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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gretchen Evans Parker

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

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

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

- Kimber Carpenter

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

Regina Langston

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

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

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

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

Caroline Clark

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

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

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

Bohumila Augustinova

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

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

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

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

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

Visit Sound Bites Eatery on Sumter Street for Delicious Food, Welcoming Vibes, and this month, Art from the Jasper Project's Board of Directors Visual Artists!

One of the great joys of working with the Jasper Project is becoming warm friends with members of our hard-working board of directors as well as the owner/operators of the institutions that work with us and the venues that host us. A perfect example would be the good people at Sound Bites Eatery who welcomed Jasper as soon as their doors were opened and invited us to make use of their walls to hang art by local artists. This month we are combining our appreciation for both by featuring the art of Jasper Project Board Artists, Emily Moffitt, Laura Garner Hine, Keith Tolen, and Kimber Carpenter in the Jasper Gallery Space at Sound Bites Eatery.

Curated by a committee chaired by Christina Xan who serves as the Jasper Project’s gallery manager, Jasper hangs local art throughout the city at Motor Supply Bistro, Koger Center for the Arts, Harbison Theatre, the Meridian Sidewalk Gallery Space as well as Sound Bites Eatery. But we’re always looking for new permanent or temporary spaces to feature the work of Columbia-based artists.

While we enjoy celebrating new shows with receptions, one of the advantages of showing art in these public spaces is that the art is available for purchase any time day or night by accessing a QR code attached to every piece of art. So if you’re still looking for the perfect gift for someone you love, consider giving art by visiting one of the Jasper Gallery spaces easily accessible in the greater Columbia area!