Tennyson Corley Invites All to Experience the Natural World Anew in Jasper’s First Tiny Gallery of 2021

Cindi Boiter January 17, 2021

In 2020, Jasper moved its Tiny Gallery online to give artists a space to tell their stories safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This month, native South Carolinian Tennyson Corley has kicked off a new year of these stories with her show, Microcosm.

Corley was born and raised in Columbia, dwelling with her family on a large horse farm on the outskirts of the city. She has never felt a pull to leave the state she calls home, sharing, “I have a strong connection to our state, the landscape, the proximity to the mountains, the forest, the beaches, the wildlife.”

Amongst these connections to the natural world, art also surrounded a young Corley. Her mother was a prominent illustrator and portrait artist who Corley had the fortune to watch create, collaborate, and travel. She now watches the same stories unfold in her own life.

“I got to witness firsthand all the inner workings of being an actual ‘working’ artist,” Corley says, “It definitely had a glamorous side, but I wasn’t jaded to all the other things that go along with it, long nights, rejection, unhappy clients—those experiences really taught me things I could never learn in a formal setting.”

Being steeped in these experiences resulted in Corley deciding to pursue a career in art herself, attending Columbia College to study Fine Art before taking time off to grow into the role of mother to her son, Jasper. When Corley returned to work, it was as a horticulturalist, but one day her husband arrived home with a surprise—a new easel. And that was the push she needed to re-envelop herself in art.

As an artist, Corley lends herself to experimentations. She has worked in printmaking, acrylic, oils, gauche, watercolor, ceramics, indigo art, and more. For Corley, though, painting is her home, what she always returns to.

“I specifically love working in acrylics—the way you can manipulate the paint is practically endless,” she explains, “Recently I have been playing with textures, building up my canvas with recycled materials and different mediums. The process has been cathartic.”

One theme Corley continually finds herself returning to is rooted in the home she has never left—nature and the natural world, specifically within the Southeastern United States. Even outside of visual art, Corley is a strong supporter of protecting the environment and the living beings that dwell in them.

“Through my work, I want to highlight the places and animals we pass by in our daily lives in hopes that connection leads to preservation,” Corley contends, “I hope my paintings can bridge a connection without being too in your face, because sometimes only the quietest voice is heard.”

Her Tiny Gallery show, Microcosm, is an exploration of the natural world via a uniquely insightful lens. As you take a virtual walk through the show, you will see portraits of birds caught in reverie, bees dancing circles around flowers, open oysters marked to receive something unknown, and more.

The show sold out half of its items in the first week. Overwhelmed by the wonderful response, Corley has decided to add 8 more pieces to the show, which will have just gone live when this article is published.

“This show is, in its essence, a compendium of my work through 2020, arranged by various series inspired by travel, work, and my affinity for texture and the evolution it has taken in my recent work,” Corley says. “I want to use the show to highlight my growth as an artist over this past year.”

Reflecting on this past year, Corley admits she was frightened when the pandemic started, not just for herself but the entire art world. However, she gave herself daily painting goals and challenged herself to create small scale work, leading to Microcosm, among other new adventures.

“I ended up being a part of The Crisis Residency, with other artists going through the same gambit of emotions and it helped me find my footing,” Corley accounts, “I mean, artist are innovators and hold the ability to constantly evolve in changing circumstances, right?”

Corley also had the privilege of being the Artist in Residence at Oconee Parks, which she notes as a highlight in her artistic career. Her favorite memory as an artist, though, has been the magic of watching her son follow in her footsteps as she once did her mother’s.

“He has been to my art openings, worked alongside me daily, studied the same books, and had long ‘art talks’ with me,” Corley shares, “It brings back my memories for me to bask in from childhood, and I hope that I leave these we are making with him so that he can one day pass that on if he decides to take that path as well.”

Corley is not sure what the future holds, but one concrete plan she has is an upcoming show with 701’s Hallway Gallery in March.

For now, you can experience Corley’s walk through nature with her show, Microcosm. You can view all the pieces, sold and available, at any time, and you can purchase the available pieces 24/7 as well, up until the gallery’s close on January 31st: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery

If you want to follow Corley after the show, you can check her Instagram at @tennyson_corley_art and her Linktree at linktr.ee/TennysonCorleyArt

CORONA TIMES - Catching Up with Larry Hembree & Columbia Children's Theatre

Cindi Boiter January 11, 2021

Larry Hembree -pictured at Trustus Theatre

In our continuing coverage of Columbia’s arts community and our responses to COVID-19 and the restrictions it compels, the Jasper Project is touching base with members of the community to see how they are faring. Today we’re chatting with Arts All-Star Larry Hembree who is currently the Executive Director of Columbia Children’s Theatre.

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JASPER: Larry, you’ve played a role in the success of several Columbia arts organizations over the past few decades, including a stint as the president of the board of directors of the Jasper Project. For readers who may not know your history, tell us about your background, please. Where did you go to school and what did you study, for example, and then what happened after that?

HEMBREE: Oh lord, child. I hardly remember any of it. Went to Clemson and did a lot of theatre there because my parents told me not to (cast Mike Tyler in his first play there, he played Gunther in Friends, name dropping starts here) Ten minutes after walking through the graduation/diploma line in Littlejohn Coliseum a little tipsy from a bunch of bloody Mary’s a favorite English professor had served that morning, I ran across campus with BA in English intact in my hand still adorned in graduation robe and talked to a woman who hired me on the spot to start a summer gig the next day at the Highlands Playhouse (Highlands NC) running the box office. That started it all. I met actors from NYC and all over, got accepted to the University of Georgia Theatre program (had to borrow money from a banker for the first quarter), moved to Athens GA, went to the 40-Watt Club a lot, partied a whole lot, roomed with Alton Brown (Good Eats, Food Network, name dropping continues) in a really crappy old house, and in three years got my MFA in Directing with no debt at the end. Moved to NYC for a short stint working with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson, did summer stock (outdoor musical theatre in front of a golf course) in Jekyll Island Georgia. Worked a good bit there with Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, etc. name-dropping ends here) and then got a long-term 11-year gig running the Camden Community Theatre (Camden SC). Then moved to Columbia in 1997 to work for SC Arts Commission, then worked for Columbia City Ballet, Trustus and then Nickelodeon Theatre before retiring. Then stopped being retired and found beauty at Columbia Children’s Theatre.

JASPER: When did you begin working with CCT and in what capacity?

HEMBREE: I met CCT Artistic Director Jerry Stevenson in 1986 when he was serving on a search committee to hire the first theatre artist in residence at the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County in Camden. That would be me. I got hired and then made the mistake somewhere in my 11-year career there, of telling him (I directed him in shows there too) that I owed him a big favor for giving me that wonderful job and experience. Fast forward to 2016, I had departed Trustus and “retired” when he called me and said, “Remember that favor from the ‘90s you talked about?” and that was that, I wrote the first strategic plan for the theatre, then became their first Director of Development and then their first Executive Director. I love this organization because they do very important work in our community and you get to hang around youth who always tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.

JASPER: Can you talk briefly about the history of CCT and make sure we’re all aware of the main folks involved?

HEMBREE: I’ll give you a bulleted list. That should make all my linear thinking friends very excited. You can also find a very good story I wrote about the CCT history in Jasper Magazine Spring 2016 Issue, Volume 006, Issue 002, pages 80-83.

2005

· CCT founded by Jerry Stevenson and Jim Litzinger.

· Programming takes place out of Sarah Nance Cultural Arts Center Arts Incubator.

· Professional company created to present work at Sarah Nance and throughout the city.

· Classes and Camps offered at Sarah Nance and parks throughout the city.

2009

· Theatre moves to the second floor of Richland Mall.

· YouTheatre created for youth to participate in productions.

· Additional Artistic Associates hired as part of staff.

2010

· CCT celebrates its 35th year (in Dog Years) with a production of Go, Dog, Go!

2017

· CCT expands square footage by relocating to the ground level of Richland Mall adjacent to Barnes & Noble.

· CCT Board hires first Director of Development.

· Central Carolina Community Foundation funds expansion of touring program.

2019

· CCT Board hires first Executive Director, first Director of Finance and first Director of Marketing.

2020

· CCT Board hires first Director of Education.

JASPER: What would your legacy at CCT be if you and your husband packed up tomorrow and moved to Botswana?

HEMBREE: I helped prevent CCT co-founders Jerry and Jim from dying due to stress of running an art non-profit.

JASPER: Assuming you and your husband will be staying put for a while, what goals do you have for your time at CCT?

HEMBREE: On the business side, seeing the completion of our current strategic plan which includes creating and implementing a cultural equity plan, creating more opportunities for more youth to do more things, inspiring more people to know about and attend programs at the theatre, building more internal structures and, most importantly, having more fun!

In addition, focusing on creating and seeing a secession plan for Jerry, Jim and me and, after we retire, we three can just drink martinis for lunch once a week and talk about the good old days and bitch about how these children that we put in charge of running the theatre don’t know what real work is (like back in the day when we had to make flats out of cheesecloth, wood and wheat paste and actors had to learn lines (gasp) and sing without a microphone strapped to our ears and cool stuff like that.

JASPER: Can you please talk for a minute about what life at CCT has been like during the COVID-19 pandemic?

HEMBREE: Being someone who leads with a 7 on the enneagram chart, I have a tendency to flip things to the positive instead of wallow in the pain of reality. It has been great fun! (insert emoji of someone screaming, crying and choking themselves all at the same time.)

Honestly, working through the complexities of the pandemic has shown me what a stellar staff and board we have put in place. We have moved forward with creativity, flexibility and maintaining a sense of humor. What else can you ask for right now? I feel blessed to be where I am.

Here are some specifics that show we have not been sitting around on our butts crying over COVID-19.

COVID may have closed our Main Stage, but we remained committed to bringing the joy and magic of live theatre to each of your households in any way we still could. When the pandemic began in March, we went online, reading bedtime stories on streams and beaming a little bit of normalcy across the city. In the end, we were able to organize 30 summer classes, 8 productions recorded and premiered virtually, new workshops taught by actors and artists from across the country – all without cracking open the doors to the general public at 3400 Forest Drive.

JASPER: What have your major obstacles been and how have you tried to problem solve them?

HEMBREE: The major obstacles that our folks are calling “opportunities” are that with every decision you make right now, COVID-19 and equity have to be part of the conversation to get to what you would consider a correct decision. And I am not saying that’s a bad thing at all. Artists have always owned the creative gene and are expert problem solvers.

*All photos courtesy of Larry Hembree and Columbia Children’s Theatre*

JASPER: Assuming we’ll be wearing masks for a bit longer, how do you plan to help CCT meet its mission going forward? What should we be looking for from CCT?

HEMBREE: We have great CCT masks for sale for adults and kids. To purchase one or ten, simply email me at larry@columbiachildrenstheatre.com and I’ll set you up.

Oh yeah, the question: I had one of our very smart board members remind us all the other day (as we were wallowing in how to survive and were coming up ridiculous ideas/solutions) we need to remember to stick to our mission and we would be ok. So, we quickly refocused on transforming the lives of our youth and families through the power of live theatre. So, we will continue doing that. Focusing on education, classes, how to offer safe social interaction and educational opportunities for youth in our city. We have four or five more shows lined up to present virtually (rehearsing and filming shows on stage and then presenting them virtually) in early 2021. We will also be aggressively searching for additional organizations to partner with.

JASPER: Jasper is excited to be neighbors with you CCT guys at the new 1013 Co-Op. Do you have any secret thoughts on ways we might collaborate that we can tease our readers with?

HEMBREE: Here’s my secret list:

· Start a series to create and educate a diverse pool of arts critics in our city

· Start a midlands theatre consortium

· Celebrate anything and everything!

JASPER: Given your level of experience with different arts organizations in Columbia, what do you think the future holds and what do you think we need to be prioritizing in order to continue to grow as a community, as organizations, and as individual artists?

HEMBREE: I was extremely lucky to be part of the team that created the Amplify plan for Arts and Culture overseen by the and One Columbia for Arts & Culture. It was an intense learning experience to work side by side with consultant Margie Reese for over two years and meet lots of new folks in our city who deserve to have a voice in creating a strong cultural base here. I learned that once you gather all your information from your community, you have to put it into policy. It can’t dangle around in the air; it has to become policy to be effective and to garner real results. I hope our city and county will step up to the plate and embrace the policies set forth in the plan.

If you haven’t look at the Amplify plan, now’s your chance while we sit and wait to get our vaccine shots: Find it at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l0hafckjg5wui7v/Amplify.pdf?dl=0

JASPER: Can you share some words of wisdom with readers to help them grasp what COVID-life is like for arts organizations?

HEMBREE: I hosted a zoom session for arts leaders in April or May to get a reading on the pulse of what was happening with my peers. Here is what I found: We are not working on self-care very well; we don’t know when to stop working as many of us are working from home and technology savviness is key to our successes right now. That is a challenge for arts leaders who never took a class on “programming for Zoom.”

However, even though we are all struggling to figure out how we can bring in more earned income for the time being, overall, we remain positive for the future. We are also all very thankful for our supporters who are stepping up in major ways and to local, state and national funders who are standing by our sides and assisting.

JASPER: Anything else you’d like to say? Here’s your platform!

HEMBREE: Just one thing (for now):

I hope that arts and culture will live again in the White House. I recently sat down and rewatched the video of the day when the Obama’s brought in the cast of Hamilton to perform when it was still in infancy. I wept as I heard our national leaders talk smartly about how the arts inform and become a record of what is going on in our society, how the arts serve as catalysts for conversations that might not normally occur and how we should all see beauty in ourselves when we participate in cultural experiences.

I have really missed artistic cred from the top over the past four years and I am very hopeful that will change.

For more information on Columbia Children’s Theatre check out their website!

Welcome Tennyson Corley to Jasper's Tiny Gallery

Cindi Boiter January 5, 2021

We’re loving the precious little pieces of art Tennyson Corley is sharing with you this month via Jasper’s Tiny Gallery.

Tennyson Corley is a contemporary painter living and working in Columbia, South Carolina. Showing professionally since 2010, she has been honing her painting style in acrylics and mixed media. She works out of her studio on her small farm minutes from city proper. Corley attended Columbia College for a degree in Fine Art.

Tennyson captivates her audience with depiction of native flora and fauna. Her pieces pay homage to her work as a horticulturalist and love of nature. Seeking out new inspirations through her travels, she strives to portray the beauty of the South East region to her viewers.

These small pieces are offered at an affordable price and, while they stand alone beautifully, they also complement gallery style displays of larger pieces by adding interest and detail.

We’ll be writing more about Corley later in the month but , since her work is selling fast, we wanted to make sure Tiny Gallery lovers don’t miss out on this lovely art.

Visit MICROCOSM BY TENNYSON CORLEY at the Jasper Project’s Tiny Gallery.

Roger Reed’s Tiny Gallery Show, The Magic Universe, Invites All Into Its Celebration of Color, Shape, and Perception

Cindi Boiter December 17, 2020

By Christina Xan

Ever since Jasper took its Tiny Gallery Series online in June, we have received an outpouring of love for our artists. We are grateful for all the artists who have shared their stories and to the community that has joyously received them. And we’re excited to wrap up our year with a magical show from local artist, Roger Reed.

Reed was born and raised right here in Columbia and attended CA Johnson High School before moving to Richmond for college. “My father loved to draw when he was in grade school, and my stepmother loved to fool around with puzzles, “Reed shares, “But for the most part, art was not in my family.”

“…it was so beautiful it made me want to create something beautiful myself,”

Regardless, the now 69-year-old started drawing when he was only five or six. “A big brother friend of mine showed me a walking stick that he had just made, and it was so beautiful it made me want to create something beautiful myself,” Reed reflects. “The universe must have sent him to me because I was very poor and needing something to believe in.”

After this interaction, the then elementary school boy experimented with drawing before moving onto soft pastels in high school. Though he enjoyed a variety of genres, portraits were what he practiced in the most. “When anybody needed artwork for their class project, they would come to me,” he recalls.

Due to this, Reed considered art school, but fate had different plans. “My art teacher in high school wanted me to go to art school, as did I, so I went to Virginia Union University thinking they had an art school and they didn’t,” he reveals, “They told me a lie to get me to play football for them.”

Since then, the self-taught artist has experimented with a variety of mediums. While he has worked with pencils, charcoals, ballpoint pens, oil pastels, and soft pastels, acrylics are his current go-to. “Acrylic on canvas gives me what all the other mediums give me and more,” Reed explains. “Acrylics dry rock hard, are cleaner, and the canvas is more durable; with acrylic I can paint over what I do not want and replace it with what I do.”

Reed has chased his passion in a plethora of ways, and for sixty years, he did realist work—portraits, buildings, houses, and still-lifes. However, recently, he decided he wanted to switch the normal up, and for nearly 5 years, he’s been growing with abstract work.

“I went to abstract because I wanted to play a little bit more, not be so serious,” Reed says. “Sometimes I feel I'm working on the same subject all the time, but on the other hand, I keep moving to a new ideal—I have heard it said that real art has nothing to do with realism.”

Reed’s current show, aptly titled The Magic Universe, is a fresh interaction of color and shape. Startling turquoises weave within honeyed yellows. Sunset bulbs sit among twisting vines. Slivers of blue slip between collaged teardrops. Tendrils, spirals, and spheres reach out and invite you into their world.

“I hope what people get art out of the show is nothing but art. I hope my art brings them joy and no pain. I hope they have fun just like I do,” Reed says. “I call the show Magic Universe because I see the magic in the work, and I see the Universe also.”

Reed has been sharing his love with Columbia for years and reflects back on a highlight of his career—a large acrylic painting he donated to an art auction in West Columbia was auctioned off for three thousand dollars. “The money was used to pay for scholarships,” Reed remembers, “The painting was a picture of the Kids Museum on Gervais Street.”

When it comes to the future, while Reed does not know what it will hold, he can say one thing confidently: “I do not think I will stop creating.”

Two weeks are left to treat yourself or a loved one to a unique and irreplaceable holiday gift.

The Magic Universe, will be up until December 31st on the Jasper website: https://the-jasper-project.square.site/tiny-gallery

After the show, you can view Reed’s work on his Artrepeneur site: https://artrepreneur.com/p/7H9wnth9qMtTX9vME

Tiny Gallery will continue in 2021! The purpose of the Tiny Gallery Series is to allow artists an opportunity to show a selection of their smaller pieces of art offered at affordable price points attractive to beginning collectors and arts patrons with smaller budgets. If you are interested in showing at Tiny Gallery, please email Christina Xan at jasperprojectcolumbia@gmail.com

TONIGHT! Claudia Smith Brinson Talks about New Book - Stories of Struggle

Cindi Boiter December 10, 2020

Jasper will be sharing a review with you later, but today we’re excited about tonight’s interview with Claudia Smith Brinson as she discusses her new book, Stories of Struggle: The Clash over Civil Rights in South Carolina, just published by USC Press.

Hosted by Lexington County Library and beginning at 6:30 pm — register for this exciting conversation at

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1442893917728807951

CORONA TIMES: Local Musician Ahomari Talks New Music and the Importance of Expression as a Black, Queer Artist and Human Being

Cindi Boiter November 23, 2020

“The environment in 2020 is not new to me except for the pandemic…I’ve always been Black and Queer and have been able to create regardless.”

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Jasper has been checking in on local artists, seeing what they’ve been creating, and ensuring their voices get heard. I was able to have a virtual interview with local musician, Ahomari, about their new EP, Girl Kiss II (September 2020), and their creative process this year. The 29-year-old artist shared their raw experiences with music making, the importance of saying what needs to be said, and some advice for fellow Black creators.

Jasper: Ahomari, I don’t believe we’ve met, but I’ve enjoyed discovering your work through this writing process! Can you tell me what first led you to music as a form of expression?

Ahomari: Music has been my everything since I was a little kid. When albums would come through the house, I’d read all the liner notes. Would make little lists of my favorite producers and songwriters. I would make loops of my favorite parts from the instrumental breaks in songs from CD to cassette tape. I guess you could say I was sampling, but I honestly didn’t know what I was doing. Think I was like 9. Songwriting started at 8, but it was very simple and mostly nonsense.

Jasper: So, music was your first form of creation then?

Ahomari: My first mode of creation was visual. My mom taught how to draw, and I was always either drawing horses or fashion designs. My mom can do fashion design, and I think I inherited some of that from her though I have no fashion sense. I used to also write little books. Like full on stories with chapters and shit. My brain these days is kind of fried but that’s not of my own doing. The human body is weird.

Jasper: That it is. Did you, or do you, have any major artistic influences that inspire your music making? Or perhaps experiences that continually show up in your work?

Ahomari: Most of my inspiration is taken from all the music I grew up with but these days it’s mostly Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson and Arthur Russell. A lot of my music is about my experiences as a queer and how it’s like to navigate with everything going on in my head.

Jasper: When you take what’s in your head and transform it into music, do you typically produce in a specific genre, or do you like to play around?

Ahomari: I don’t really know what genre is for me personally. It’s all electronic, I guess. I don’t take mainly from one genre. I’ve always wanted to be a pop star, but nothing I make comes out grand like an NSYNC or a Samantha Mumba. It comes its own way. I do want to make a full-on punk Stooges type album, a Post Punk album, a R&B album, a Country album, a like 00s Boyband Pop album.

Jasper: How would someone know when they put on a record that that’s Ahomari?

Ahomari: People have tried to compare me to other artists, and I’ll never understand why. I don’t think I sound like anyone but me. When you hear me, you know it’s me because I’m never current. I’m never in line. Nor am I conventional in any aspect of my being and creatively though I try and fail.

Jasper: Would you say your discography so far is unconventional too?

Ahomari: Everything so far is just an experiment until I get there. I don’t like most of my discography. I love the stuff I did in Blue, Girl, but I end up hating most of my music after releasing it because it never sounds the way I want it to. My discography is disjointed like my music. It exists and it doesn’t at the same time.

Jasper: Well, I know you just released a new EP – Girl Kiss II, right? What all went into making this?

Ahomari: Girl Kiss II started the same time I made the first Girl Kiss project. I don’t have a process. I create when I feel like it. I didn’t know I was gonna release anything. I was done with music to be honest. This also brought my first collabs. I’m mostly 100 percent involved with everything, but this project has a song produced by someone else and I also share writing credits, which is not something I usually do. Thankful to Quiet Year—without them I’d probably be caught in a loop.

Jasper: Having good collaborators is great! How do you go about finding people to work with?

Ahomari: I just be knowing people to be honest. All my friends are talented.

Jasper: You said you were done with music. What stories said, “we need to come out” that resulted in Girl Kiss II?

Ahomari: A lot of the music on Girl Kiss II is old and reworked. One story that needed to come out into this album was that I’m scared of most things human. For a long time, my music has been me being a robot. I deliver my songs like a robot. No emotion as a solo artist. With the music I’m working on currently, I’m allowing myself to express emotion and be fun.

Jasper: That’s awesome! How did you choose what would be the most expressive and fun in this album? Why these songs?

Ahomari: Why not these songs? They’re good songs. Selecting these songs was so easy, though it did go through multiple changes, and I almost didn’t release it, but this album is the most me. This and Blue, Girl are the projects I’m most proud to be a part of. What I made with Sean, Marcy and Kiwyon was so special. It’s the most free I had ever been vocally and lyrically. I really miss it. I miss being in a band. Anyone need a vocalist and writer? Hit me up!

Jasper: On that note, tell me a bit about your process as a vocalist and writer.

Ahomari: I write almost every day in my notes app. I used to keep notebooks on top of notebooks since I was like 11, but I threw them all away. Still remember some of the songs. They were cute. These days I’m working with Eric Fury, so when he sends me a song, I go through my notes to see what could work mostly. Nothing complicated. Writing comes pretty easy to me. My brain won’t shut up.

Jasper: How do you navigate through your brain? How do you know when you’ve picked the right words?

Ahomari: I know I’ve picked the right words when I know it’ll upset someone or myself. I have a song called “Dressed in White” that may be my next single, and the lyrics go, “I’ll hate your white girlfriend instead because it’s better than what I’m feeling.” It’s about queer people of color who exclusively date White people. That’s a complicated conversation. It’s rooted in so many things including self-hate.

Jasper: You did something a lot of people haven’t been able to do lately – you made something. How do you feel the environment of 2020—rife with BLM, a global pandemic, and a divisive election—affected your creative process?

Ahomari: The environment in 2020 is not new to me except for the pandemic being a thing. I’ve always been Black and Queer and have been able to create regardless. It’s just new to people who “care.” When I started talking about this stuff years ago, Columbia wanted me to shut up. I don’t know why they care now. Should of cared far before Donald Trump was in office.

Jasper: No, you’re absolutely right. If there are any creators in a similar place, what would you tell them?

Ahomari: Advice to other Black creatives would be to take care of yourselves first. It’s not easy, but it’s essential to remaining.

Jasper: Lastly, how are you? As a human, as a creator—how is your soul?

Ahomari: My soul is still here despite what it looks like.

If you’d like to support Ahomari’s work, you can peruse their music and purchase Girl Kiss II from their Bandcamp at ahomari.bandcamp.com. You can also support them through contributions at PayPal.Me/Ahomari.

—Christina Xan

POEM: How Zappa Met Suzy Creamcheese by Al Black & Our 1st BOOMERPEDIA Entry

Cindi Boiter November 21, 2020

You climb out of bed, put on a tee-shirt, sweat pants and a ball cap

Walk to the corner store, buy coffee in a Styrofoam cup

Lady at the counter tells you to zip up

Instinctively, you reach down and zip your pants

She barks you could have turned around to zip your pants

You reply she had already seen you unzipped

She calls you rude

Trying to keep peace, you turn to leave

She raises her voice - your Zappa shirt is ugly, too

You turn back around and ask if she ever washes her shirt

Halfway home, you realize sweat pants don't have zippers, go back

Tell her you're sorry that you argued over non-existent zippers

She says it'd been a bad day and she apologizes, too

You realize she is naked from the waist up and ask about her shirt

She tears up, says it was filthy so she took it off to make you happy

You take off Zappa, tell her to put him on

She turns it inside out, puts Zappa next to her skin

You laugh and say that will make Zappa smile

Hand her a napkin from the sandwich display to wipe her eyes

She says quietly she gets off at 8

Back in bed, you wake from your dream, get up

And look for Zappa in the dirty laundry on the floor

The Jasper Project thanks board member Al Black for generously sharing his poetry with our readers. Watch for more in the Al Black Jasper Project Poetry Series in days and weeks to come.

Al Black is a writer, poet, host, and social activist. He is the author of two poetry collections, I Only Left For Tea (2014) and Man With Two Shadows (2018) and he co-edited, Hand in Hand, Poets Respond to Race (2017) and his work has been published in several anthologies and periodicals. Contact Al Black at albeemindgravy@gmail.com.

BOOMERPEDIA: FRANK ZAPPAFrank Zappa was a multi-instrument musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and filmmaker. A penultimate non-conformist, Zappa injected satire into his art as his musical virtuosity spanned genres and decades. The enigmatic ar… — **BOOMERPEDIA: FRANK ZAPPA**
Frank Zappa was a multi-instrument musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and filmmaker. A penultimate non-conformist, Zappa injected satire into his art as his musical virtuosity spanned genres and decades. The enigmatic artist often juxtaposed sophomoric humor against cerebrally complex musical compositions and was heavily influenced by the dissonant sounds of composer EDGARD VARESE who he idolized as a child. With his band, MOTHERS OF INVENTION, the self-taught Zappa released more than 60 albums. One of the greatest guitarists of all time (Rolling Stone ranked him #22/100 in 2011) Zappa gave us the concept of PROJECT/OBJECT, or CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITY which means that he connected musical themes and phrases across albums, essentially making the whole of his life’s creative output one large project. In a March 1986 episode of CROSSFIRE, Zappa warned that the United States was on the road to becoming a “fascist theocracy.” Zappa was married to Gail Sloatman Zappa from 1966 until his death from cancer at the age of 52 in 1993. Their children are Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. - Cindi Boiter

REVIEW: Trustus Theatre's The Thanksgiving Play - by Patrick Michael Kelly

Cindi Boiter November 19, 2020

“Watching the show feels as close to an evening on Lady Street as possible - you can almost smell the Cromer’s popcorn.”

Trustus bills The Thanksgiving Play as “a woke comedy” and that’s apropos. Larissa FastHorse’s play follows four white people - Logan, Jaxton, Caden, and Alicia - in their attempt to creatively devise a culturally sensitive play about the First Thanksgiving for Native American Heritage Month. They stumble over many obstacles - mainly themselves and each other - on their quest to craft an engaging, equitable educational show and ultimately arrive at the simplest of conclusions that less is indeed more.

FastHorse wastes no time establishing tone; we know what we’re in for from the jump. The play begins with a Thanksgiving rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” complete with Indian, Pilgrim, and turkey costumes, and choreography that the cast performs with full commitment. These surreal interludes - snippets from the play that might come from the group’s endeavor - recur throughout and serve to break up the realistic scenes with blasts of musical comedy. It’s a pleasing combination.

Consumer culture, linguistic cliches, gender bias, social media, “upcycling”, vegans, etc. - all are placed on the altar or chopping block, whichever metaphor you’d prefer, and while this play’s glut of contemporary issues could feel tiresome, they are integrated perfectly with the story. Most effective are discussions about the fantasy of a “post-racial” society and what it means to be an ally, and a lovely scene between Alicia and Logan concerning the values of sex and beauty, the dangers of their commodification, and the value of their power. FastHorse tackles big issues head-on and lays out all the angles, but rather than smashing you over the head, she builds them in tactfully.

FastHorse also skewers the craft and politics of theater expertly. Often, plays about making plays come off as obnoxious and cliquish, but The Thanksgiving Play manages to poke fun at devising, improv, warm-ups, and the like without alienating non-thespians. Furthermore, she squeezes in some terrific commentary about casting issues that plague the industry, from the well-past-timely death of so-called colorblind casting to the usual excuses of producers and directors about how hard it is to find ethnic actors to fill roles appropriately. At one point, Alicia mentions that she’s “maybe part-Spanish” so she should get to play all the Spanish roles because “it’s a drop thing.” We cringe, but it’s real.

Kayla Cahill Machado is solid as Logan, the embattled high school drama teacher who needs this project to succeed - there’s grant money on the line and a professional actor in the room. Machado drives much of the action of the play and juggles empowering everyone with keeping the project on the rails. We feel her pain.

Patrick Dodds brings his usual charm and affability to Jaxton, the yoga practitioner and “professional” actor. Jaxton’s heart is in the right place, but his desire to do right by everyone all the time gets in his way of being effective. Dodds’s Jaxton comes off a little too young and dumb at times, but the actor’s passion and vulnerability easily make up for it.

Clint Poston as Caden is winning from his first entrance. He nails Caden’s enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge and drives the pace in much needed moments. Caden wants so badly to be useful and to have his hard-won authority recognized, and Poston channels his desperation with a sweetness that cuts through his pretension.

Brittany Hammock plays Alicia (pronounced uh-LEE-see-ya, because of course it is), the self-centered actress with a “super-flexible” look to a tee. Her enthusiastic cluelessness and well-intentioned cynicism both give the group fits and inspire them to rethink their way of being. Hammock steals many scenes with her dry delivery.

Director Abigail McNeely has done a nice job making an ensemble out of her performers while allowing them to play to their strengths. The scenes are dynamic and flow nicely; McNeely clearly knows the story and where the most important parts are and highlights them to great success. The production suffers at times from pacing issues, particularly in the early going, but the actors find their footing as the action builds. The inventive staging and exciting feel of the interludes is a testament to the director’s expansive vision.

It is a treat to see a true box set. Many contemporary plays are filmic in that they employ shorter scenes and multiple locations, making realism an impossibility. Film does realism better than theater, but a realistic stage production is still a satisfying endeavor for artists and audiences alike. FastHorse’s employment of a single location - outside of the musical interruptions - allows for the production team to create a fully inhabited world onstage. Scenic Designer Sam Hetler is up to the task; his set feels just like an American high school drama classroom. The attention to detail provides lots of little surprises for us to find, like old Columbia theater posters on the back wall and a masquerade-themed bulletin board urging us to “put your mask on.” Clever.

Curtis Smoak’s lighting is cheery with just the right touch of industrial, mimicking the unpleasant wash of public fluorescents while warmly supporting the actors and the space they inhabit. The choice to forgo lighting shifts when two characters are having a private conversation in a public space is confusing; the helpful theatrical convention of separating the groups with light to assist the audience’s understanding should apply, even in a realistic piece like this. During the interludes, the lights shift dramatically to make the performers pop along with the musical numbers, giving it a bit of a rock cabaret vibe.

The recording of this production is well done. The shots and the sound are both clear and we get the feel of watching a play live and in person magnified through the camera’s eye and microphones. That said, shot selection is often static in the scenes and much more dynamic in the interludes, and the editing needs to split the difference more. More often than not, the scenes are played out in a wide shot with close-ups and two-shots few and far between. This might have been an attempt to preserve the piece as a play as much as possible, but if you’re going to make a film, make a film.

That being said, it’s hard not to notice that the element that gives live theater its power is sorely missing here. As if comedy weren’t hard enough already, taking away the audience puts the performers in a tougher spot, and they respond by pushing in moments where the support of laughter or other audible reactions would otherwise buoy them. Trustus deserves applause for making theater - and polished theater at that - safely, but the interplay between actor and audience is what makes theater...well, theater.

In its first attempt at producing a fully mounted show for home consumption, Trustus delivers a quality product and should be commended for adapting to these trying times. Watching the show feels as close to an evening on Lady Street as possible - you can almost smell the Cromer’s popcorn. Format-associated growing pains aside, The Thanksgiving Play is well worth your time and your donation and should inspire some spirited conversation at your virtual Turkey Day dinner table.

Patrick Michael Kelly is the theatre editor for Jasper Magazine.

Gina Langston Brewer Expands Her Popular Tiny Gallery Show Incohesive, A Collection Rife With the Importance of Creation

Cindi Boiter November 17, 2020

“Mostly I create out of a need to process my emotions about the world around me.”

Tiny Gallery Featured Artist Gina Langston Brewer

We are halfway through our November Tiny Gallery with Gina Langston Brewer, a local multi-media artist. We’ve been overwhelmed by the love towards the show so far—in just the first 24 hours, nearly 50% of her show, Incohesive, sold out.

Brewer was a self-proclaimed “army brat” towards the beginning of her life, but she spent most of her formative years in West Columbia. Her family home was filled with art, but the idea of having a career as an artist never presented itself as an option.

Regardless, Brewer found herself continually inspired by her Grandmother Langston, a multi-media artist herself, who worked with themes surrounding nature, flowers, and the ocean.

“She made art out of everything. My dad was a contractor and brought her scraps of wood, that he beveled, to paint on,” Brewer recalls, “She gave me a love and appreciation for art, nature, and using what you have available to you.”

However, when Brewer first ventured to Winthrop University, she wasn’t planning on going down the same path–her eyes instead set on teaching. Then, she started taking art classes as electives, and before long, she graduated with a B.A. in Art.

“Though I have taken college courses, I feel somewhere between a fine and a folk artist,” Brewer ruminates, “Mostly I create out of a need to process my emotions about the world around me.”

Like her grandmother, Brewer works with the materials that are closest to her in the moment. “I will, can, and have worked in most mediums, yet I mostly work with acrylic paints,” Brewer shares, “I have also been working on several copper wire sculptures, recycled lightbulb/cork insects, wood assemblages, and altered books.”

Within these various creations, Brewer seems to often return to one dominant theme: the female form. “Mother and child, Life, the creators of life,” Brewer intimates, “I have always painted voluptuous women, body positive, having always been quite zaftig, myself.”

Brewer also reflects on how her art is a powerful tool of distraction in the time of COVID and worrisome news updates pervasive across multiple channels. This collection stems from both Brewer’s standing loves and these new emotions.

“I told a friend when I had my next show it would be called Incohesive, because my work has just been all over the place,” Brewer remarks, “I've chosen mostly smaller recent works and a few pieces just to show the spectrum of what I've been up to.”

Two of Brewer’s pieces are COVID Collaborations that she started with Kristine Hartvigsen just before lockdown, who wrote Brewer’s artist bio and statement for the show. Brewer also has featured a handful of her new recycled insect experiments, and ruminations on the female pervade the show.

As mentioned earlier, the show has been largely popular, and upon bathing in her gratefulness, Brewer has made an exciting decision: she will be adding a handful of new pieces to the show.

“Being a part of [this show] has, in a way, reinvigorated my interest in being a part of the art ‘world,’” Brewer admits, “The past four years, I have shut down with my engagement and the art community—I'm very thankful for this opportunity and for the patrons of this incredible venue.”

Throughout this week, on the Jasper Project social medias, we will be announcing and showing some of the new pieces Brewer has chosen to add to her gallery. While an inconhesion, all these pieces come together to tell a story: about femininity, about life, and about survival.

“I never really plan what I am about to create. All that I know is that I must.”

Gina Langston Brewer’s Tiny Gallery show runs through November 30th on the Jasper website and is the perfect opportunity to support local art and get your special someone an irreplaceable gift for the holidays.

Be sure to follow Brewer’s Instagram @metamorphosisters for updates on her art during and after the show.

By Christina Xan

CORONA TIMES - Jasper Talks with Dre Lopez about Designing During COVID

Cindi Boiter November 14, 2020

Please don’t give up. Your worst days will always pass, even if that is difficult to see sometimes. If you won’t do it for yourself anymore, do it for your loved ones. Always keep fighting.

In keeping with Jasper’s coverage of arts and artists during these weird quarantine times, we had the fun of a virtual interview with Columbia-based artist Dre Lopez last week. Catch up with Dre below & see what he’s been up to in this parallel universe we’re calling 2020.

JASPER: Dre, you’ve been a stalwart figure on the Columbia arts scene for a while now, but not everyone knows your story. Can you tell us about where you grew up and how you came to be the artist you are now?

DRE: Thank you for having me! Well, my family moved around a good bit when I was a child so there’s several places that I sorta grew up in. That said, I moved to Columbia from Miami. In regards to my journey as an artist, it’s a big mixed bag of experiences and influences. I’m self-taught so I’ve been creating since I was a kid and have pulled my lessons from all over the place. Illustration of different kinds, renaissance painters, Graffiti writers, animation, graphic design, fashion design, etc. I’ve always been a student of the craft so I just kept practicing and experimenting but forayed into professional waters as a freelance illustrator in 2003 and started doing professional graphic design around 2007. I’m lucky to have dove into so many mediums and methods which allowed me to become a fairly versatile artist. I’ve been able to work in several different fields which is so important as a freelancer, to stay productive and busy. I’m still learning (which I love), so the journey to “master” what I do will end when I die. That feeds me, keeps me excited, seeing that there is so much more that I can add to my tool belt as I see improvements still after all these years.

DRE: You are a designer, illustrator, graphic artist and more – where do you spend the bulk of your time and what would you rather do if you could do whatever you wanted?

DRE: The bulk of my time is split between graphic design and illustration. Depends on the season, it varies. I love doing it all and prefer the variety. It keeps things fresh and challenges my mind to work in different ways, from one project to the next. Helps with boredom as well, my mind gets bored easily. Now, if I had the ideal conditions, I would add even more variety, lol. More illustration, more design, more painting, murals, sculpting, custom fashion, etcetera, etcetera.

JASPER: Do you mostly do freelance work or do you have a regular day job?

DRE: Yeah, for the most part I’m a freelancer. I’ve had other jobs throughout the years that are both in my field, as well as other areas that have nothing to do with being a creative.

One thing I’ve learned is that your goals can change as you go through your career, and allowing that perspective to take hold will open up so many other opportunities and accomplishments that you may not have realized were possible when you started.

JASPER: Who have been your greatest influences as an artist and what have you learned from them?

DRE: Hmm, that’s a tough question. I’ve researched, studied, and pulled inspiration and lessons from SO many creators and creative fields. With illustration most of my influences come from comic books, anime and editorial illustrators. I still use a sense of storytelling with most of the work I do, this being part of what I learned specifically from sequential illustration and animation. With my painting, the masters of the Renaissance and the Baroque Period were the main sources I looked to for technique and foundation to better my process. My graphic design is probably most influenced by German minimalist aesthetics. I would also say that Street Art and Graffiti have influenced all of my mediums as well. Honestly, I would say that all the fundamentals and techniques I’ve learned, no matter the concentration, all have crossed over into the many things I create on a daily basis. All of them have made me a more fundamentally complete creator.

JASPER: Do you have any great goals out there on the horizon or are you chill doing what you’re doing now?

DRE: Definitely not chill where I’m at. I’m not satisfied and know that there’s so much more to accomplish. I will always freelance and continue to create my own work, so I will ride that wave wherever it takes me. I’m also open and intrigued to work with art/design/illustration houses in the U.S.’s major cities, as well as Europe and Japan. That’s one thing I haven’t done yet so the possibilities and challenges of that excite me. I’ve done freelance work all over, but to work in one of those houses, especially overseas, would be amazing. One thing I’ve learned is that your goals can change as you go through your career, and allowing that perspective to take hold will open up so many other opportunities and accomplishments that you may not have realized were possible when you started.

JASPER: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your work as an artist?

DRE: It’s been weird. I think the constant stress of it has at times affected my focus. Many routines had to change as well, which threw off schedules and the consistency of how I did things. That’s been an adjustment, but not the worst part of it. With COVID and the turbulence of what this presidential election year has been, it really has been challenging some days to deal with both of those burdens riding you for months, on top of whatever my “normal” life stressors have been. I’m used to working under a lot of pressure, but it’s been mentally and emotionally exhausting on some days. Some of these heavier days have dwindled my creative energy, which has been something new and strange for me. I’ve never lacked in the creative energy department. That said, having done this work for many years, I’m thankful that I have picked up enough skills and experience to maneuver through creative slumps, pandemic and chaotic political climates be damned. Take breaks when your mind needs them, power through when you have the chance.

JASPER: For those of us who don’t have your skill sets, what words of wisdom can you offer us that would help us communicate with design artists more successfully?

DRE: One of the first and most important things I was lucky enough to learn early on, is to study and learn fundamentals. I always had natural ability and style, but I lacked in the fundamentals department which is common for many self-taught creators. Depending on which creative field will make a difference as to which fundamentals to focus on, but the rule applies the same to all of them. Then practice, practice, practice. Repetition in any skill is paramount. The idea is to get as natural and comfortable with the fundamentals, so that once you know them intimately, then you can play around, twist and bend them to your will. The beauty of creative fundamentals no matter your concentration, there’s crossover for many of them so you can use them across the board regardless of the work you’re creating. Examples like color theory, composition, the way you lead the viewers eyes on an image, texture, lighting, are among a few of the fundamentals that can be applied to most visual creations. Oh, and grow a thick skin as quick as possible.

Talent lives here, determination and passion live here. The money? The money does not live here, unfortunately. Figuring out how to embrace quality creatives that are serious about having a professional career and make Columbia their home base is the main problem.

JASPER: Can you tell us about any arts organizations you are affiliated with and what their mission is?

DRE: My most consistent collaborations and affiliations are with Palmetto Luna. They are a non-profit organization based in Columbia that focuses on the arts and Latinx artists in the southeast United States to expose communities to Latinx culture through art. I’m a Latinx/Latino artist so the collaborations have been a natural fit (being that I’m passionate about both of those parts of my identity), thanks to the wonderful efforts that Ivan Segura and Alejandro Garcia-Lemos have put forth throughout the years for that organization.

JASPER: What one thing could we do in the Midlands – something that is actually within our power to do – that would make life here so much better for artists?

DRE: This is one I’ve been trying to figure out for the many years I’ve partaken in the Columbia art scene. The main problem for most artists in this town is not being able to survive and succeed financially. Many artists I’ve known here have burned out on creating and/or moved to other cities give at least an opportunity to make a decent living. Talent lives here, determination and passion live here. The money? The money does not live here, unfortunately. Figuring out how to embrace quality creatives that are serious about having a professional career and make Columbia their home base is the main problem. I’ve seen several ideas implemented but nothing has been tangibly successful to make a real difference. The support from both the city and the arts patrons has to be with real money, not just platitudes and high fives.

JASPER: Anything else exciting going on in your professional life these days you can share with us?

DRE: Sure thing! The next thing I’m about to birth into the world and am excited about is an apparel line I’m releasing called Gutter Baby. It’s gonna be a lifestyle brand/fashion line of shirts, hoodies, hats, accessories, one-of-a-kind customs, and prints inspired by many of my influences in Punk, Hip Hop, horror, sci-fi, lowbrow, pop art and street culture. It’s more or less my uncensored, whatever the fuck goes art line. The store link, soon to be released, is www.gutterbb.com

Benzel front cover illustration by Dre Lopez

JASPER: And how can readers get in touch with you to learn more about your work?

DRE: Different ways, on IG look me up @infidel_castro_x and @gutter.baby.apparel and if you’re interested in my more corporate/conventional work my website is www.drelopezcreative.com

www.drelopezcreative.com

JASPER: Anything else you want to say or suggest or complain about – here’s your platform!

DRE: No complaints. Keep fighting, nothing is permanent. Many people in general and especially in these times of uncertainty with COVID and political unrest are dealing with great amounts of pressure, anxiety, depression, and PTSD of some form. Suicides are rising everywhere. Please don’t give up. Your worst days will always pass, even if that is difficult to see sometimes. If you won’t do it for yourself anymore, do it for your loved ones. Always keep fighting.

CORONA TIMES - Trustus Theatre Melds Formats to Bring Us The Thanksgiving Play: A Talk with Director Abigail McNeely

Cindi Boiter November 9, 2020

“It’s a satire about white wokeness and the assumptions that we have always been taught about the Native American experience that we have accepted as fact, and how complex and impossible it is to create something that represents an oppressed group when that group isn’t even in the room. … Now, it’s one of the top ten most-produced plays in America and it fits in at Trustus perfectly. It’s modern, it’s challenging, it makes you laugh and then it makes you cringe that you just laughed…”

Abigail McNeely, director - The Thanksgiving Play

As quarantine precautions continue to impact the opportunities for performing arts institutions to gather artists and audiences safely together, problem-solving and creative solutions are more highly valued than ever.

With a theatre that has been physically dark since March, Columbia’s beloved Trustus Theatre has offered a number of alternative events including a virtual play festival last month that brought us new plays with small casts live streamed three weekends in a row.

This week, the organization, under the watchful eye of Producing Artistic Director Chad Henderson, is raising the bar even higher with a brand new play being offered as a pay-for-view event—The Thanksgiving Play, a comedy by Larissa Fasthorse.

Jasper talked with Abigail McNeely who, in addition to directing The Thanksgiving Play, is also on staff at Trustus Theatre. We’re sharing this interview with you.

JASPER: First, tell us about your position at Trustus Theatre, how long you’ve been there, and what you do.

MCNEELY: I am the Administrative Assistant of Production and I started in May 2020. I do a lot of different things! I work closely with Chad, the Producing Artistic Director, and our technical staff, as well as our wonderful donors. When we return to live production, I’ll be working with production teams as well. A big part of my job over the last few months has been working on our Trustus LIVE series, which included filming, editing, and streaming video for our audiences at home. I was so excited to take on the challenge of taking the Trustus experience online and I’ve learned a lot. I’m really proud of the streaming work that we’ve done and it has all been leading up to The Thanksgiving Play, a production that combines both our practical live theatre skills and our virtual skills.

JASPER: And I know you graduated from USC – when was that and what was your major?

MCNEELY: I graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. While there, I received the Helen Hayes Undergraduate scholarship and worked with Green Room Productions, the entirely student-run theatre production group, and was a member of TOAST Improv.

JASPER: Talk for just a minute about some of the plays you’ve been in or directed and maybe choose one or two favorites.

MCNEELY: There are so many! I’ve been doing theatre since high school and each project feels like it teaches me something new. Some highlights:

· Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which marked my fifth musical here at Trustus (and unfortunately closed in after just two performances due to COVID – but we’ll be back!). I love working with Chad on musicals. It’s like you stepped into a music video. It’s a blast.

· A Bright New Boise by Samuel D. Hunter which I directed my senior year of college with some of my very close friends through Green Room. Hunter is one of my favorite playwrights. Funny and dark and full of heart.

· A Christmas Miracle at the Richland Fashion Mall, written by The Mothers, Trustus’ resident comedy group that I am proudly a member of. I was honored to get to direct our very first full-length play that was a love letter to some of our favorite Columbia things.

Patrick Dodds and Kayla Cahill Machado

JASPER: Now, let’s hear about the Thanksgiving Play – who wrote it and what should viewers expect from the content of the play?

MCNEELY: The Thanksgiving Play is written by Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation). The show is about four people coming together to try and create a politically correct, culturally-sensitive play about Thanksgiving during Native American Heritage Month. Those four people all happen to be white, not a single Indigenous voice in the room. It’s a satire about white wokeness and the assumptions that we have always been taught about the Native American experience that we have accepted as fact, and how complex and impossible it is to create something that represents an oppressed group when that group isn’t even in the room. FastHorse wrote this play to explore these issues with only white people in the cast in response to being told that her other plays couldn’t be produced for lack of Indigenous actors. Now, it’s one of the top ten most-produced plays in America and it fits in at Trustus perfectly. It’s modern, it’s challenging, it makes you laugh and then it makes you cringe that you just laughed… it’s what I think of when I think about “a Trustus show.”

JASPER: Who will we get to see performing?

MCNEELY: Four really wonderful actors from the Trustus company – Kayla Cahill Machado (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Brittany Hammock (A Streetcar Named Desire and the Jasper Theatre Artist of the Year recipient for 2019), Patrick Dodds (Sweat), and Clint Poston (Marjorie Prime). We knew we wanted to stay within the Trustus family for this show and these four actors were my first choice. I’ve had the pleasure of watching and working with each of them multiple times and I appreciate their dedication and their willingness to try new things. Getting them all in to the same cast was a dream.

JASPER: And now, the obvious, how exactly will we get to see this play?

MCNEELY: The Thanksgiving Play is Trustus’ very first virtual on-demand show. After a month of quarantine and testing, we brought our cast and crew in to film the show to then stream online. It’s similar to renting a movie off of Amazon – you pay for an access code that is good any time between November 11-21, and once you begin watching it, you have 48 hours to finish it. Tickets can be purchased online at trustus.org and any questions can go to our Box Office Manager, Brandon Martin (boxoffice@trustus.org). He was instrumental in creating our online experience and ensuring it still felt like Trustus even from the comfort of your couch.

It’s similar to renting a movie off of Amazon – you pay for an access code that is good any time between November 11-21, and once you begin watching it, you have 48 hours to finish it. Tickets can be purchased online at trustus.org

JASPER: As the director, tell us about some of the challenges you encountered in putting this play together and how you problem-solved them.

MCNEELY: We started the process completely online, rehearsing over Zoom. The first few days of a rehearsal process are vital in building ensemble and getting the show up on its feet to block, so having to do so online was challenging, but thankfully, the cast took to it easily.

After two weeks of virtual rehearsal, we started in-person rehearsals. It was a breath of fresh air to have people back in the theatre again. We were masked when not on stage, lots of hand sanitizer, weekly testing… Above all, we had to do this safely. It means nothing to bring theatre back if it’s done haphazardly. While we were in the space, we ran the show and added costumes and props just like any normal rehearsal process. It felt good to be back in the rhythm of things. After another two weeks, we filmed the entire show over Halloween weekend. It was a whirlwind process. The staff worked so hard to make it happen. It was exciting to get to work with my team on a production together.

JASPER: Assuming we haven’t seen the play yet, key us in to one of your favorite or funniest parts to look forward to.

MCNEELY: One of the most fun things about the show is that it’s a play with music, so in between each of the scenes with the group creating the play, we get a glimpse at some of the outdated Thanksgiving songs and pageants that have been performed over and over again. FastHorse wrote these based on real songs she came across while writing the play, and they are perfectly campy in their performance and cringey in their content. There’s also a scene involving a head. That’s all I have to say about that.

JASPER: Is there anyone whose praises you’d like to take this opportunity to sing?

So many people! The time we spent rehearsing online gave us ample time to discuss characters and intentions and engage in conversations about some of the tougher topics. We had discussions with Eva Foussat, an Indigenous member for the Trustus board, and Terrance Henderson, Trustus company member and the chair of our Equity Task Force. I’m so thankful for their time. It was essential to have POC voices at the table when we discussed this play. Otherwise, we would’ve been doing exactly what the play tells us not to do: talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. Perform radical wokeness without working with or listening to BIPOC.

I’d also love to shout out the musicians we worked with on the show. We asked Greg Apple to create the transition music you’ll hear between scenes, and what he and Chad came up with is so fun: tribal beats that morph into jazzy tunes. It reminds me a lot of Vince Guaraldi’s score for the Peanuts specials, perfect for the holidays. Then, we reached out to two of my favorite musicians to fill in the music for the rest of the show. Chris Cockrell, Trustus company Emeritus member, scored scenes 1, 3, and 7 and Daniel Machado, whose wife Kayla plays Logan in the show, scored scene 5 and the credits. Daniel also stepped up to the plate as a camera operator and sound mixer for the entire show. He’s helped so much.

I’ve never felt this way about collaboration before. I am so lucky to have worked with so many different artists in such a short, loud time and created something we can all be proud of.

JASPER: And what’s next for you and Trustus?

Coming up on November 21st, we’re hosting three awesome bands in the alleyway outside of the theatre for Rock the Block – a fun(d)raiser for Trustus Theatre! Brandy and the Butcher, Les Merry Chevaliers, and E.Z. Shakes are playing, Scott Hall’s got the food, and we’ll be pouring drinks. It’s going to be so much fun. Info can be found online at https://trustus.org/event/rock-the-block/. After that, we’ll be installing new air filtration systems to hopefully return to live performance soon. Stay tuned!

POEM: Concrete Mary by Al Black

Cindi Boiter November 6, 2020

Concrete Mary

Against the chill of morning
I put on shoes and a warm jacket.
Robins and sparrows scavenge seeds;
Call back and forth from fence to ground

Squirrels in fur coats
Don't mind autumn's approach.
In high grass, a lone cricket
Chirps along the fence

Unafraid of the old man
With an empty coffee cup
Four city deer snort and graze
On overgrown shrubs

Seven days remain of summer
One week, a quarter moon
Before earth tilts away,
Before solstice chases the sun.

As if she knows a secret, she cannot tell
Concrete Mary smiles her Mona Lisa smile
Practices yoga on the wall
And holds asana pose

Mary, when did you become holy?
Was it when they pulled you from the mold,
Loaded the truck, took you to a garden shop,
Tagged, sold and someone took you home?

Or was it the act of setting you on a wall where
Lichen took root and pulled substance from air?
How many tenants have you known?
Do you know movers come on Wednesday?

Sun peers through overcast skies
Warms Mary’s plaster gown,
Outstretched hands gather light,
Her face becomes a moon

Chipmunk chatters at plastic owl
Roosting on the patio wall
Red birdhouse in neighbor’s yard
Sits empty waiting for spring

Rain comes, drips from fingers
Concrete Mary holds her pose
Somewhere Joseph
Holds the baby so nothing disturbs her peace

Rain comes, drips from finger tips,
Puddles at feet; she holds the pose
she struck when she became an Italian citizen
And awaits her son’s reanimation

The Jasper Project thanks board member Al Black for generously sharing his poetry with our readers. Watch for more in the Al Black Jasper Project Poetry Series in days and weeks to come.

In His First Show Since COVID, Christopher Lane Considers the Necessity of Unity in Dividing Times - by Christina Xan

Cindi Boiter November 4, 2020

“A lot of people feel desperate out there,” Lane says. “And on a humanistic level, I get an idea of why people feel the way they do—they just feel helpless.”

It’s unusual for Modern Surrealist painter Christopher Lane to take such a large break from exhibitions.

Lane is no stranger to sharing the stories he weaves together on his canvases. In fact, 2020 started with a show in Minnesota, followed by acceptances to Art Fields in Lake City and Spoleto in Charleston.

Then, the pandemic hit.

Since the start of COVID-19, the painter has stayed mostly at home, quarantining with his partner, Lisa, and dogs, Loki and Samson. But that doesn’t mean he stopped painting. So, when friend and gallery-owner Rob Shaw asked Lane to do a show in his space, the fragments of United We Stand formed quickly.

The collection is a mix of pieces old and new, and either way, ever relevant. The 52-year-old artist has been painting in response to social and political events for decades, both as a way of working through his own mind and of sharing those inner workings. In recent months, this has only become truer.

“You know, I look around and ask what’s the disconnect,” Lane says. “I don’t understand the disconnect.”

Originally, Lane had titled this most recent collection Divided We Fall as he responded to this increasing disconnect in our country. However, as he continued to paint and watch, which he often does as he watches the news, his mindset shifted.

“I want to emphasize a unity amongst us, regardless of party, ethnicity, race, religion, and gender,” Lane shares, “My work observes the pitfalls of allowing division to thrive and grow amongst a people.”

This body of work builds on top of seeds sewn in his Resist Division exhibition last year, new vines and tendrils wrapping around sensitive and poignant issues.

“It’s election year, we are in the middle of a world pandemic, and we are so busy fighting amongst ourselves that we are no longer paying attention to them,” Lane says, “that small, yet powerful group of people who control our world.”

Lane has always spoken for those small individuals, held an eye in his head and his heart for those details in both people and their surroundings.

“A lot of people feel desperate out there,” Lane says. “And on a humanistic level, I get an idea of why people feel the way they do—they just feel helpless.”

These concerns have pervaded not only Lane’s work but his life, the product of a military household whose father served in three wars and a veteran of the navy himself.

“My greatest desire is that my paintings reflect the one truth, we are all the same. We are all one. And United We Stand.”

Some fights exist within physical places, but this fight traverses boundaries. With this exhibit, Lane desires to speak to all, to promote inclusivity and share humanity regardless of the lines that often separate.

“I like to paint to where someone in another country can look at my work and enjoy it,” Lane says. “You know, they don't need to speak English. They don't need to understand my colloquial behavior to get it.”

“The Grifters”, a featured piece from the show, conveys this desire in a Tower of Babel-esque push and pull of color, conversation, and performance—a struggle we all suffer the repercussions of.

“My greatest desire is that my paintings reflect the one truth, we are all the same. We are all one. And United We Stand,” Lane concludes.

United We Stand opens this Friday, November 6th, and runs until December 1st. The opening reception Friday evening begins at 6pm at the Rob Shaw Gallery in West Columbia. Masks, social distancing, and safety precautions will be in place.

To follow Lane’s work during and after the show, follow his Facebook page, “Christopher Lane Art,” and check out his website for available works and prints: https://www.laneartworks.com/

An Election Day Poem by Ed Madden

Cindi Boiter November 3, 2020

At the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge,

Columbia, SC, October 31, 2020

Across the parking lot, a man with a mic

is calling out drop, pop, and roll, and two

women just in front of us in line dance

along. It’s getting a little festive, a little

restless as we get closer to the door,

where they let in six or seven at a time.

One woman shuffles the heel-toe in fluffy

pink house shoes. They name the moves,

call out a few they don’t think quite right.

A golfcart bumps by with boxes of popcorn.

A church offers bottled waters at a table

where the line curls along the back fence.

It’s been a two-hour wait. We got here early

enough, but the line was already around

the building. Everyone is wearing masks except

a middle-aged white couple in black and

sunglasses, taking occasional deep pulls

on their electric cigarettes. Most of us look

at our cellphones as we wait, another

kind of social distance. The line wraps

around the building then coils around

an adjacent parking lot. An old woman

leaves crying because the county isn’t

providing provisional ballots for early voting

sites. I don’t know why. Once inside

we line up on the thick strips of gray

tape that mark off the floor. A poll worker

behind a plastic shield stares at my license

a bit—I can’t tell if she’s comparing

signatures or if it’s just the COVID hair. Finally,

she hands me a slip of paper, a cotton swab,

points me toward the wall of voting machines.

I use the cotton swab to touch the screen.

I get an “I Voted” sticker when I leave.

—Ed Madden

Muddy Ford Press Releases Second Collection in Laureate Series with Ann-Chadwell Humphries’ An Eclipse and a Butcher

Cindi Boiter November 2, 2020

“I'm in awe of the masterful clarity, the perfectly weighted brevity of Ann Humphries' poems. There's an immense comfort in her vivid scenes, her people and places so rich in presence, and her clear gaze. … A stunning collection!”

Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People's Poet Laureate

This month, local poet Ann-Chadwell Humphries is releasing her first collection of poetry with Muddy Ford Press as the second feature of their Laureate Series.

Muddy Ford Press is a family owned publishing company dedicated to providing boutique publishing opportunities particularly to, but not limited to, South Carolina writers, artists, and poets. The founders of the press, husband and wife team Bob Jolley and Cindi Boiter, created the Laureate Series with the goal of initiating relationships across South Carolina poets.

“We wanted to promote mentorship between established poets and beginning poets,” Jolley describes, “So we invite all the poets laureate in SC to choose an emerging poet who they are willing to work with, and the laureate then helps build and edit their protégé’s first book.”

The selection of poets for the Laureate Series is the decision of the South Carolina laureates. The first book in the series, as well as this upcoming collection, were both written by poets selected by Columbia Poet Laureate Ed Madden.

The first collection, Theologies of Terrain, featured poet Tim Conroy. Conroy ruminates that, through this series, Muddy Ford Press provides the guidance and care that only poet laureates can deliver to a poet's first collection.

“I am so happy that Muddy Ford Press selected Ann-Chadwell Humphries as the second poet in their Laureate Series,” Conroy shares, “Ann's poetry raises the bar for all to follow. Her award-winning poetry is lyrical, deeply observed, and sound haunted.”

Ann-Chadwell Humphries - photo courtesy of the author

Several years ago, Humphries was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that caused her vision to get smaller and smaller until she could no longer see. However, while this was an obstacle, it carried with it a gift with which to see the world anew.

While always a lover of literature, Humphries, who had worked in the medical field, had never tried her hand at creative writing. Then, she started taking creative writing classes at the Shepherd’s Center with her friend.

“I remember where I was sitting,” Ann reflects on the day she was first introduced to Mary Oliver’s poetry, “and I thought, ‘I have to do this’.”

This emerging love for poetry became concrete when, in Fall 2016, Humphries audited a graduate poetry workshop with Nikky Finney at the University of South Carolina. This workshop was one of the first times Humphries had the chance to work so closely with her ideas and form.

“It demands careful attention, it demands truth, honesty, and essence,” Humphries remarks on the writing process, “It helps me find goodness.”

Since that workshop, Humphries has published poems in Jasper Magazine, Emrys, Indolent Books, The Collective Eye and more. When Madden and Boiter approached Humphries about the Laureate Series, she had a mix of surprise and pride.

“’What? Really? Me?’ a voice in my head said,” Humphries recalls, “But then I said, ‘Why not me’—I dropped self-doubt at 65.”

With an arsenal of poems and a constant thirst for writing, Humphries knew she had the materials to make a collection, but stitching them together into a book was a different story. Luckily, she had Madden by her side to edit the collection.

"Ann Chadwell Humphries is a poet of many eclipses—celestial, such as the unexpected 'metallic light' beheld with solar glasses, but also eclipses of vision as her sight was lost later in life to the ravages of a recessive gene. And though these poems beautifully document that loss and its attendant difficulties, An Eclipse is the record of a woman who sees with her entire being.”

**Nickole Brown, author of Fanny Says and**

Jessica Jacobs, author of Take Me With You, Wherever You’re Going

Madden says that when Humphries first sent him a selection of poems, his priority was to give her a sense of her voice and an idea of some overriding themes that were running through her work. Specifically, his work as an editor is a two-fold process.

“I divided poems into yes and no and maybe, and I started arranging poems around my living room in groups that seemed to work together, to speak to each other,” Madden reflects. “Ann was a master at revising, always attuned to line and sound and image, and I enjoyed working with her.”

What stood out for Madden in this collection were the poems about solar eclipses. Once he read them, he knew they could anchor the book, punctuating it with the seen and unseen.

“Thinking how one thing can eclipse another seemed such a resonant theme for her memory poems, her family and relationship poems, and her poems about coming to terms with blindness,” Madden shares. “Once I had those three anchor poems, the book seemed to almost organize itself, like iron shavings organizing themselves around the poles of a magnet.”

From her experience with Madden, Humphries learned valuable lessons, not just about this collection but herself as a poet.

“It was a willingness to say yes, and to put myself in the position where I allowed myself to receive kindness,” Humphries says of the experience, “It was better than I ever imagined. To be in the company of good writers who are helping me grow, I really flourished in that.”

Of course, there is more than just the poems. Humphries worked with her dear friend, Susan Craig, and her niece, Eleanor Baker, and together they crafted a cover, featuring an image from Humphries’ childhood on the front.

Once Madden and Humphries finalized selection of poems and a cover, it went to Boiter and Jolley for edits. Boiter copyedited, proofed, and built the book, then Jolley laid it out in In Design before sending it to the printer, where he ensured the final product was as it was supposed to be.

“Ann Humphries’ debut collection of poems, An Eclipse and a Butcher, is anchored by poems about the solar eclipse, which serve as the perfect metaphor for the blindness experienced by the poet. But Humphries tells us that “blindness provides insight.” … Humphries is a survivor, and we are so lucky she has chosen to share her words and her wisdom.”

Marjory Wentworth, former South Carolina

Poet Laureate

Now, after months of work from all parties, a book, a collection of stories, recollections, dreams, and hopes has come together.

From the titular poem, “An Eclipse and a Butcher,” that recalls a July childhood day in 1963 to a reminisce of her own father’s birth to the experience of tracing the waves of Van Gogh’s art, Humphries’ collection takes the reader through the throws and thrills of life with a final promise to walk with you wherever you may go.

“It’s myself. It’s a piece of me. It’s an honest gift,” Humphries declares. “It’s a piece of beauty in the world where there’s a lot of ugliness.”

The launch event for An Eclipse and a Butcher will take place via Zoom on November 22nd at 4:00pm. Muddy Ford Press will not sponsor any public readings until after pandemic precautions in the area have been lifted. The book will be $15 and available for purchase via Amazon, BandN.com, and via the author.

By Christina Xan

Jasper Project Finds New Home at 1013 Co-Op - More Details from Lee Snelgrove & One Columbia

Cindi Boiter October 27, 2020

Jasper Project board of directors members Laura Garner Hine (far left) and Al Black (far right) join board president Wade Sellers and ED Cindi Boiter at the new Jasper Project home

Homeless since the closing of the Tapp’s Arts Center on Main Street last winter, the Jasper Project finally has a place to hang its hat at the newly formed 1013 Co-Op at 1013 Duke Avenue in the old Indie Grits Lab building.

The Jasper Project will share upstairs office space in the house along with the Columbia Children’s Theatre and The Magic Purple Circle, presented by artist and storyteller Darion McCloud. One Columbia for Arts and Culture will manage the co-op space which includes a downstairs with two rooms large enough for salons, readings, and meetings, as well as a kitchen and a central stairwell. But at Jasper, we are most excited about the many ways we look forward to using the large backyard such as presenting film screenings, concerts, and outdoor stage presentations and readings.

Jasper is indebted to Lee Snelgrove, Jemimah Ekah, and One Columbia Arts and Culture for inviting Jasper to join the co-op. We contacted Snelgrove and asked him to share a few more details about the Co-Op and how the arrangement will work.

JASPER: How long has this plan been in the works?

SNELGROVE: The development of the 1013 Co-Op has been discussed by the Board of One Columbia since about April or May. When Indie Grits decided to move out of the space, they contacted me to suggest that we might look into taking over the house. They had put in a lot of work into creating a cultural space in North Columbia and they were concerned that their efforts would be redirected to non-arts purposes. Because of our concern that a cultural space would be lost, we started talks with Lenoir-Rhyne, the property owner, around that time to discuss the terms of the lease and to develop a suitable arrangement that would work. Once it seemed like a viable project that could be reasonably managed with One Columbia's existing resources, we started to reach out to potential partner organizations to make it a reality.

JASPER: How were the organizations involved chosen?

SNELGROVE: One Columbia contacted many of the organizations that already utilize office and administrative resources that One Columbia offers. We also talked to potential partners that we knew were interested in working with communities in the North Columbia area. From these conversations it was the Columbia Children's Theatre, the Magic Purple Circle and the Jasper Project that elected to partner and join the mission of the 1013 Co-Op.

JASPER: What do you expect/hope for out of this arrangement?

SNELGROVE: The goals for this cultural space and the partnerships with the three organizations align with some of the recommendations of the Amplify cultural plan. We expect that this arrangement will lead to better access for citizens in the North Columbia communities to cultural experiences and participation in the arts, as well as additional space that supports the work of Columbia's artists. We want to work directly with neighborhoods to identify their cultural resources and help them create plans that facilitate more cultural participation. And, we want this space to showcase how a community arts space with strong partnerships among community organizations can become a vital and vibrant destination.

JASPER: Can you please tell us more about how the Co-Op will operate in terms of rent, OC's role in managing the space and subsidizing the extra costs, etc.

SNELGROVE: The 1013 Co-Op is structured as a partnership among four organizations that share the different kinds of costs of maintaining a cultural space. One Columbia is the lead organization responsible for the lease, communication with the property owner, and the day-to-day administration of the facility, but all of the organizations share both financial and labor responsibilities to keep the space operational. Each organization provides a monthly amount to cover expenses like rent and power and each organization will put in a number of volunteer hours to support the work of their partner organizations and to the functioning of the entire space. We've developed a structure that we hope will provide the flexibility that some arts organizations need by not requiring time commitments and keeping the costs low. It's very likely that partnerships will develop and change over time and partner organizations will come into the space or depart as is appropriate for them to carry out their own missions and/or to support the overall mission of the 1013 Co-Op.

Thanks, Lee!

The Jasper Project is already developing plans for a community liaison committee, a neighborhood editor for Jasper Magazine, and a monthly Saturday or Sunday afternoon neighborhood picnic with poetry readings and open mic opportunities. But, like the rest of the world, all we can do now is sit on our hands and make plans for when the pandemic lifts and we can safely do our thing.

And we are always looking for volunteers. Please reach out if you’d like to get involved.

CORONA TIMES - Jasper Talks with Robb Kershaw #BLACK ARTISTS MATTER

Cindi Boiter October 25, 2020

JASPER: Let’s start with getting some demographics out of the way. How old are you, where did you grow up and, if you’re not from Columbia, what brought you here?

KERSHAW: I’m 29 years old, born and raised in Columbia to be more specific Hopkins, SC.

JASPER: Describe, please, yourself as an artist. What medium(s) do you use? Are you self-taught or formally trained? If the latter, where did you get your training? If the former, how did you get into this line of art?

KERSHAW: This question always stumps me because at most I don’t see myself as an artist. Yes I create things but I think everyone in some medium creates things. I just tend to conceptually piece things together in an abstract nature that is easy for mass consumption. I view myself as the creator, I have an eye so I deem it worthy in my universe and I welcome those who would like free space to enter my realm. I’m a musician at times, then I write, I may sketch some stuff, but none of that accurately details an answer. I’m self taught I learn from my interaction from others, I tend to latch on and study. I view the studying of others peaceful and I learn a lot from it.

JASPER: Are you a full-time artist or do you have a day job?

KERSHAW: As much as I would love to commit to my art in the fullness I do have a day job. I never let anything art wise fall short I tend to keep a level balance on both to help me stay afloat and not sink any ship I have docked.

JASPER: Who have been your greatest inspirations as an artist?

KERSHAW: For me I love Prince, I have the nickname Baby Prince because I truly idolize everything that energy was. It’s one of the reasons I took on a one name moniker as ROBBIEBADBOI. Though I should say this as well I don’t like tossing names out as inspiration. I do rather toss certain works that inspired me by said artist rather than glorifying the artist themselves. It takes a very special energy for me to just stop the press and praise namesakes.

JASPER: You answered that you see yourself as a creator more than an artist. Can you tell us about 2 or 3 of your most recent art projects?

KERSHAW: I feel as if the word artist limits us as creators into a hub that labels us within only a certain spectrum. I feel The world creator is infinite and can’t really be defined as just one set thing. I want to be able to do it all if not try.

So far I was able to release two projects this year I was able to drop a short web comic that is now being reimagined in a serious manga drop. The project is called Binkie Babes which centers around 3 magical girls and their fight to stop the dark universe. Fun fact I started this series back in middle school with a similar concept in mind ha.

And I can’t forget the music, I currently released my first project as a solo artist “MISSING: HAVE YOU SEEN BADBOI, THE LOST TAPE VOL1” which was crazy scary especially after being within a group dynamic for so long you kinda lose a sense of self so I’m regaining a lot of that back with the BADBOI project.

JASPER: How has the pandemic impacted your ability to create?

KERSHAW: This pandemic has presented a lot of negatives but I have to examine the positives from it and I must say that it has given me the time to hone in. I don’t believe I would be as focused as I am to write the projects I’m currently in the middle of without this happening. I was so busy traveling and running around that I never got the true time to sit and just create. So I’m truly proud of the things that are coming.

Coming from an alternative rock project (NEPOTISM) I thrived from live interactions but since our indefinite hiatus I locked myself away from most public interactions only popping out so often because I wanted to find myself. So yeah I’m grateful for the calm (though it’s anything but)

JASPER: What's next up for you creatively? Where and when can we experience your upcoming work?

KERSHAW: So currently I’m working on a few animation projects. Animation has my entire heart ha. I have a manga (comic) project coming later this year called Binkie Babes and will be releasing another project next year called KOLUH (COLA) it’s a series pretty much about a Supernatural Columbia but I want to explore and reimagine the history of South Carolina as a whole.

Tiny Gallery Highlight: Jennifer Hill Shares Creatively Creepy and Cute Life Reflections with New Collection of Creatures

Cindi Boiter October 18, 2020

This month, Jasper is delighted to be hosting Jennifer Hill, aka Jenny Mae Creations, for our October Tiny Gallery show. Hill is featuring a delightful array of little creatures: 13 needle felted, two plush, and one voodoo.

Hill grew up in Chapin on Lake Murray, and her aunt, an artist and a painter, introduced her to the Brian Froud Faeries book at a young age, which she claims left an impression that still affects her work today.

Before she found her way to dollmaking, Hill’s first love was theatre, which she started doing in middle school. “I can't really explain why I chose to do it; it was just something I thought I would enjoy,” Hill recalls, “And I didn't just enjoy it. I fell in love with it.”

Now, years later, Hill is a Company Member at Trustus Theatre, which she considers her home, and the people there, family. Since then, she also started performing on the street as a living statue.

“It's a whole other way of performing that I fell in love with,” she says on street performing, “There's nothing like sharing a theatrical moment on the street with a curious stranger — a performance that only requires me and whoever happens to walk by.”

This aspect of performance is similar to what Hill chases in her physical creations as well. “The relationship I draw between [performance and art] is that it's me expressing myself and putting it out to others and connecting with them,” she states, “Which is something I always feel the desire to do.”

It was in her early twenties that Hill made the venture that resulted in this connection. Between her performance projects, she wanted another creative outlet and found her way to crafting collages and voodoo dolls with found objects.

“I started with collage because I love the practice of taking things a part and creating something new out of it”, she shares, further saying, “I've always been weirdly obsessed by the idea of voodoo dolls ever since I saw an episode of Scooby-Doo when I was a kid that featured one.”

This is just one example of themes from Hill’s childhood popping up in her work. Because of a love of dolls from childhood, she was led to a DIY sock monkey kit at Christmas one year. From there, her love for fiber art sparked, leading to a plethora of creations representing a reflection of Hill’s inner self.

“When I'm making things, I'm often processing something that's going on inside me. I think that's why creating is so essential to me,” she ruminates, “And I really like the juxtaposition of something being cute but also a little unsettling and raw. There's often a dose of humor in my work.”

When it comes to the art of making, Hill is completely self-taught. One day during the process of self-teaching and experimentation, she decided to walk into an art gallery with a box of dolls and see if they were interested – they were.

“My big break came when the art director for the film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium emailed me that he saw my plush creations online and wanted to use them in some of their background shots,” she recalls, “I was STUNNED.”

Since then, Hill is always searching for new mediums and modes of inspiration, two years ago, she came across needle felting. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, Hill shares that you start with loose wool, mold it into a loose shape, and then stab it repeatedly with a barbed needle. As you stab more and more, the wool becomes more tangled and then firmer until you end up with a finished object.

“I really love the sculptural aspect of it. The freedom to start with a pile of wool and mold it into whatever I want,” she shares, “I love that it's fiber, but I can sculpt with it using a needle in a way I can't with regular fabric and sewing. I feel like I have more control in a way.”

Whether with needle felting, plushes, or voodoo dolls, Hill keeps walking her “fine line” between cute and creepy, making wounded creatures that don't actually exist and often come from her childhood.

Hill hopes that in showing these personal representations of her own hopes and fears, others might find a sense of reflection and thus comfort in her work.

“I hope that the wounded misfit inside them feels seen. That their inner child may be delighted or even soothed,” she pauses, “We're all strange and hurting in some way, and there's a human connection in that, and if nothing else, they may spend a few minutes with their childhood self that's still in there wanting to be seen.”

Hill has been opening this path to people for years, having been part of several art shows, some local, some in other parts of the country, and one in Italy. “The wonderful people at The Columbia Museum of Art gave me my first one night only solo show when Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium came out,” she remembers.

As uncertain as some aspects of living may be right now, Hill knows creating is her one constant.

“Since COVID, live theater, acting with others, and street performing has pretty much been put on hold,” she admits, “So, I feel very lucky to still have this other way of expressing myself creatively because it is essential in my life, and I plan to just keep creating anyway I can. It's what I need to do to be happy.”

You can follow Hill on her Instagram @jennymaecreations or her Facebook page @Jenny Mae Creations.

Hill’s show will be up until the end of October, so be sure to check out her strange and wonderful creations on the Jasper website—perfect for Halloween and for anytime you want a fun little version of a part of you sitting on your shelf.

Street performer Jenny Mae - photo by Crush Rush

Jasper Galleries Welcomes Thomas Washington to Motor Supply Co.'s Walls (Copy)

Cindi Boiter October 5, 2020

For more interviews with the many exciting Artists of Color in the Greater Columbia Arts Community,

please search for

BLACK ART MATTERS

in the search box on the Jasper Project Blog Page

Artist Thomas Washington aka Thomas the younger

Jasper Magazine visual arts editor and board member of the Jasper Project, Laura Garner Hine, has been busy installing a brand new show of art in the gallery spaces at Motor Supply Co in Columbia’s historic Congaree Vista. Our featured artist this quarter — Thomas Washington, aka Thomas the younger!

It was my sincerest pleasure to interview Mr. Washington just before his show was installed last week.

~~~

Hi Thomas, and thanks for spending some virtual time with the Jasper Project. We’re excited about the show of your artwork recently installed at Motor Supply in Columbia’s Vista. But first we want to catch up any readers who aren’t familiar with your work.

JASPER: Tell us, please, a little about your background. I know you’re from Springfield, Massachusetts, but what brought you to Columbia, SC and did you go anywhere else along the way?

WASHINGTON: We moved south when my father’s job laid him off, starting a classic cascade of loss. This included the house we’d always known (to foreclosure); friends; community. My mom’s from this area, so we were—in a real sense—following her “home”.

JASPER: How did you get into painting – are you self-taught or did you study under someone else?

WASHINGTON: I’m self-taught...but every piece I’ve ever seen informs me. One way or the other.

JASPER: Who has influenced you most as an artist?

WASHINGTON: Amy Windland’s trees; Travis Charest’s details; Keith Tolen’s focus; Joe Madureira’s structuring; the tenebrism of Humberto Ramos; Stephen King’s storytelling, as well as Ann Patchett’s; Moebius (Jean Giraud); Giger; Whelan; everything about Lucas Sams; the depth of Darrell K. Sweets; Michael Krajewski’s economy; the exquisite technicians, Margaret & The Brothers O’Shea; The Brothers Hildebrandt; The Brothers Lopez; Michael Anastasion’s intensity; every woman I’ve ever loved too deeply, and every woman who returned it; my children; my sorrows and madnesses, too; every soul who ever appreciated anything I generated, especially when I want to wash my hands of it all—I owe much to many, and could not finish their naming in a sitting.

JASPER: how would you describe your work in terms of genre and what mediums and format sizes do you prefer to work with and why?

WASHINGTON: I must leave that “description” to others. I will work in any medium I can afford to acquire, and in any dimension(s).

JASPER: There is a dreamy, magical quality to so much of your work – as if you are telling a story with your paintings. Is there magic in your art? Are you telling stories? If so, what are your stories about?

WASHINGTON: I have a universe. Every project is connected to The One Project...and I imagine this is actually true for most creators, though the degree to which each of us engages that truth...varies. The tale cannot be told, nor summed—it’s a web, and still being woven.

JASPER: You go by Thomas the younger – can you please elaborate on this name?

WASHINGTON: My father—Thomas the Elder—is an artist, as well. (I don’t use “Washington” when I use “the younger”, and I don’t capitalize the initial letters. On occasionally doffing the family name: I’m a black sheep, and I can acknowledge that. When we needed less names, we were more human—I use the archaic moniker because it isn’t dead. Just buried. Capitalization...feels wrong.)

JASPER: I know that your children also influence your work as an artist – can you tell us about your children and how they influence you?

WASHINGTON: My children were born into a dark world. I have no clue how to brighten it—I am, perhaps, too acquainted with its darkness. They, themselves, are lights. Their faces, their spirits, their tableaux—my work is infused with these. Sometimes, in direct homage.

JASPER: You have a Jasper Project sponsored show up at Motor Supply Co. Bistro now. Talk to us about the art being exhibited at the restaurant. Did you paint specifically for the show or did you select from items from your inventory to show?

WASHINGTON: As of this writing, only new work is in the show. If 2020 serves up some 2020esque catastrophe—a flood; a fierce gale; a destructive fury, wherein which I destroy pieces—I’ll adapt. I’ve got too many pieces stacked up in here. Always.

JASPER: If there is a theme to the show, what is it all about?

WASHINGTON: I’m still tightening most of them...which means I’m afraid to commit to a theme. There’s more than one, anyhow. I suppose that description, too, should be left to others.

JASPER: How has the current BLM movement affected you and your work? Are you optimistic – why or why not?

WASHINGTON: There’s no victory without perfect victory...so there’s no victory. Humanity cannot grow out of this inhuman stage, it seems. That’s reality...and we don’t like reality.

JASPER: Artists across the color, gender, and discipline spectrums are particularly challenged now by both the COVID pandemic and the lack of support from the state and federal government. There is no question that it is more difficult to practice your art and make a living at it if you are an artist of color, correct? Can you please address this reality and offer your opinions or ideas on how our culture can better support and promote artists of color?

WASHINGTON: As long as we function under a capitalist model, people of color will merit “a blank check”. This will likely never be issued. Thus—without the interventions/intercessions of wealthy patrons and benefactors willing to pour millions (maybe even billions) into finally lending ballast to we outliers ... we outliers will predictably continue to flounder on the cusp of chaos. This is actually true for the entire swath of poor, marginalized, and systematically destroyed humans—not just “artists of color”. For now, we’re (instead) inundated via “trickle-down wreckonomics”. An incessant deluge.

JASPER: How do you feel about the strength and efficacy of the Black artist in the Columbia arts community? Are Midlands area artists as unified across racial lines as we should be? What needs to happen to create and nurture a racially healthier community of artists?

WASHINGTON: Humans are formatted to prefer an “us” over a “them”. It seems nearly impossible to convince “us” that “us” is the only category. Educate humans to that effect, however, and one could subsequently watch these issues rectify themselves. Effortlessly. There is one race. Regardless of what the colonialist elites enacted. Regardless of how well it worked on the freshly-minted category (“white”), turning them against their allies. Regardless of how we’ve been enculturated. One.

JASPER: What’s up next for you and your work and where can readers find your work on the internet?

WASHINGTON: My website’s thomastheyounger.com, and the work there is never done. Releases, updates, et cetera—betwixt that site and following my Facebook Page (“The Works of Water”), it’s relatively easy to keep up with pending projects.

— cb

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