Meet The Jasper Project's Board of Directors Starting with JENNI BRENNISON

MEET JASPER!

The Jasper Project is dependent upon its hard working board of directors to make our world go ‘round. In addition to sharing a wealth of information from their own experiences, the Jasper Project board is, what is called in the world of non-profits, a “working board.” Emphasis on the word WORK.

You’ll see our board members delivering Jasper Magazines, greeting and ringing up art sales at any of our gallery spaces, hauling bags of ice, cases of wine, and trays of food at our receptions and events, as well as planning, setting up for, and cleaning up after those events. Our board of volunteers also plan and program those events. They schedule art exhibitions, review plays, install art, make labels, read plays, screen films, program musicians, write checks, balance the budget, communicate with their unique contacts, and so much more.

Every board member is attached to at least one of Jasper’s primary projects (the magazine, galleries, Play Right Project, 2nd Act Film Project, or any of our one-off projects like the Degenerate Arts Project we just finished up or our upcoming Peter Lenzo retrospective and remembrance that will be opening at Stormwater Studios on April 3rd.)

New board members are officially elected into their seats at our annual board retreat in January, though when potential new board members come along throughout the year, we invite them “to date” Jasper until the next retreat. This gives the potential director time to learn how Jasper works and decide whether they can see themselves as part of our motley crew. And the reciprocal works for Jasper.

In January 2026, Jasper voted in 7 new directors to join our already existing board of 14 sitting members. Over the next few weeks we will be introducing these amazing people to you via Jasper Online. We invite you to check back here daily to MEET JASPER, and we will introduce you to the hard-working and talented individuals who make up the Jasper Project Board of Directors.

Today we’re starting with NEW board member, Jenni Brennison!

JENNI BRENNISON

Jenni Brennison is a Columbia native who grew up in a family of visual artists, musicians, and the people who love them. It was inevitable she would develop a lifelong love of the arts as both a participant  and observer. She is a graduate of Winthrop University’s political science program, and holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of South Carolina. In 2022 she completed coursework to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) through the Clemson University Center for Applied Behavior Analysis.

Brennison is a passionate advocate for creating a more inclusive society that embraces nuerodiversity as a defining characteristic of the human experience. Before working in education and behavior analysis, she worked as a copywriter in creative services for the OC Tanner Company in Salt Lake City, UT. She is a Girls Rock Columbia volunteer alumnus, served on the editorial board of Unsweetened Magazine, and is also a proud City Year Columbia grad.

Brennison lives downtown with her partner Scott and their two dogs, Gigi and Sammy. In her free time, you’re most likely to find her on a hiking or biking trail, or supporting local music and arts events.

Jenni sits on Jasper’s Membership & Development Committee, our Galleries Committee, and our Magazine Committee.

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The Jasper Project Welcomes New Members to the Board of Directors

We’re excited at the Jasper Project to welcome the following new members to our Board of Directors! These seven new members bring a wealth of experience and new energy to our board and they have already gotten to work doing their parts in helping Jasper meet our four integrated priorities:

• Process – illuminating the unique processes endemic to all art forms in order to provide a greater level of understanding and respect for these disciplines.

• Community/Collaboration – nurturing community both within and between arts disciplines.

• Narrative – creating a more positive and progressive understanding of SC culture.

• Economy – being efficient stewards of arts funding committed to creating more with less.

Help us welcome Meeghan Kane, Rhodes Bailey, Pam Bowers, Lauren Casassa, Stan Conine, Dick Moons, and Liz Stalker who join our already assembled board members Wade Sellers (president), Keith Tolen (vice president), Emily Moffitt (secretary), Kristin Cobb, Libby Campbell, Kwasi Brown, Jon Tuttle, Bekah Corbett (operating director), and Cindi Boiter (founder, executive director).

Currently, Meeghan Kane leads community engagement efforts at the South Carolina State Museum, developing public programs and supporting and fostering community relationships and partnerships with fellow cultural institutions and organizations. Prior to joining the museum team, Meeghan taught history at Benedict College for over a decade, where she specialized in African American history, 20th century cultural history, and the history of the American South. She moved to Columbia, South Carolina, from Tampa, Florida, in 2006 to join USC’s graduate program in history after completing her B.A. and M.A. at the University of South Florida. These days, if she’s not at the museum, you’ll likely find her and her family enjoying nice meals in local restaurants, day tripping to the mountains, camping in SC’s state parks, road-tripping back home to Florida, and, most importantly, enjoying the arts and culture of the Midlands. Meeghan is excited to be a part of the Jasper board. She hopes to help artists and arts supporters build new ways to connect and reach new audiences.

Rhodes Bailey is an attorney and the owner of Rhodes Bailey Law, LLC, and a long-term member of the Midlands-based band Whiskey Tango Revue with whom he plays guitar and pedal steel. A graduate of the College of Charleston and the University of SC School of Law (2007), where he received the Trial Clinic’s Professionalism Award, Rhodes is married and has two children. Rhodes says he is “looking forward to collaborating with like-minded artists and fostering talent in our state.” He somewhat jokingly continues, “I hope to help solve problems as needed and keep my fellow artists out of Jail!”

Pam Bowers is a Chicago native, but for the past 20 years she has divided her time between Columbia, South Carolina, the Umbrian hill town she calls her second home, and her world travels. Pam has exhibited her work internationally at venues that include the Guilin Academy of Chinese Painting in China, the University of Fine Arts in Budapest, numerous venues in Italy, University of Newcastle in Australia, and the Ecole Nationale in Rabat, Morocco. Nationally she has exhibited at the Bowery Gallery, New York, Blue Mountain Gallery New York, ARC and WMG galleries in Chicago, and many other university or museum venues including the State Museum of South Carolina, City Gallery at Waterfront Park In Charleston, the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and St. Mary's College of Notre Dame, among others. Pam has lectured on her work and conducted numerous workshops both here and abroad.

Lauren Casassa is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. She received her BFA in Painting at the University of South Carolina and has been awarded the Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key Award for excellence in Visual Arts, the Yaghjian Studio arts scholarship at USC, and the 2018 Artfields Solo Award Exhibition at Jones-Carter Gallery. She has been featured in Garnet and Black, Daily Gamecocks, The State, Free Times, and Susie Magazine. She has lectured for classes at USC, SC State University, and spent a summer residency in Monte Castello, Italy. Exhibitions include group shows in Italy, New York, South Carolina and solo shows in Iowa and South Carolina. 

Stan Conine is the retired President and Broker-in-Charge of The Conine Group, Inc. and the former Campus Director of Birchwood Campus, SC Department of Youth Services (currently SCDJJ) and a Life member in the Circle of Excellence of Central Carolina Realtors Association. He has a B.S. in Sociology from Georgia College, an M.Ed. in Counselor Education from University of South Carolina, and a M.C.J. in Criminal Justice also from USC. Stan says, “I have long respected The Jasper Project for promoting and supporting local artists of all genres, and for creating and promoting events which make it acceptable, normal even, for folks from all neighborhoods, all backgrounds, and all educational levels to access, enjoy, and appreciate the creativity in the works of these artists.” He continues, “I hope that I will be able to help Jasper expand and extend its support to more people with artistic dreams, including the very young and the very old, and I hope that I will be able to help spur an effort to bridge the gap and encourage more cooperation and coordination among different arts organizations with common goals in the Midlands area.”

Dick Moons says he is a “retired corporate flunky,” certified sound practitioner, professional drum circle facilitator, dad, and grandfather. Dick says he joined the Jasper Project board of directors because he believes “in what Jasper is about, its mission, and the way Jasper has gone about implementing and fulfilling its vision.” He continues to explain that “being a part of a talented bunch of folks who donate their time and energy for nothing more than their love of the arts – and thereby making Columbia a far cooler place” is reason enough to join the Jasper team.”

Liz Stalker is a 2024 graduate of USC with honors and a bachelors degree in English. The winner of the 2023 Havilah Babcock scholarship for poetry, Liz enjoys poetry and filmmaking when she isn’t serving up caffeine at Curiosity Coffee Bar. A former intern with the Jasper Project, Liz says, “I joined the Jasper board because Jasper opened a world of local artists to me, and I would love to help do that for others.”

The Jasper Project Mission Statement

The Jasper Project is a project-oriented, multidisciplinary arts facilitator serving the greater Columbia and South Carolina communities by providing collaborative arts engineering and community-wide arts communication.