Jasper's First Thursday at Sound Bites Features Jarid Lyfe Brown

By Cindi Boiter

The Jasper Project is excited to welcome visual artist Jarid Lyfe Brown to our gallery space at Sound Bites Eatery as part of our First Thursday celebration this Thursday, November 7th.

A profoundly original artist, Brown’s technique has typically leaned toward surrealistic expression often by anthropomorphizing animals and visually annotating his subjects on the same canvas.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Columbia, Brown has lived in Gilbert for the -last 17 years. A construction worker by day for the past 30 years, Brown attended SCAD but is, for the most part, self-taught. His work has recently shown at both Soul Haus and Havens Gallery.

“About two years ago, life seemed to be unexpectedly and unusually busy and chaotic,” Brown says. “Between that and lazy excuses, painting and drawing started drifting because I was used to painting very large which can be time consuming. I grabbed a new sketchbook as a sort of documentation device for my current erratic thoughts and regular life experiences. Since a 10x7 book is a bit more portable, this would give me a chance to work anywhere. These small new works [in his Sound Bites exhibition] reflect about two years of sporadic expression, sometimes even forced so to not let go of something that means so much.”

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

This Thursday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

featuring

Visual Artist Jean Lomasto

Thursday, October 3rd 5:30 - 8 pm

Sound Bites Eatery

1425 Sumter Street

Kelly Bryant Brings Anthropomorphic Animal Whimsy to First Thursday at Sound Bites

Kelly Bryant’s work is the kind that immediately sparks smiles, urging patrons to come in for a closer look: saintly opossums praying, koalas applying lipstick, and lemurs licking lollipops. 

Bryant is a Connecticut-to-South-Carolina transplant who works full time as a legal worker and fills any spare time she has not wrangling her girls and two cats crafting her art. Fully self-taught, Bryant found painting in an attempt to keep her kids occupied during the COVID-19 lockdown when a Pinterest search for mom activities turned up finger painting.

This activity, however, soon became a passion as Bryant brought “animals doing human things or wearing human attire” to life through bright colors and finger strokes. These soon turned to brush strokes as, post-YouTube rabbit hole, experience and joy alike blossomed. Then, and now, Bryant holds to the lesson that “everyone should do more of what makes them happy.” 

As the hobby solidified into a part of Bryant’s everyday life, she joined the Crooked Creek Art League. Since then, she found oils, which have become her go-to, and she has begun officially showing her work. Bryant showed at this past South Carolina State Fair and at Crooked Creek’s Still Hopes Art Exhibition—where she won a Patron Award. 

It has been a whirlwind of a journey that Bryant feels ever grateful for. She is “finding [her] style and solidifying it throughout everything [she] creates,” and she is continuously grateful that she gets to “watch other people smile when they walk by and see [her] animals.” 

Bryant’s work for this show is an amalgamation of her time as an artist thus far: work from her early finger-painting adventures to oil pieces dry just in time for hanging. It is a collection of bright, whimsical, yet comforting creatures that are effortlessly her own. 

“My art is a reflection of my journey—ever-evolving and always having a bit of fun along the way,” Bryant emphasizes. 

To see Kelly Bryant’s work, join Jasper for her Opening Reception during First Thursday at Sound Bites Eatery on 1425 Sumter Street THIS Thursday, September 5th from 5:30pm—8:00pm.

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

We’re looking for a few good artists!

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

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

Application Deadline is October 15th.

We’re looking forward to hearing from YOU!

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

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

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

Sean Madden’s Intimately Familiar Landscapes at Sound Bites Eatery

Sean Madden

is the Jasper Project’s Featured Artist for June at

Sound Bites Eatery

Sean Madden is a multimedia artist who captures landscapes and portraits of Columbia in such a way that makes the images both familiar and fresh at the same time.  

Both Madden’s parents were artists, so creating was never foreign to him. His mother was an accomplished oil painter, and his father was a master carpenter, scratch painter, and sculptor. Though art came naturally, it was music that first captured Madden’s interest. 

“The influence of my parents came full circle in the early 2000s when I began working for a piano and antique restoration company,” Madden says. “And my knowledge of wood carving and ability to work an artist's brush proved invaluable.”

However, it was after the loss of his mother in 2019 that Madden was moved to “return to [his] roots” and begin painting once more. This time, it stuck, and he now finds it hard to pull himself from whatever surface he’s sketching on during any free time. 

Madden’s inspirations come from all around him, from the world he traverses each day. Though he began capturing these scenes with oil, he embraces all mediums, including gouache, acrylic, watercolor, graphite, and ink. 

“My main goal, when I sit down behind the easel, is to find some way of bridging reality with nostalgic fantasy,” he explains. “I tend to be drawn towards images centering around water and the play of light and shadow.”  

Madden has had his work displayed in venues around Columbia and Myrtle Beach, has found success as a part-time commission artist, and is proud to have works in fourteen states and two countries. 

His work for this show features landscapes both familiar and yet intimately personal. The common image of the Lake Murray Dam is interrupted by a buzzard that swooped down only feet from Madden on a visit. Two eerie beach scenes display the view from a quiet walk he and his wife took after Hurricane Ian struck the hotel at which they were vacationing. 

Madden’s work is available to view at Sound Bites Eatery (1425 Sumter St.) until the end of June. Sound Bites is open from 10am–3pm on weekdays and 11am–3pm on weekends. Purchases can be made through scanning QR codes on the paintings’ labels.

 

 

Jasper Welcomes MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI to SOUND BITES EATERY GALLERY for First Thursday

A veteran of Jasper Galleries, we’re excited to bring artist Michael Krajewski to our gallery space at Sound Bites Eatery, which is one of our favorite places to admire and discuss art with so many of our Midlands area friends. The exhibition opens Thursday night, during First Thursday, at 6 pm. Sound Bites is located at 1425 Sumter Street, just a short block off Main

Jasper asked Krajewski for a little tease about what he is bringing to Sound Bites and he’s what he gave us:


Jasper: What have you been working on lately and what should we expect to see in this new show? Any surprises? 

Krajewski: I've been doing a bit of everything! Commissions, teaching private lessons, and ongoing mural work at the Black Rooster. Newest mix media project is a 72in trout sculpture for City of Columbia. For the new show at Sound Bites, folks can expect to see some familiar favorites and some new smaller pieces, as well as some older work. I do have a new larger piece that I'll be showing for the first time, but no spoilers there [puts on his best Matthew McConaughey impression] 'Wouldn't be a surprise if I told ya, now would it?"

 

Jasper: There seems to be a new and unique quality to your work -- have you noticed it? to what do you attribute this? 

Krajewski: I can't really say that I've noticed. That's really interesting though, and I'll take it as a compliment. I think my art evolves with me, so I'd like to think that it's just a sign my own evolution. 

 

Jasper:  Can you tell us about 2 or 3 of your favorite pieces that you will be offering at this show?  

Krajewski: This show is sprinkled through with notes on love and nostalgia... I'm hoping folks check out "Holding hands" (especially if you like otters in party hats) I just finished a mix media piece (paint on a record) Titled "Love Me for What I am" that I hope people respond to. 

Thanks Michael! We’ll see you all this Thursday night, February 1st, 2024 from 6 - 9 pm!

For more info on Jasper Galleries and to submit YOUR WORK for consideration, please check us out here!

Jasper Recommended Last Minute Local Gifts for the Most Favored People on your Christmas List!

Why send your money to strangers when your gift purchases can help support local artists?

Jasper intern Liz Stalker has put together a list of gift suggestions she gleaned from researching the local market of arts presents and here are a few of her hot finds!

Prints, Stickers, and Paintings from Malik Greene!

Visit Red Bubble to find everything from paintings to t-shirts to shower curtains by Columbia artist and muralist, Ija Charles!

Let Zoo Valdes hook you up with a

Marius Valdes original coffee mug or tote bag!

Represent Columbia Music with a t-shirt, sticker, or button from

Death Ray Robin!

Cafe Press can hook you up with Root Doctors shirts and merch from

lots of other local bands!

Pick up a copy of Ed Madden’s Story of the City,

Carla Damron’s Justice Be Done,

Cassie Premo Steele’s Beaver Girl,

Claudia Smith Brinson’s Stories of Struggle,

Aida Rogers’ State of the Heart,

Jim Sonnefeld’s Swimming with the Blowfish,

and works by any number of local authors at

All Good Books Bookstore!

Visual Art makes for some of the most intimate of presents.

Check out Mike Brown Contemporary for work by

more than 30 local South Carolina artists including

David Yaghjian (above), Aggie Zed, Cedric Umoja, Jeff Donovan, Mark Flowers, and Lori Starnes!

Visit Sound Bites Eatery or any of the other

Jasper Galleries for original art by local artists!

Also pick up lunch for a friend

or a Sound Bites gift card!

Celebrate the art of a fine meal with gift cards from food artists like

Eddie Wales and Wesley Fulmer

and their restaurants that also support the local art by hanging and showing local art on their walls!

Motor Supply Bistro is currently showing the work of Jasper board member Laura Garner Hine.

Visit Bandcamp

and search for your favorite local artists to

give the gift of home-grown tunes this Christmas!

And the SC Philharmonic makes it easy to give the

gift of classical music with their

Holiday Gift Guide created just for you!

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!

First Thursday with Barbie Mathis - Coming up November 2nd

Please join the Jasper Project as we welcome Barbie Mathis to First Thursday at Sound Bites Eatery on Thursday, November 2nd!

Barbie Mathis, a native of Columbia, SC, has been working as a professional artist since 1980. Over the years, she has evolved as an illustrator, designer and painter working in various media with her main emphasis being Watermedia (Acrylic and Watercolor) painting. Barbie’s primary focus has been on realistic florals and landscapes immersed in layers of colorful glazes, dramatic lighting and rich, natural backgrounds. She has also created her own artistic renditions of people and animals. Most recently, Mathis has been experimenting with a variety of realistic, abstracted and mixed-media styles in Acrylic Paint.

Mathis studied Fashion Design and Illustration at Bauder Fashion College in Atlanta, GA. She has since worked in advertising, graphic design and mat design for various newspapers, printing companies and art galleries. She has been published by Bentley House Publishing and currently self-publishes a limited number of fine art prints. Barbie was awarded her Signature Membership in the South Carolina Watermedia Society in 2006. She has exhibited and won awards in numerous shows, and her work is in both public and private collections around the country. Barbie was an adjunct instructor at Midlands Technical College for 9 years. And, she currently teaches painting at City Art Gallery in Columbia, SC. She also teaches private classes and workshops for individuals and art leagues in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast. Her work and contact information may be found on FB: Barbie Mathis Studio or IG: @BarbieMathisArt
__
Artist Statement:
“The Great Experiment,” a show of small, experimental Acrylic paintings by Barbie Mathis

My word for 2023 has been Experiment. Exploring Acrylic paint, and painting some of the many looks and styles that it can achieve has been my “Great Experiment”. This show represents a variety of ways that I have used Acrylic paint to look like Watercolors, Oils, Acrylics and Mixed-Media in all of its thick and thin, realistic to abstracted styles. I have also explored both hard and soft details and patterns in nature, shapes and artificial textures. It is my hope that the viewer will find pleasure in the differences.

Amy Kuenzie at Sound Bites Eatery!

Amy Kuenzie is Jasper’s featured artist at Sound Bites Eatery this month!

A native South Carolinian currently based in Lexington, Kuenzie says her artistic inspiration is the beauty in everyday life and attributes this policy to “the result of living in the moment and seeking refuge from memories of trauma.”

Kuenzie’s favorite medium is acrylic and she uses special techniques such as bokeh (bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image) and brush work to create depth and focus.

Kuenzie studied art for seven years in her youth but did not pursue further education after high school. After retiring, she began painting as a means of therapy for C-PTSD. Her work has been included in over a dozen shows including Piccolo Spoleto 2022 at City Gallery, in Charleston, SC.

According to Kuenzie, “Borrowing subjects from my life or nature, I use color and depth of field to draw the viewer in to see the emotion and personality of each piece.” She continues, “Painting has helped me heal from Complex-PTSD and to connect with my truest self. Through use of value and contrast, I expose and preserve a moment in time and provide the viewer a new perspective on the beauty all around us.”

Kuenzie’s Jasper-sponsored exhibit at Sound Bites will be on view throughout the month of September at 1425 Sumter Street in downtown Columbia, SC.







David Dohan on Blurring the Boundaries Between Imagination and the Natural World

David Dohan’s Jasper Galleries show at Sound Bites is coming to a close after a month of sharing his unique perspective on the natural world.  

A Columbia artist, Dohan was born in Connecticut of Italian, Hungarian, Czechoslovakian, and Polish descent.

 “My family, generations of fisherman, carpenters, mechanics, and engineers, moved down to Naples, Florida, in the early 80’s for work in a place that was just starting to boom,” he recalls, “There I grew up amongst temperate pine forests, lowland swamps of the everglades, limestone filtered lakes, and crystal-clear waters of the Florida Keys.” 

It wasn’t long after this that Dohan had his first experience with art, but it was not simply making art in a class that served as the catalyst—it was early childhood defiance.  

“The power of art and how it affects people has been burned into my memory from a very early age. My first memorable moment of its power was as early as first grade. When the teacher had to step away for an emergency and told us all to remain seated…I grabbed my chair and slid it up close to the chalkboard, grabbed the chalk, and stepped up onto it,” he reminisces, “On my tippy toes I drew the biggest cartoon dinosaur I could. A three-foot-tall T-Rex that, as I recall, looked amazingly like Barney. The students were amazed, and for the first time in my life I felt talented. My heart is filled with such pride whenever someone says my art is beautiful.” 

That moment led Dohan to draw every day until the point, as a teenager, he never left home without a sketchbook and tools. When it was time to go to college, he knew an art path was the only option. He chose to attend Ringling School of Art and Design, where he graduated with a BA in Fine Arts, majoring specifically in computer animation and video production. At Ringling, however, he experimented with a plethora of tools and techniques.

 “Ringling is renowned for teaching classic foundational techniques with experimentation of all mediums while being trained in composition, color, design, and appeal with a focus on the ways of the masters,” he shares, “It was vigorous and immersive at the same time. We were given creative freedom but had to follow specific goals in order to complete our projects as we rotated through all the mediums.”  

The mediums Dohan explored there included charcoal, pastel, oils, acrylics, clay, wood, metal, photography, and printmaking—however, among all these, one stood out: watercolor.  

“I love the way watercolor is immersive, unpredictable, and chaotic. I found myself drawn to the way it flows, reacts, and is defined by the paper, gravity, and additives in the water,” he shares, “I found it challenging to control and it led me to search for the best techniques to produce the qualities I was looking for.” 

As he has honed his techniques over the years, Dohan finds that he utilizes various ones even today as it is the subject matter that truly determines the technique.  

“Sometimes I do a piece with straight on brushwork, wet on wet, dry on dry, or washes. I also like to photograph my subject in multiple angles and lighting. This allows me to construct my artwork using this imagery to produce my compositions,” he details,” I use one of my favorites which is masking and pouring. It allows me to fully think of the subject and create the details needed to fully capture the subject while building detail with additional techniques like scraping, stippling, spattering, even using soap, and salt for texture.”

 To prepare for this exploration of subject matter and technique, Dohan often starts with an image; this image may be a specific, singular leaf or an idea in his head that he needs to storyboard and sketch.  

As he emphasizes, “Finally after completing hundreds of thousands of marks the piece is completed but only when every millimeter of the page has been realized, all positive and negative space has been balanced, and the idea can be understood from a stranger's perspective.” 

The image these strangers will find when looking at Dohan’s work will almost always be that of the natural world, specifically landscapes.  

“I always felt landscapes are very relaxing to paint. I enjoy being able to prepare some paper, throw some paint on it and just see what comes of it,” he explains, “This is how the canyon series evolved. They were experiments in different palettes and techniques and how the paint reacted to different papers. I slowly evolved them and pushed myself to create depth, perspective, form, texture, and build each piece with each additional technique and readjusting with each addition.” 

Though Dohan paints landscapes, paints images of the natural world as it is, this does not limit his creativity—not in the least. In fact, it compounds it.  

“I draw a lot from my imagination. Creating characters, alien worlds, underwater reefs, and landscapes that I have gleaned from my various travels around the country. I love science, technology, and the natural world,” he effuses, “I am amazed at how our universe works. The physics of it and the life in it. I try to see good in everything, all the while, trying to make it through this life without harmfully colliding with everything else. I am amazed by the flow of time, growth, and how life evolves. How everything affects the things around it.” 

For his show at Sound Bites, Dohan decided to select a number of pieces from across his career, a sampling of his vast imagination’s take on the world’s vast landscape.

 “All of these pieces are from different time periods of my career, very early to quite recent. I tried to show a good variety of styles, mediums, and subject matter. I also pulled some pieces out of my personal collection that I have held onto for decades,” he intimates, “I hold a very personal attachment to all of my artwork since I mostly do my artwork for myself. I try to create something that I feel is beautiful and that I would put on the walls of my home. I believe that people try to surround themselves with beauty and to showcase their personal style.” 

For those who viewed the show at SoundBites—and all those who view his work in the future—Dohan’s main goal is to craft a bond between patron and painting: “I just hope that someone will have a special connection with the art I create and love it enough to own it. Only then it can have the chance to show those around you a little piece of your personality that is sometimes untold.”

 

And connections he has made. Dohan’s art career has a thread of success running through it, having a healthy handful of recognition and exhibition under his belt, including:

  • 1994 – First year college works - The Eleven Young Artist Exibition – Cove Gallery, Naples, Florida

  • 1995 – Naples Art Association Scholarship in Art Competition Award – Emerging Artist Show

  • 1998 – Ringling School of Art and Design – Best of Ringling Award – Annual Juried Student Exhibition

  • 1998 – Siggraph 98 -International Conference of Computer Graphics and Interactive Technology

    • Senior Thesis – The Wonder of It All – Computer Animated short - Was included in the broadcasts on kiosks throughout the conference.

  • 1998 – Sixth Annual Digital Salon – Wonder of it All  - Computer Animated short

  • 1998 – Ventues- Visual Art Museum – New York

  • 1999 – Circulo de Bellas Artes – Madrid, Spain

  • 1999 – Triennale di Milano - Milan, Italy

  • 1999 – Centro de Cultura Contemporanea – Barcelona, Spain

  • 1999 – Sala de Exposiciones CAM – Alicante, Spain

  • 2000 – Electronics  Exhibition – University of Tampa Scarfone/Hartley Galleries 

Dohan’s work may come down from Jasper Galleries at Sound Bites this weekend, but he isn’t going anywhere. 

“I have the Cottontown Art Crawl in the spring of next year lined up. I try to have a collectors show every year. I invite my fan base to come and look at the newest of my works, but a venue has not been decided,” he shares, “I am always working on new pieces and these days they take longer and longer. Especially since life sometimes gets in the way of its creation.”  

You can see Dohan’s current and past work at his website or on his Facebook page

Curious patrons and interested artists can learn more about Jasper Galleries here.

Jasper Project presents Keith Tolen at Sound Bites for April's First Thursday

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2023 AT 6 PM – 9 PM

1425 Sumter Street in Columbia

You’re invited to help Jasper welcome Keith Tolen and his art to First Thursday this month at Sound Bites Eatery on Sumter Street.

Retired educator, protegee of Leo Twiggs, devoted husband, father, and full time artist, Keith Tolen is a man of surprises and his new show at Sound Bites, opening Thursday night as part of April’s First Thursday festivities, makes that clear.

According to Tolen, “My art experience has been both fulfilling and complex. I love the process of creating. In many ways I am more attracted to the process than the product that is produced. The artwork in this collection is an extension of my personal story of searching for meaning in the everyday activities that are around us. Music has always provided me with inspiration for new ideas. I am a big fan of live music, especially jazz. Jazz musicians have provided me with a wealth of subject content. Recently my art has taken on another turn as I explore the nature of the dot or point. The relation of the shape of the dot whether standing alone or clustered in groups has assisted me in finding a new language for my visual communication methods.”

The title of Tolen’s Sound Bites show is Mask-A-Raid III. The evening kicks off at 6 pm and we’re also welcoming instant-portrait artist Jamie Peterson back to help us save our memories of the night and the show.

Free and open to the public. Grab a soup, sandwich, or salad as well as a drink or two, and make yourself at home at Sound Bites, Columbia’s coolest arts cafe!

Announcing the Jasper Project Lineup for our First Thursday Sound Bites Gallery and our Third Thursday Koger Center Gallery

Lucas Sams ~ Colleen Crichter ~ Charles Hite ~ Cait Maloney ~ Steven White ~ David Dohan ~ Jean Lomasto ~ Amy Kuenzie ~ Lila McCullough ~ Barbie Mathis ~ Thomas Crouch ~ Lindsay Radford ~ Quincy Pugh ~ Cedric Umoja ~ Lauren Chapman

Artist - Colleen Crichter - March 2023

Jasper is excited to announce the lineup for 2023’s featured artists at our First Thursday Sound Bites Eatery Gallery as well as at our newly inaugurated Jasper Gallery Space at Koger Center for the Arts.

Check back in as their shows approach for more information about the featured artists but, for now, please mark your calendars for the First and Third Thursdays of each month to welcome the following artists and possibly to welcome some of their art to your home.

 Jasper’s First Thursday Gallery at Sound Bites Eatery

February – Lucas Sams

Join us Thursday February 2nd to welcome Lucas Sams as a first time First Thursday Artist

March – Colleen Crichter

Opening March 3rd

April – Charles Hite

Opening April 6th

May – Cait Maloney

Opening May 4th

June – Steven White

Opening June 1st

July – David Dohan

Opening July 6th

August – Jean Lomasto

Opening August 3rd

September – Amy Kuenzie

Opening September 7th

October – Lila McCullough

Opening October 5th

November – Barbie Mathis

Opening November 2nd

December -  Holiday Art Show TBA

 

 

Jasper’s Third Thursday Gallery Space at the Koger Center

January – Thomas Crouch

Crouch’s work will be on view through January

February – Lindsay Radford

Opening February 16th

March – Quincy Pugh

Opening March 16th

— April – Koger curated —

May – Cedric Umoja

Opening May 18th

June – Lauren Chapman

Opening June 15th

Lauren Chapman - Koger Center, June 2023

Cait Maloney - Sound Bites Eatery, May 2023

Giving Thanks: The Jasper Project Board of Directors Share What They Are Thankful for in the Midlands Arts Community

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”

- William Faulkner

We asked the Jasper Project Board of Directors and Jasper Magazine Editorial Staff to share what they are most thankful for from the Midlands Area Arts community and here’s what some of them said.

I will be forever grateful to Anastasia Chernoff for encouraging me when I thought "I'm not good enough" and for Bohumila Augustinova's continued encouragement and inclusion in all things art. Columbia has a wonderful arts community with amazing talent and I am happy to know so many of them.

-          Diane Hare, Jasper Board Secretary

  

I am thankful for the USC art department annual holiday art sell - I always get something really cool from the art students and staff. 

I am thankful for the restaurants and businesses that let Jasper Galleries show artwork in their spaces.  Shout out to:  Motor Supply, Harbison Theatre, Sounds Bites, Bourbon, and the Meridian building.  

I am thankful for Cindi and Bob who are very generous all year with their time, talents, and donations to keep Jasper Project going for the Midlands.

-          Bert Easter, Jasper Galleries and Projects

 

This is such an easy question that it’s difficult.  I am thankful first and foremost for having so many gifted friends who are so easy to admire.  Sometimes I forget that not all lives are filled with rich conversations and deep laughter, so I must take this moment to heartily congratulate myself on the quality of my associations.  But if I have to be specific, and I feel I do, I must thank Trustus Theatre for opening their arms and hearts and doors to me—doors to opportunity, to a life in the theater, to a wider arts community, to moments of great joy.  I’m thankful for Trustus Theatre who continually strives to bring lively and poignant shows to Columbia. I’m grateful for both the ridiculously talented actors who bring these performances to life and to the passionate staff & crew who make Trustus so perpetually welcoming and warm. Without Trustus my life would have been very different and much, much, much smaller.  But now, in my second act, it’s Jasper and Muddy Ford Press who have given me a sense of validation and Things To Do that I find worth doing.   If you’re reading this—and you cannot deny that you are—you are very likely one of the people who has made my life a good one, and I’m thankful for you. 

-          Jon Tuttle, Jasper Play Right Series Manager

 

I am thankful for First Thursdays. Being able to go to a free monthly art and music event is really special. 

-          Bekah Rice, Jasper Digital Manager, Sundays with Jasper, Projects

 

I am truly thankful for the vibrant arts scene in Columbia SC which ranges from classical to cutting edge!  For a city of this size, the breadth, depth, and quality of our arts and entertainment industry is truly amazing. I am grateful to Jasper Magazine for the way it covers all of what’s going on in this space.  And of course, I am grateful that The Palmetto Opera can be part of it all!

-          Paul Leo. PRS Community Producer and Opera Liaison

 

I’m thankful for Trustus Theatre who continually strives to bring lively and poignant shows to Columbia. I’m grateful for both the ridiculously talented actors who bring these performances to life and to the passionate staff & crew who make Trustus so perpetually welcoming and warm. 

-          Christina Xan, Jasper Board Treasurer, Galleries and Projects

 

I’m thankful for this job at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, a place that allows me to be a creative programmer as well as to support the local arts community. What a gift when your work brings you so much joy. 

I’m thankful for Jasper Magazine.  Jasper has introduced me to so many new friends and artists.  People who I now consider my chosen family.  What a gift to have this beautiful publication to showcase the myriad of artists and arts opportunities in the area. 

I’m thankful for my latest theatrical opportunity and the NiA Company for taking a chance on me with their production of Riff Raff.  What a gift to perform and to challenge yourself as an actor. 

-          Kristin Cobb. Jasper Board VP, Harbison Theatre ED 


I'm thankful for the vibrant and active venues in our local music scene; from the locals-friendly mainstay Art Bar to the seemingly endless supply of touring acts (with local support, yay) that Carlin Thompson has been booking into New Brookland Tavern, the opportunity to see even bigger acts at The Senate and even smaller ones at Uncle Festers, Foxfield, Curiosity Coffee, and more. In my 30 years of being involved in the local scene, I think this may be the most active period I've ever seen. 

-          Kevin Oliver, Jasper Magazine Music Editor

 

I’m incredibly thankful for this cohesive community of artists and arts patrons. I especially appreciate three sets of people including the restaurant owners and managers who allow Jasper to hang the art of Columbia-based artists on their walls, which supports both artists and the Jasper mission. Thank you Motor Supply Bistro, Sound Bites, and Bourbon Columbia.

I’m also very thankful for the advertisers in Jasper Magazine who are, in fact, more sponsors than clients. They recognize that advertising in Jasper is less a business decision and more a decision to support our entire community of artists via the work of Jasper. Believe me, we know who our friends are, and we support them as much as we can, too. Thank you, Columbia Museum of Art, Harbison Theatre, Trustus Theatre, Workshop Theatre, Palmetto Opera, and University of SC Department of Theatre and Dance.

Finally, I’m thankful for the friends and colleagues who have gone to the trouble of joining the Jasper Guild. From the Artist Peer level at $25 all the way up to the Hero level at $1000, your support is a vote of confidence for those of us on the Jasper Project Board and the Jasper Magazine Editorial Staff. The money helps us fulfill our mission, yes, but the gesture continues to us keep going and moving forward for the past 11 years.  

 

-          Cindi Boiter, Jasper Project ED

Gina Langston Brewer is the First Thursday Artist in Residence at Sound Bites in November

First Thursday

November 3rd @ 6 pm

Sound Bites Eatery

Gina Langston Brewer

The Jasper Project is excited to announce that Gina Langston Brewer will be the November artist-i-residence at the Sound Bites First Thursday Gallery, with an opening reception on Thursday, November 3rd, beginning at 6 pm.

According to Langston Brewer, “Much of my art is inspired by the community of strong women all around me, women who lift one another up every day, who are constantly present, like the air, providing currents of nurturing support and love. My images celebrate our curves, our colors, our joys, and our sorrows — all that gives us dimension and hope and fire in this world.”

Gina Langston Brewer

Langston Brewer’s show will be up throughout the month of November, but the artist will be in house on the night of the 3rd to meet patrons and answer questions.

Sound Bites Eatery has a full menu of sandwiches, salads, and more plus beer, wine, and other beverages.

Jasper Welcomes Lucas Sams to First Thursday at the Bourbon Courtyard

It’s the Jasper Project’s second First Thursday at the Bourbon Courtyard and, this time, we’re excited to welcome Columbia-based visual artist Lucas Sams.

Sams is a multi-media artist living and working in Columbia, SC; an alumnus of the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, the University of South Carolina, and Temple University, Tokyo, working in painting, sculpture, film, digital/multimedia, sound and installation art, with works exhibited in major art festivals, galleries and alternative spaces, and featured in Jasper Magazine, the SC State Newspaper, Garnet and Black Magazine, and the Timber Journal of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Sams is bringing a selection of his work to the Bourbon Courtyard for a one-night-only exhibit on Thursday, October 6th, as part of First Thursdays on Main.

Start your evening as early as 5 pm with a cocktail from Bourbon’s cutting-edge bar offerings while enjoying the art and chatting with the artist, then move on down Main Street to Columbia Museum of Art and one block over to Sumter Street and Sound Bites Eatery where Jasper is also hosting the opening night reception for First Thursday Artist in Residence, Marius Valdes.

It’s just like old times and we can’t wait to see you on and off the streets!


Jasper Welcomes Marius Valdes to October's First Thursday at Sound Bites

We’re delighted to welcome one of Columbia’s most soul-lifting artists, Marius Valdes, to the walls of Sound Bites Eatery for First Thursday, October 6th, starting at 6 pm—no matter what Facebook says!

Happy-hearted Valdes has a reputation for finding and appealing to the child in everyone, and we’ve been excitedly awaiting the day when we could finally hang his art on the walls of one of the happiest places in town to feed your body and spirit, Sound Bites Eatery.

Marius Valdes is an artist currently based in Columbia, South Carolina. He is an Associate Professor in studio art concentrating on design and illustration at The University of South Carolina. He lives in Forest Acres, South Carolina with his wife Beth, daughter Emma, and very lazy but adorable dog, Mary.

Valdes received his BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Georgia and his MFA in Visual Communication from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005.

Valdes has been recognized by design publications such as HOWPrintCommunication ArtsCreative QuarterlySTEP, and industry competitions including American Illustration, AIGA InShow, AIGA SEED Awards, and The South Carolina Advertising Federation Addy Awards.

Valdes' work has been featured in several books about contemporary graphic design and illustration. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions internationally. Valdes has presented at academic conferences about design and illustration related topics.

In 2017, Valdes completed a one-year residency as the first visual Artist in Residence at the award-winning and innovative Richland Library. Currently, Valdes putting the final touches on a mural installation at the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital. 

Sound Bites Eatery is the perfect place to begin or end your First Thursday Festivities with food and drink and happily-ever -after art by Marius Valdes!