on her way up and be grateful for the experience.

-Al Black

Evelyn Berry is a trans, Southern writer, editor, and educator. She's the author of Grief Slut (Sundress Publications, 2024). She's a recipient of a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship and lives in Columbia, South Carolina.

Self-Portrait at Nineteen

All summer, I worked shifts at Old Navy

& snorted molly from an iPhone screen

in the backseat of a car parked nowhere,

a happy heathen not yet grief-plundered.

Once, I was a boy unafraid to die.

I would swallow almost anything meant

to kill me if, at first, it got me high:

pills left over from surgery pilfered

from my parents’ medicine cabinet,

coffee cups of dark liquor, gas station

feasts, bounty of grease, sugar, cigarettes.

How else to parachute from the body?

Aliveness, this useless extravagance

I have wasted once before, but no more.

prodigal daughter

what I know of sin, i learned in the sty

amid the swine, slurped mud and called it wine.

femme-fouled boy, faggot-spoiled sacrifice

offered at the altar and abandoned.

forgive my reckless want, lord, to belong

as more than soiled sacrament, fat sow

knife-split to gorge the prophets of gendered

violence. prayer, in their hands, a blade.

what do i know of penitence, patience,

except once the lord sent frenzied demons

into a drove of blameless pigs to drown?

how did we decide which beast to slaughter?

lord, i too am an impure animal.

i left home a son, return a daughter.

Eos

After Mary Evelyn Pickering De Morgan

Once, the goddess of dawn cried out, forlorn,

her son cast into dirt beyond the walls of Troy,

Achilles’ sword drawn through his chest,

his soul gone, replaced with a feathered flock.

Her tears poured graceless as swans,

like a vase overflowing with morning dew

until grief bloomed new gardens.

Describe to me the weight of this.

Mourning replenishes the earth, ushers

Soil into rebirth, new river traced

from the boy’s doomed blue veins.

What is a song worth without its wound?

Let me, for once, taste paradise without the tinge of blood.

Let me glimpse the cusp of dawn without the flood of night.

The Decoy

After John Collier

To be painted femme fatale, condemned fatal:

a woman’s beauty is a dangerous deception

in the hands of a man who demands

to own her like a plucked rose.

Let me be the decoy instead,

damsel in undress, glinting

luminescent like a knife

bound to my ankle.

One Book Winner Cassie Premo Steele Leads Community Discussion on Her Novel Beaver Girl

Cindi Boiter August 22, 2024

On Tuesday, August 27th, Cassie Premo Steele will offer insight into her 2023 novel Beaver Girl during her author’s talk at All Good Books (734 Harden St).

The Jasper Project, in conjunction with One Columbia, and All Good Books, announced Steele’s novel as the selected community reading for the 2024 One Book project earlier this year.

One Book was first adopted by Columbia in 2011, modeled after the One Book, One Community project that started in the Seattle public library system in 1998. The goal is to highlight literary art by South Carolina authors and to emphasize a sense of community around storytelling.

Beaver Girl is “set against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and climate-collapsed world” as it follows 19-year-old Livia through a journey with a beaver family in Congaree National Park. The story both reveals the unique role of beavers in the world’s ecosystem and the “redemption, resilience, and interconnectedness of all living beings.”

Next week’s Community Book Discussion will give readers of the book a chance to pick Steele’s brain and interrogate the themes of the story. Even locals who have not had an opportunity to read the book can take advantage of the evening to get to know a local author and learn more about this community-oriented project.

Jasper talked with Steele ahead of the event to find out just why this event is so vital—both as part of this project and beyond.

JASPER: Why does this discussion matter to you as an author?

STEELE: For the past five months, the 2024 One Book Project has hosted events giving people the opportunity to read and learn about the themes in Beaver Girl. I’ve led workshops on beaver ecology and ethics from Congaree National Park to Oregon and Washington State. I’ve engaged in panel discussions about the novel with beaver scholar Emily Fairfax online and a host of scholars and activists here in our community at the Nickelodeon Theater. And I’ve given classes on writing “the code of the water way” to writers and science educators from across the states of Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Tuesday’s discussion, though, will be a homecoming, returning back to the local bookstore where the Jasper Project, One Columbia for Arts and Culture, and All Good Books chose Beaver Girl for this year’s community reading selection. And as the characters Livia and Chap learn in Beaver Girl, there’s no place like home.

JASPER: Why might people want to get a behind the scenes look for this book specifically?

STEELE: The community book discussion will be an opportunity for people to share stories about their fears about environmental disasters and the losses the pandemic and political upheavals have caused — themes addressed in the novel— but also their [positive] experiences with the natural world, their strategies for self-care and connection, and their hopes for a future where we enjoy the abundant richness of diversity in our human and more than human communities.

JASPER: Why should people take the time to meet local artists?

STEELE: We have a rich, diverse city filled with creative people, and we live in a unique biosphere region that is unlike anything else on earth. The book shows us how we can learn to live together in harmonious ways — and what can happen if we do not.

JASPER: Why should the community be excited for this event, specifically?

STEELE: In the end, Beaver Girl is really a book about family and community. Who do we love? How can we learn to trust again after great trauma? What members of our community need care, and how can we be open to communicating with those who are different from us? The moderator of our discussion, Ruth Smyrle, took care of my stepdaughter when she was a baby, so there’s an element of family woven into the event itself. I hope people will feel that reading and discussing Beaver Girl gives them an opportunity to feel part of a beautiful and diverse community.

The Community Book Discussion will be Tuesday, August 27, from 6:00pm—7:30pm at All Good Books.

If you can’t make it on the 27th you can also meet Steele at one of the following events:

Monday, September 9 at 6:30-7:30 PM - Queer-Themed Book Discussion with Cassie Premo Steele, Author of Beaver Girl, Moderated by Maggie Olszewski, Queer Poet and Employee at All Good Books, to be held at The Hoot, 2910 Rosewood Drive, Suite 1, Columbia SC
Saturday, September 7 at 10 AM-12 PM - Summer Forest Journaling with the Author of Beaver Girl and Earth Joy Writing at Congaree National Park : Free but space is limited. Register here.
Tuesday, September 17 6:00-7:30 PM - All Booked Up, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium’s Coastal Reading Club for formal, non-formal, or homeschool educators, discussing Beaver Girl. Online. More info here.
Sunday, September 22 at 3:00-6:00 PM - ONE BOOK 2024 Round-Up Party and Potluck Dinner with BYOB. Music, Art, DJ, Poetry, Cozy Conversations and Hugs! One Columbia Co-Op, 1013 Duke Avenue, Columbia, SC

Alex Ruskell Creates Whimsical Friends for Jasper’s Tiny Gallery

Cindi Boiter August 14, 2024

Alex Ruskell is a man who wears many hats, serving as the Director of Academic Success for the University of South Carolina’s Law School by day and parading around stages with his band, the Merry Chevaliers, at night.

All the while, strange little figures plague his mind, and fortunately for those who call Columbia home, those whimsical dudes materialize into joyful paintings patrons can hang on their own walls.

“When I started painting, all I really wanted to do was make people happy,” Ruskell shares. “I know that sounds dopey and saccharine, but that was it—along with making enough money per art show that I could take my family out to dinner without feeling guilty about it.”

For his Tiny Gallery show (which has made his work available to those nearly as far-and-wide as the outer space dwellers he often paints), Ruskell has put together 8 new works alongside prints of 2 popular pieces.

On the gallery site, patrons will see dinos and dragons floating in space (with astronaut helmets for their tails, of course); crooning, karaoke monsters; and kings and goths alike just trying to get by. Essentially? The usual.

“The painting thing has worked out better than I could hope for,” Ruskell says. “I've got paintings in my yard that the neighborhood children have named; I see my paintings in the backgrounds of college dorm photos; and I get asked to do commissioned paintings for family birthdays, baby nurseries, and wedding gifts.”

Alex Ruskell’s Tiny Gallery show will be live until August 31st, so be sure to check out his funky friends filled with heart before then on Jasper’s virtual gallery space.

“Life is wonderful, but everyone has their down moments,” Ruskell says. “I like to think that a person might buy an alien eating a slice of pizza, stick it on his or her wall, and get a chuckle out of it now and again."

Click Here to Shop Jasper’s TINY GALLERY

REVIEW -- Trustus Theatre's Workshop Premiere of Dandelion: An Original Musical

Cindi Boiter August 11, 2024

by Chad Henderson

Trustus Theatre opened its doors on Friday, August 9th to a sold-out audience that had been long-anticipating the first downbeat of Dandelion. This original musical was created by composer and lyricist Colleen Francis and book writers Jessica Fichter and Sean Riehm, with some additional music and lyrics from Hailee Beltzhoover-Zuniga and Bill Zeffiro. This work is a slick and well-devised exploration of trauma, mental illness, and the sinewy bonds of family. It will move you, you will relate to one or more of the characters in this multi-generational story and it will actually make you laugh quite a bit. So, if you’re reading this to find out if you should see Dandelion at Trustus - then let me go ahead and direct you to their website to buy tickets: trustus.org. Your Columbia artists are in your own backyard creating something new and you don’t have tickets yet? Shame on you. This is why we can’t have nice things in this town. The show runs through August 25th, so you’ve got plenty of chances to experience Dandelion and stick around for talkbacks after every performance if you wish.

Now, for posterity, I will pontificate about the production as it stood on opening night. (As this is a workshop production, that means it can and probably will change on its journey to the next production. Hell, it might have already changed before the second weekend.)

Dandelion tells the story of a teenager named Jane and her family. They live in Georgia, USA. Jane’s mother, Lilah, has endured a long struggle with mental illness and opioid addiction. Jane’s parents have split up, but her fun-loving parrothead of a father is still in the picture. At an impasse with Lilah, Jane’s brother Jordan has also left the house and raises a family away from his mother’s illness. So, this leaves Jane as the sole caretaker of her mother for quite some time, but she finds solace in the company of her best friend Gabbie as they begin the process of applying for college and going to the prom. Will Lilah find a pathway to a healthier life? Will Jane make the move to North College without her mother getting in the way? Are the systems that are supposed to protect those with mental illness totally fucked in America? Well, the audience will hope for the best as the inevitable answers to these questions are revealed. All the while, we’ll keep truly wishing the best for these characters, because they’re all really likable (and word on the street is that the story is based on an actual family from around these parts).

On the road to this workshop production, one would assume that the script has undergone alteration and subtraction. The end result is a satisfyingly paced production that is dense but moves with plenty of locomotion. The play’s translation from page to stage was directed by co-book writer Jessica Francis Fichter (and Trustus Executive Director), and it is a winsome evening in the theatre through her collaboration with music director Steven Gross, choreographer Terrance Henderson and the production’s design team.

**left to right Stann Gwynn, Sadie Wiskes, Katrina Garvin, and Sean Stephens photo by Thomas Hammond**

Colleen Francis’ music and lyrics are clearly the result of an industry professional. Her work in her career spans from country to hip hop, and if you listen to Franky C (her performer name) you will joyfully experience music that would be at home on top 40s stations. The songwriter’s prowess comes front and center with the haunting “Lullaby” that serves as the introduction of Lilah’s mental illness, and one of the play’s most useful devices: the utilization of three actors to personify the character’s depression, rage, and paranoia. This storytelling gambit seems to have given Francis the permission to dive into some inventive places with numbers like “Nightmare,” “Throwing Me Away” and, truly one of the strongest of the production, “Bottom of a Bottle.” These tunes feel connected and original to this musical. Also noteworthy is “Not the Perfect Daughter,” which is a moving solo from Jane that boasts a memorable melody and hook.

With Francis’ ability to be a songwriting chameleon, it was somewhat surprising that the team behind the show desired to lean into some of the more prosaic tropes of modern musical theatre. Much of the music that doesn’t center around Lilah’s internal journey sounds like some other song you’ve heard from some other musical in recent history, and sometimes even the moments in the show can seem (intentionally?) echoic. For example, with the device of having a present-day and younger Jane to demonstrate the story’s links to the past - one could remember Alison Bechdel in Fun Home. It was also hard to ignore the similarities between the Act II opener and Next to Normal’s “My Psychopharmacologist and I” - right down to the waltz and the list of side effects in the lyrics that end in “death” (or “use could be fatal” in N2N). It is entirely possible that a different approach to the arrangements or orchestrations could bring something unique to the sound of the show.

Left to right Mel Driggers and Hannah Bonnett — photo by Thomas Hammond

There are plenty of theatre fans that love the familiar, and Dandelion will ultimately feel safe with a cutting edge here and there to jar the viewer on occasion. The team and the cast give this new work sturdy legs to stand on, because it is indeed tight, well-crafted, and realized by professionals with proven track records. That is undoubtedly why the audience connected to the characters, pulled for them, related to them, and wiped the tears from their eyes as they stood for an ovation that was well-deserved by the cast and all in the show’s orbit.

Speaking of the cast: new work can be stressful, fast-paced and a bit disorienting - but this group didn’t flinch. The quartet of Katrina Garvin (Lilah) and the voices in her head played by Kristin Claiborne, Terrance Henderson and Brittany Hammock provide the thrills in this story - both narratively and musically. As these characters build into moments of destruction (literally), the group illustrates the expanse of Lilah’s inner-struggle and how powerful her illness can be when confronted by others. Katrina as Lilah uses her toolbox to keep the character teetering on the brink of a possible breakthrough, while believably navigating the waters of hitting rock bottom (we hope they record “Bottom of the Bottle” so we can relive her powerhouse performance).

The Three Voices — Brittany Hammock, Kristin M. Claiborne, and Terrance Henderson - photo courtesy of Trustus Theatre

It must also be mentioned that the Three Voices get to play a grab-bag of other characters in the story, especially in “Welcome to Your New Life.” Some of these briefly-lived creations are some of the funniest in the show. Case in point: Brittany Hammock as Carla, the college tour guide. Some of the laughter she generated lasted longer than the built-in holds-for-chortle.

New to the Trustus stage is guest artist Hannah Bonnet in the role of Jane. Bonnet is a magnetic performer, and she does a commendable job of holding the audience’s hand throughout the story and bringing them along. Jane’s best friend Gabbie is played by local actor Mel Driggers, who gets to play the clown a lot in this performance. Driggers’ Gabbie is an homage to all of our best friends in high school, and the friend who pushed us harder because they truly loved us. Seeing these two actors work together presents much needed levity between some of the darker moments. However, we did wonder if there might be more signaling in the playing of Jane that shows how her mother’s conditioning has set in over 18 years. Beyond her own guilt as a caretaker, what else is the character escaping in herself?

Also in Jane’s sphere are her father Daniel (Stann Gwynn), her brother Jordan (Sean Stephens) and the memory of her younger self played by Sadie Wiskes. Young Sadie is there to show us Jane’s innocence, the child before the veneer is chipped away - and she does a lovely job. Stann Gwynn and Sean Stephens’ characters provide a lot of the uncomplicated familial love for Jane, though both characters have clearly abandoned her in some form or fashion. Both actors shine throughout the proceedings, but their turns in the chaotic “Get Your Shit Together” really turns up the energy on stage and the anxiety in the audience.

The show’s title references an endearing moment early on in the play where Lilah tells the young Jane that when you blow a dandelion and make a wish, that your “wishes have wings.” I might be compelled to pick up the next few dandelions I come across. I hope I won’t jinx it by publishing it here, but I think I’ll wish for the following:

More original plays and musicals by local artists
More producing organizations presenting new works
Audiences showing up for new work

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. Check out the show's dedicated website, see Dandelion and enjoy the conversation afterwards.

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

Cindi Boiter August 10, 2024

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

Cindi Boiter August 9, 2024

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.

Cassie Premo Steele's BEAVER GIRL is the ONE BOOK 2024 Selection!

Cindi Boiter April 21, 2024

The Jasper Project, in partnership with One Columbia for Arts and Culture and All Good Books, is delighted to announce that Cassie Premo Steele’s novel BEAVER GIRL has been chosen as the community reading selection for the ONE BOOK 2024 Project.

Set against the backdrop of a post-pandemic and climate-collapsed world, Beaver Girl follows the journey of Livia, a 19-year-old confronting the aftermath of environmental upheaval. As wildfires encircle her, Livia seeks solace in Congaree National Park, where an unexpected alliance with a beaver family becomes a central theme in her fight for survival.

Steele skillfully intertwines elements of a morality tale, shedding light on humanity's role in climate disaster. The novel delves into the ecological significance of beavers as keystone species, emphasizing their ability to shape landscapes and create sustainable water sources.

Beaver Girl transcends traditional genres, offering a narrative that explores themes of redemption, resilience, and the interconnectedness of all living beings. Anxiety and Outcast Press, through this joint venture, bring forth a powerful story that challenges readers to reflect on the consequences of environmental negligence.

Jasper, One Columbia, and All Good Books have joined hands to provide a summer-long celebration of the project with programming, readings, an arts competition, and a culminating project party in September.

Pick up your copy of BEAVER GIRL,* read along, and join us for the following free events!

April 21 – Earth Day Celebration with Jasper and One Columbia Arts and Culture
April 27 – Congaree National Park Spring Forest Wellness Journaling
May 2 – Can Beavers Really Save the World? Ask the Author and Scholar
June 10 – Uniquely Close: Biodiversity at Congaree and Diversity in Columbia
July 1 – The Art of ONE BOOK 2024 Contest Deadline
August 27 – Community Book Discussion with Cassie Premo Steele
September 7 – Congaree National Park Summer Forest Wellness Journaling
September 22 – ONE BOOK 2024 Round-Up Party and Contest Winners Showcase

*Beaver Gril is available at All Good Books, Liberation is Lit, Amason, Barnes & Noble & Bookshop.org