BUY THE BOOK - Peter Lenzo: In Memory of his Memory (Pre-Orders are Open Now!)

By nurturing engagement between different arts disciplines we hope to not only grow the fan and patron base for all arts, but also to inspire artists from different walks to collaborate and/or adopt the methodology of another artistic endeavor.

At the Jasper Project, we try to engage as many arts disciplines as possible via our various projects. The theory behind this priority is that artists and their patrons too often find themselves in disciplinary silos, constructed and populated by the practitioners of those disciplines. In other words, music fans may not a miss a local concert but they do miss gallery openings, book launches, or dance performances that aren’t on their radar. Similarly, indie film aficionados may be hooked into the film scene but not necessarily aware of live music performances, theatre opportunities, or poetry readings that might scratch a different kind of artistic itch. By nurturing engagement between different arts disciplines we hope to not only grow the fan and patron base for all arts, but also to inspire artists from different walks to collaborate and/or adopt the methodology of another artistic endeavor.

For our upcoming project, PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE, opening Friday April 3rd at 6 pm (5 pm for Jasper Guild members) at Stormwater Studios, we are including both a newly published art book and a newly created short film by Columbia, SC filmmaker, Wade Sellers, in the hopes of appealing to both book and film lovers.

The book, Peter Lenzo: In Memory of his Memory is now available for pre-order and may be picked up at the exhibition. The 120+ page full color book contains more than 50 images of Lenzo’s work as well as essays by the SC State Museum’s Paul Matheny and the late Wim Roefs. The book is $45 until April 1, 2026 after which the price will rise to $50.

The film, also titled Peter Lenzo: In Memory of his Memory, will screen at Stormwater Studios on Friday April 10th at 7 pm.

We look forward to seeing you at these events and throughout the weeks of this exhibition during Stormwater Studios regularly scheduled hours.

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The Jasper Project Presents PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE

STORMWATER STUDIOS

OPENING RECEPTION APRIL 3 — 6 - 9 PM

Jasper Guild Members are Invited to Join Us at 5 pm for Early Entrance

The Jasper Project is honored to present PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE at Stormwater Studios, April 3 – 12, 2026. In addition to exhibiting more than 30 rarely shown facejugs and reliquaries created by the late Peter Lenzo, the project also features the launch of a new commemorative publication entitled PETER LENZO: IN MEMORY OF HIS MEMORY and the premiere screening of an accompanying film by Columbia, SC filmmaker, Wade Sellers. 

The Jasper Project worked closely with Lenzo’s daughter, Roxy Lenzo Douthit, to curate this exhibition, which includes ceramic pieces from the last few decades of her father’s life, as well as intimate family reliquaries in which the artist preserved and annotated treasured artifacts and keepsakes going back to the artist’s family of origin. For Lenzo, his facejugs were a homage both to traditional Southern pottery practices and to the friends and family who inspired the work he so lovingly created. Lenzo, who suffered a head injury early in life that resulted in seizures, epilepsy, and ultimately dementia, used his art as a way of channeling his despair as well as his elation.  

The photographs of Lenzo’s face jugs and reliquaries reproduced in the new publication, PETER LENZO: IN MEMORY OF HIS MEMORY, many of which on the reverse side also bear the artist’s notated perceptions of the work itself, have been intimately annotated by his daughter. Lenzo Douthit also wrote an enlightening introduction and acknowledgments for this book which contains a foreword by the SC State Museum’s Paul Matheny and an essay by the late Wim Roefs. Peter Lenzo: In Memory of his Memory was published in April 2026 by the Jasper Project, which has an imprint via Muddy Ford Press, and is available for pre-order here.

PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE opens at Stormwater Studios (413 Pendleton Street, Columbia, SC) on Friday April 3rd with an opening reception from 6 – 8:30 (early admission for Jasper Project Guild members at 5 pm).  

The film, In Memory of his Memory, will be screened on Friday, April 10th at 7 pm.  

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, feel free to contact the above individuals or consult The Jasper Project or Stormwater Studios. 

About the Jasper Project – 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. The Jasper Project is committed to 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 that discipline; Community/Collaboration – nurturing community both within and between arts disciplines; Narrative – creating a more positive and progressive understanding of SC culture; and Economy – being efficient stewards of arts funding committed to creating more with less. For more information or to support the Jasper Project please visit JasperProject.org.

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Meet Jasper! Today featuring Roxy Lenzo Douthit- New to the Jasper Project's Board of Directors

MEET JASPER!

ROXY LENZO DOUTHIT

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 concerts, 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.

Roxy Lenzo Douthit is a Detroit native who spent her childhood going back and forth between Detroit and Columbia. Raised by artists, she rebelled by becoming a scientist and working for the man. She has her Bachelors and Masters in Environmental Science from USC and currently works as a consultant in Products and Technology. Despite the corporate day job, Roxy finds time to create art and get involved in the Columbia arts and activism scenes. Previously known for resurrecting a feminist southern magazine and making dresses out of trash (She won Columbia Design League's Bruce Bahr Award at Runaway Runway in 2013 for a dress made out of phone books), Roxy now spends her time showing her two young daughters as much art and adventure as possible. She's excited to help foster, promote, and expose even more art and adventure as a member of the Jasper Board.

Roxy sits in the Jasper Project’s Project & Planning Committee and she is the chair of our Membership & Development Committee. She is also heading up the next one-off Jasper project coming up April 3, 2026 at Stormwater Studios - PETER LENZO: A RETROSPECTIVE AND REMEMBRANCE.

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