Launch Announced for Jane Zenger's New Book of Poetry - Night Bloomer from Muddy Ford Press

Saturday, May 21st

5:30 - 8 pm

Stormwater Studios

Muddy Ford Press is pleased to announce the publication of the latest book in the Laureate Series, Night Bloomer by Jane Zenger.

Zinger will welcome guests to Stormwater Studios on Saturday May 21st from 5:30 - 8 pm for readings from her debut poetry collection. Included among the guests will be city of Columbia poet laureate (and Jasper Poetry Editor) Ed Madden, who edited Night Bloomer, working closely with Zenger on the composition and structure of the book. Night Bloomer is the third book in the Laureate Series following works by Tim Conroy and Ann-Chadwell Humphries. Angelo Geter’s More God Than Dead, the fourth in the series, will be published in June.

“It is a delight to see Jane's work coming into print,” Madden says. “I love the way that her voice ranges through memory, from tragic loss to humor and anger (sometimes both at once). The loss of her husband grounds this book, the poems range widely through a lifetime of experience.”

Of Night Bloomer Zenger says, “This book is a compilation of poems written during several distinct periods in my life. Several poems chronicle my early days as a rambunctious student and traveler, others are based on people or events that influenced or upended my life. The book celebrates and reflects both my real life and my imagination. Having a book published is a dream come true for me.”

Night Bloomer is available at Amazon, WOB, Walmart. Books-a-million, and a number of additional outlets. Zenger will be offering the book for sale and signing at the event on Saturday afternoon.

In Memoriam: Wim Roefs 1959-2022

In Memoriam – Wim Roefs

This has been a particularly difficult week for the Columbia Arts Community. On Monday May 9th, Wim Roefs, founder and owner of If Art Gallery and one of the founders of 701 Center for Contemporary Art, suffered a crashing heart attack at his gallery on Lincoln Street. On Thursday, the 12th, Wim passed away, leaving his wife Eileen Waddell and hundreds, if not thousands, of international friends and colleagues behind.

The pain of the loss of Wim Roefs from our arts community cannot be overestimated. Wim brought a sense of gravitas to us that many people didn’t know was missing. He reminded us that while art is in no way an endeavor of the elite, it should be taken seriously and respected for the vital role it plays in daily life. Wim made contemporary art accessible to all of us and, thankfully, his legacy will live on as long as art in Columbia does.

When I first realized we would be losing Wim I felt certain that he had done his job well and that the cultural legacy he leaves behind would continue to thrive and inform us.

But I worried a bit about his social legacy. Social media being what it is,  there has been no shortage of folks chiming in about how “sweet” Wim was—that he was “nice” and “pleasant.” This disturbs me. I’m not saying Wim couldn’t be sweet or nice, but congratulations to those who had the unique experience of being around Wim when he was in such a mood.

For the most part, Wim did not indulge in the subterfuge of Southern hospitality or the artifice of American social politics. I don’t know if it was because he was Dutch or because he was Wim, but he and his personality defied any number of platitudes about how we are meant to interact with one another. Instead, he behaved with complete and transparent honesty. Wim was my favorite kind of person in that there was no second-guessing when it came to how he felt about you and your work. His honest and straightforward demeanor required a tough skin and a healthy sense of self. If you didn’t have both when you entered into a relationship with Wim, it was imperative that you develop them for your relationship to continue. I appreciated that.

Sweet? Sure, at times. Sincere? Always.

To that end, we turn this editorial over to some of the folks who knew Wim best and will miss him most. I asked them to share, with sincerity, their thoughts and feelings on the loss and legacy of Wim Roefs.

Condolences to all as we mourn the passing of one of our most respected—and beloved—community members.

And thank you, Wim, for everything you taught us.

-Cindi Boiter

 

Coming out of teaching at Benedict College Wim was well versed in Delta Americana and its accompanying political and social American commentary. I recall first meetings at his home where he and his wife Eileen would host cutting edge artist showings complete with an impressive euro cuisine and assemblage of artists that rarely ventured from their studios, which in turn led to incredible gatherings that ignited discourse on art and culture and cultivated  new friendships and ideas.

The  founding of if Art marked the debut of a New York standard gallery presence in Columbia. Early on, Wim populated the gallery with a cutting-edge stable of artists, local and international, all with a common thread of Art Spirit; art being who they are, not what they did, this often manifested itself by continuous exhibitions of work challenging patrons and the general public. This if Art gallery model presented a thoroughness which included artist cataloging, lectures, and talks with showings, and meticulous hanging and presentation, this would shortly expand to include poetry readings and exploratory music concerts as well.

Wim was quick to recognize the art spirit in young artists and go to lengths to encourage and supply support and materials to further their unique callings, he was also quick to herald  iconic artists such as Laura Spong and showcase their work as assets to the rich fabric of urban culture. He constantly pushed to highlight The Vista and its rightly achieved formal status as Cultural District in Columbia,  and knowingly worked consistently toward an ongoing goal of Columbia as a cultural destination for future citizens not  fixated on collegian over emphasis.      

Wim's youthful background as a former band drummer, and a political reactionary

surreptitiously pasting political bills at night served him well to establish his distinct curatorial criticism concerning art and culture. He united Columbia artist with our German sister city Kaiserslautern to produce an ongoing relationship of international exchange exhibitions and public sculpture. This in turn established the Lady Street Sculptural Corridor as a hallmark of urban design and international influence raising the bar for future architectural and green space concepts.

And, he loved his cats. 

-Stephen Chesley

 

It is difficult to express in words the void that's left by Wim Roefs departure. he set the standard for Contemporary Art in Columbia both through his gallery, and his advocacy work in civic organizations including 701 CCA.

His work throughout the state and southeast region as an independent curator was important in laying the path for new voices. He had exacting standards, he believed in risk taking and  championed challenging art and conversations. He made space for emerging talent. His interests were broad. Music, film, theatre, visual art, and dance. His politics were clear. he believed in and practiced inclusion, not as an exercise in political correctness, but as a way of living, a way of being. He brought lots of different kinds of people into shared orbits. He called bullshit when he saw it. He was sincere.

-Michaela Pilar Brown

 

Wim’s passing is a staggering loss. His passion, intellect, and commitment to the arts in this region are gigantic. We all loved to participate in his presentations of local and international talent. His carefully curated exhibits at If Art, 701CCA, and Art Fields have become a part of our cultural psyche. The wealth of talent here and abroad Wim found and represented is vast and diverse. His boundless energy has raised our cultural consciousness and will continue to elevate the visual arts throughout our community. Wim, Thank you. You are forever in our hearts and minds…

-Clark Ellefson  

Wim with the late Laura Spong

During the 11 plus years my office has been two doors down from if Art there were many days and nights where I was able to stop in and just enjoy a talk with Wim about any number of interests we shared. 

We both parked our cars in a garage a block away from our shops. For me, I walked past the large window at the entrance of If Art on my way to my car every day. This was the showcase window. It allowed anyone walking down Lincoln St., one of the busier pedestrian streets in Columbia, to walk past if Art and view what Wim had to showcase that day, week, or month. 

My thoughts in the past few days, walking past that large window, have turned to the fact that for the past 11 years I have seen every artist that Wim has hung in that window. There have been local, upcoming artists in that window. There have been nationally recognized and established artists in that window. I’ve seen beautiful small painting of flowers, and large painting that served as a bit of a middle finger to whoever walked by. Wim brought us the art he liked to champion and make no mistake, want you to buy so you could show it off to your friends. I was lucky enough to see it all. 

-Wade Sellers

 

Wim changed the landscape of visual arts in Columbia. He was a powerhouse of knowledge and his demand of excellence and passion helped to create an environment that thrust local artists to a whole new level. As a founder of 701 Center for Contemporary Art his vision helped to shape what has become a leading institution for contemporary art in the region. The team at 701 is saddened by his sudden departure and he will be greatly missed. But we are so grateful for all he has done to raise the bar for cultural arts in this town. 

-Lee Ann Kornegay 

 

Since I met Wim thirty years ago, he has been a constant force in the South Carolina arts scene, and it won’t be the same without him. He cultivated friendships and fostered collaborations among artists. His knowledge, enthusiasm, and passion for the arts and making things happen was unmatched in our arts community. Wim will not be forgotten and was a hell of a friend.

-Mike Williams

 

This is a devastating and sudden loss for our community, within which Wim was such a force at 701, at if Art, and beyond. Such a presence. Deep condolences to Eileen and to Wim’s family. I thought of him as the “old fashioned” type of gallerist: if Art is no pristine white cube with an intimidating attendant, but a jumble of walls and levels all filled with art and with books, open and inviting to all, presided over by Wim from his perch in the loft. There is no prevailing style or medium among the artists represented. Simply those Wim thought were good and to whom he was deeply committed. Wim ran if Art more as an art center than gallery, hosting musical events, performances, and book launches—including mine. When I asked Wim if we could do a launch in the gallery the answer was simply: “Sure, when do you want to do it?” No red tape to cut, no waivers to sign. Just set up the table, put out the books and the chairs and do it. He was always open to conversations and to events that would stimulate them. The first public event we attended during the depths of pre-vaccine COVID was at the gallery: Michaela Pilar Brown’s moving sculptural performance mourning her mother’s passing, compellingly enacted by her and Terrance Henderson. The set and the performances were extraordinary; but just sharing a live experience with other people was cathartic for us, as I hope it was for Michaela. Wim created a space in which you felt safe to have deep and perhaps unsettling aesthetic and emotional experiences like this, even during a pandemic. I hope that as a community we can find ways to honor Wim’s life and extend his legacy and commitment to creating spaces for art and experience.

-Peter Chametzky

Wim with Diane Gilbert, Kirkland Smith and James Smith

Wim was a giant in the art community and his passing  is such a loss for his family and friends! 

He made a lasting impact through his work with 701 CCA and his gallery if Art, as well as facilitating the artist exchange with our sister city Kaiserslautern, Germany. He  was passionate about the value of art and passionate about the artists he valued. He will be dearly missed. 

-Kirkland Smith

  

“I feel heartache for having lost a friend, but also for the wider loss to our art community and the direction of local art. His honesty, drive, and support are irreplaceable. Wim is irreplaceable.”

-Scotty Peak

 

We were introduced to Wim when we first arrived in Columbia. He and Eileen opened their home and hearts and welcomed us from the beginning. His smile, dry sense of humor, and strong opinion made him the kind of friend we valued and appreciated. We truly loved him. Wim will be missed, and we will miss his voice floating from the loft of If Art Gallery as he greeted us when we arrived.

-Thaddeus and Tanya Wideman-Davis

 

Wim did so much for Columbia arts and music. But for me personally, during my days at Free Times, his presence offered reassurance that approaching our small but determined creative community with honest criticism (and some well-intentioned snark) was not just OK but necessary for its continued growth. 

-Jordan Lawrence

  

Wim could be disagreeable and cantankerous and have a need to be right at the exact same moment he was incredibly kind and accepting. A person of great integrity who wasn’t above fucking with you in a good-natured way. Fun and sneaky funny. He was a fierce champion not only of the arts but of people. Mostly people. There was only one Wim. We were so lucky to know him. Zaire and Michaela myself will always remember the One Woman show he gave the Bird at If Art when she  was five(I think). Or how we used to talk about “real football “ , soccer. And how he was helpful . Always helping. Miss you man. Love you Wim. A singular presence in Columbia. 

-Darion McCloud

  

Wim Roefs was a gift pure and simple. 

-David Yaghjian

The Tarot - Alejandro Garcia-Lemos at Stormwater Studios May 17 - 22, 2022

Jasper is delighted to learn that Columbia-based artist Alejandro Garcia-Lemos will be showing his new project, The Tarot, May 17 - 22 at Stormwater Studios, 413 Pendleton Street in Columbia’s Vista. An opening reception will be held Thursday, May 19 from 5:30-8:30 pm.

“The Tarot García-Lemos was entirely conceived and drawn in 2020 during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Columbia, South Carolina,” Garcia-Lemos says. “I eventually added the four suits to the major arcana to provide additional texture, resulting in a unique 26 card deck. In 2021, the collection was selected to be shown at the pandemic-themed ‘1593’ art exhibit at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, SC. Recently, the deck was presented in the mystic city of New Orleans which provided the perfect environment for the final version. It consists of 27 gouache paintings on panel.”

There will be a limited edition of 100 printed decks for sale and probably a very special Tarot reader at the opening reception on Thursday, May 19th from 5:30 to 8:30 pm

For more on the creation of the Tarot Garcia-Lemos check out the artist’s narrative and reading instructions here.

Jasper Chats with May's First Thursday (slightly off Main) artist - Alex Ruskell

Attorney Alex Ruskell is the Jasper Project’s Featured Artist this month at Sound Bites Eatery.

His Art Show opened on First Thursday, May 5th and will run through the end of May.

Alex, thanks for sharing your work with Jasper at Sound Bites Eatery throughout the month of May. Is visual art a new endeavor for you? We know you more as a musician and member of the eclectic musical group, The Merry Chevaliers. When and how did you get started creating visual art as well?

  • I started painting during COVID lockdown – my friend, Lila McCullough, of Lila’s Happy Flowers, created Melrose Art in the Yard and asked me if I would like to do something for it.  Lila paints flowers on boards, so I thought I could do the same thing but with monsters and aliens.

How would you categorize your aesthetic and what other artists have inspired you?

  • My favorite visual artists are Daniel Johnston, who is mainly known as an indie musician combatting severe mental illness, and Henry Darger, a custodian who wrote and illustrated a 15,145-page fantasy novel that was discovered after his death.  I do like the simplicity of their stuff, but I mainly love the spirit behind it.  There’s a kind of wonderful futility and love —these are guys that weren’t supported or encouraged and just did it anyway.  My buggy-eyed aliens are clearly based on Johnston’s frogs (famous from his “Hi, How are You?” mural in Austin, TX and a t-shirt that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana used to wear). I bought one of Johnston’s signed drawings right before he passed away, which I have up in my office.

 

Can you talk about your technique?

  • I used to collect comic books, so when I was trying to figure out how to paint, I lifted whatever my technique might be from how comic books are made.  In comic books, there’s usually a penciller who draws the art, an inker who inks the pencil in, and then a colorist who adds the colors.  I pencil, then I paint it in, then I go over the pencil lines with a paint pen.  It’s shocking the difference the paint pen makes.

 

You used unconventional material as canvasses in your Sound Bites show, such as fence posts and ceiling tiles – is this something you do regularly? 

  • Yes – I initially got the idea from Lila, because she uses fenceposts and wood collected from the side of the road for her paintings.  But there are a few other reasons I like using recycled stuff – one, it’s cheap so I don’t have to charge much for paintings; two, I started out in environmental law way back when, so it fits with my idea of sustainability and recycling; and three, my favorite scene in any documentary is from It Might Get Loud, a guitar documentary about Jack White, the Edge, and Jimmy Page.  At the beginning, Jack White builds a “guitar” out of a board, string, nails, and a bottle and says, “Who says you need to buy a guitar?”  I love that sentiment.  A few weeks ago, I gave a talk for art day at Oak Pointe Elementary in Irmo to about 500 elementary school students.  I have no clue what the students’ socio-economic status is, but I figured if there is some kid who wants to make art and can’t afford much, I could show that kid you don’t really need much except the desire to do it and a little creativity.  I showed them paintings I had done on posts, ceiling tiles, and record covers (although they thought the record covers were books).  Although I use acrylic paint, I told them about Henry Neubig, who is a Louisiana artist who actually paints with mud.  I wanted them to get the idea that there is no real barrier to entry to making art, and I like my own paintings to reflect that a little.

 

You have unusually affordable price points for your art, too. Is this by design and, if so, can you speak to that please?

  • My wife, Kerry Egan, is a writer and hospice chaplain.  She spreads good in the world with her books, ministry, comforting words, empathy, etc.  I am not smart enough for any of that, but I am pretty good at being goofy.  The $10-$20 price point is for the exact same reason we dress up as French noblemen and play songs like “Hot Moms” in my band, Les Merry Chevaliers.  For the band, I always imagine someone wandering into the Art Bar or someplace after a horrible day and seeing us onstage doing our nonsense and feeling like their burden is lifted a little.  My art pricing is in the same spirit  – people are so delighted when I say something is less than $20.  You can actually see a cloud pass sometimes.  Less than $20 is small enough to make people happy and large enough that I can take my wife out to Henry’s after a show without feeling guilty about it. 

 

Do you ever dabble in other mediums or are you interested in venturing into anything else?

  • I have an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a Master’s in Creative Writing from Harvard that I have done absolutely nothing with – I’d like to fix that before I die.  I’ve got a finished novel about a lawyer with a unicorn horn stuck to his head, so we’ll see if anyone bites.

Where else can patrons find your work once your show at Sound Bites comes down at the end of May?

  • I do Soda City every so often, and Melrose Heights Art in the Yard when we have it.  A Little Happy in Five Points sells stickers I have made of some of my stuff.  There is also a new store opening at the end of June called Lyons General Store on the corner of Rosewood and Assembly in Columbia.  They’re going to be selling t-shirts with some of my designs. Finally, I take requests – aruskell@gmail.com.

 

Thanks, Alex!

Announcing the DRAW JASPER Contest - Deadline August 15, 2022

Win YOUR SPOT on the Cover of Jasper Magazine!

Have you always wondered what Jasper would look like if Jasper was a real living and breathing entity? Would they have purple hair and sexy eyes or be bald and bodacious? Would they have a big nose and bigger ears, bowed legs or knocked knees? Hairy arms? A shiny grill?

Now you can let your imagination run wild as you create an image of Jasper as you see them!

The winning entry will score the coveted spot as the Cover Artist for the Fall 2022 issue of Jasper Magazine as well as a $250 cash prize.

All accepted images will be included in the Draw Jasper Art Show and available for purchase at the artist-designated price, with the artists receiving 75% of the sale price and 25% going toward the publication of Jasper Magazine.

 

small print:

  • All entries must be submitted as an image of the original art (the original art will be exhibited in the Draw Jasper Art Show) and should be 8.5x11”, CYMK and at least 300 dpi.

  • The original art should not exceed 8.5 x 11 inches and there should be space allowed for the masthead along the top or bottom of the image.

  • Any medium is allowed as long as the original is 2-D.

  • Jasper may be depicted full-length, as a portrait, or anything in between.

  • Images should be emailed to JasperProjectColumbia@gmail.com no later than August 15, 2022 and should include your name, contact info, and the price point for your original art. PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT ORIGINAL ART.

  • Finalists will be notified by September 1, 2022 and details of the Draw Jasper Art Show will be announced then.

 

Columbia Operatic Laboratory presents original production of Mozart’s The Impresario 5/12

Columbia Operatic Laboratory (COLab) is presenting the opera The Impresario, which features music by Mozart and a new libretto and book by Evelyn Clary at 6:00 pm on Thursday, May 12 at Jubilee! Circle.

Originally created in 1786 for a private performance for Emperor Joseph II and eighty of his besties, the story tells the tale of two sopranos vying to be prima donna of an opera company.  In this new English adaptation of the libretto, Frances Honda Coppola, sung by Maria Beery, and her assistant Bradley Pittman, played by Bradley Fuller who also serves as the accompanist, are leading a financially struggling small opera company. Bitcoin investor Gil Bates, played by Austin Means, offers to fund their entire season if they employ his…er…mature girlfriend Goldie Dawn, played by Clary, and his new young fling, Alicia Silverstone, played by Sara Jackson. Of course, all manner of hilarity ensues. Michael T. Brown is directing the performance.

True to COLab fashion, the show has gotten a makeover.  The show is set in modern day Columbia with spoken words and dialogue in contemporary English.  Gone are the sexist overtones of women tearing each other down rather than working together, and clunky dialogue that plagued the original.  “Impresario is arguably the world’s first musical comedy. Its spoken dialogue, arias that can be taken out of context, social commentary, everyday characters and happy ending put it more in line with musical comedy than the operas of its day,” says Clary. 

“The enduring legacy of this show lies in its larger commentary on the business of making art” says Brown.  “The issues that were tackled in the original of how an arts organization can stay ‘true’ to the spirit of their work and maintain financial viability, all while handling plenty of off-stage drama has captured the imagination of performers and audiences for over two hundred years.  And as is often the case, presenting this as satire prompts us to reflect on serious issues with some levity and fun.”

 This is a comic one act opera for everyone – not just for the opera aficionados. This is not something you will hear every day!

CoLab is hoping to extend this run and is hoping to book gigs at other venues for this piece as well as others from their expanding repertoire.

Jubilee! Circle is located at 6729 Two Notch Rd right next to Very’s Restaurant in Columbia. Admission is $10 by cash or check at the door. Jubilee! Circle will have snacks and drinks available for purchase.

Columbia Operatic Laboratory is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For booking, please email ColumbiaOperaticLaboratory@gmail.com. For more information on the production, or to make a donation, go to Columbia Operatic Laboratory on Facebook.

 

Book Presentation/Discussion--The Verdict: The Christina Boyer Case by Jan Banning @ 701 CCA

Book Presentation & Discussion:

JAN BANNING:

The Verdict: The Christina Boyer Case

Featuring Richland County Chief Public Defender Fielding Pringle

701 Center for Contemporary Art director Michaela Pilar Brown and

world-famous Dutch photographer Jan Banning

Monday, May 16, 2022

7:30 pm

Admission Free

Richland County Chief Public Defender Fielding Pringle and 701 Center for Contemporary Art director Michaela Pilar Brown will lead a conversation at 701 CCA with world-famous Dutch photographer Jan Banning during the first American presentation of his new book, The Verdict: The Christina Boyer Case. The conversation and book presentation will take place Monday, May 16, at 701 CCA.

Banning, a former 701 CCA artist in residence who has had two solo exhibitions at the center, makes the case for Boyer’s innocence in the death of her three-year-old daughter Amber in Carrollton, GA, in 1992. Boyer has been incarcerated for three decades after she accepted – under duress and after receiving poor legal representation – a prison sentence without pleading guilty to avoid a death penalty trial.

“For decades I have admired Jan Banning’s socially focused and engaging portrait projects on menial professions and human conditions otherwise ignored,” said Anne Wilkes Tucker, curator emerita of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, one of many museums that has Banning’s work in its collection. “This moving book calls for what should be and could be done for Christina.”

Boyer’s “heartbreaking case infuriates me,” Tucker wrote, “but came as no surprise. Bullied and abused as a child, she is one of thousands of women without resources who weren’t believed, and had inadequate defense.”

The plight of especially poor defendants in the United States’ judicial system, in which 95 percent of cases never go to trial, will be part of the conversation with Banning. Public attorney Pringle has decades of experience representing indigent defendants.

Banning’s book presents a complex and multi-layered approach to the Boyer case. Two chapters, by Banning and Georgetown University law professor Marc M. Howard, discuss the case and the American judicial system. Photographed pages from the local newspaper provide media context and show the papers’ biased reporting on the case. “The Family Album” shows family photos of Boyer and her daughter, while another section shows hand-written pages from Boyer’s prison diaries. In “Imaginations,” Banning presents interpretive and conceptual photographs, mixing photojournalism and staged art photography, to illustrate aspects of the case, though not literally. “Christina’s Associations” presents Boyer’s written responses to Banning’s photos of the Southern environment, an environment that Boyer has not seen in person in decades.

Banning came across Boyer’s case when he was making portraits of inmates at Georgia’s Pulaski Women’s Prison for his 2016 book Law & Order: The World of Criminal Justice, which examines crime and punishment in five different countries through photos and text. Since then, Banning – by training a historian, with decades of experience as a photojournalist – has spent years researching the Boyer case, spending more than six months in the small town of Carrollton, Carroll County, and elsewhere in Georgia.

New York Emmy-winning production company Latchkey Films, contributors to the Netflix series The Innocence Files, is making a documentary about the Boyer case and Banning. Banning’s and Boyer’s exhibition about the case, The Verdict: Beyond A Reasonable Doubt?, opened in February at the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the national Dutch Photo Museum, in Rotterdam.

Banning was born in 1953, in Almelo, The Netherlands. His work has been exhibited in some 30 countries and is in the collections of many museum, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Atlanta’s High Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Banning has published more than a dozen books of photography. Among his books and exhibitions are Bureaucratics, about government officials in several countries, including the United States; Comfort Women, about Indonesian women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II; Traces of War, about forced laborers who survived the Japanese Burma and Sumatra Railways building project during the same war; and Down and Out in the South, about homeless people in Columbia, SC, Atlanta and the Mississippi Delta. Both Bureaucratics and Down and Out were exhibited at 701 CCA, where a residency for Banning provided the impetus for and beginning of the Southern homeless project.

701 CCA is a non-profit visual arts center that promotes understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of contemporary art, the creative process and the role of art and artists in the community. The center also encourages interaction between visual and other art forms. 701 CCA is located at 701 Whaley Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201.

THE BEAT: Kevin Oliver Reviews Sean Thomson's Self-Released Jank Volta

Columbia musician Sean Thomson first came to local music fans attention as half of the indie folk duo Post-Timey String Band, and he’s played in The Restoration, Marshall Brown, and the Rare Birds, and more including the upcoming “Zion” project from Saul Seibert. Then there’s the simultaneous stream of lo-fi mostly instrumental albums full of odd instrumentation and sounds, including several where he managed to acquit himself quite well on sitar, even. On this new collection of instrumental compositions, Thomson incorporates traces of all of those prior endeavors while crafting something meditative, intricate, and inventive. 

Even the song titles are creative and fun–with no lyrics, one can presumably name a tune anything, and Thomson manages to come up with delightfully playful names for all eight compositions here, some of which even have at least a tangential relationship to how they sound. “Large Indian Beer,” for example, incorporates some heavy sitar into its stomp-and-drone, while “Never Take a Sitar to Maxwell Street” answers the question of what Jimi Hendrix might have sounded like playing sitar.  

Occasionally Thomson gets serious, as on his version of Blind Blake’s “Sweet Papa Lowdown,” or on a nasty, fuzzed out guitar, or the sunny, island-vibe gone Ventures surf rock of the title track (featuring Jeff Gregory of The Runout on manic congas). More often, he’s enjoying creating brief musical worlds that manage to collide wholly different eras of music in under a couple of minutes. “Fungus,” for example, vacillates between Beatlesque chording and some unsettling electronica.  

The closing track has both the silliest title and the funkiest, slinky feel. “Yanni (heart) NASCAR” doesn’t seem to have anything to do with either cultural phenomenon, but the funk bassline and disco gone wrong atmosphere are undeniably catchy. As the tune slowly grinds to a stop like it just ran out of gas, all I want is to take it back out on the dance floor for another lap or two, along with the rest of this thoroughly entertaining album.

Jasper Project Intern Stephanie Allen Opens Honors Show at McMaster

By Emily Moffitt

One of our interns with the Jasper Project, Stephanie Allen, has put together her undergraduate honors solo exhibition on UofSC campus!  

Her exhibition, titled “In My Skin, Her Skin” is a culmination of works and themes from her undergraduate years in combination with her experiences and the experiences of other women and nonbinary individuals. The works called for plenty of experimentation, incorporating new surfaces to work on like acetate and media like graphite powder. Experimentation was crucial for the large-scale pieces to work as the use of acetate added the layering effect that Allen needed for her messages to shine through the portraits.  

“I wanted two separate spaces for different facets of identity,” Allen states. “I finger painted, used India ink, and had a lot of flexibility with materials. It was also my first time working on such a large scale and working on each corner of the page was definitely a challenge.”

 The exhibition calls back and converses with previous works by Allen as the perception of the body-most often female-through the lens of the church or more conservative ideations has always been something Allen critiqued. Now, “In My Skin, Her Skin” highlights the feelings of others through layering of abstracted mark making and fine-tuned, anonymized representations of the interviewees.  

For this particular series, the interview process was completely integral to the work,” Allen states. “The work was wholly dependent on how that person expressed their relationship with their body.” Each of the larger-than-life portraits have two layers; the first graphite layer is based on a photograph provided by each of the interviewees, with the freedom of posing and positioning completely in their hands. The project captures not only the freedom that these interviewees feel in regard to their bodies but is indicative of how they wish to present themselves to the world. The interview process takes on a grander meaning with the second, abstracted layer as Allen listened carefully to the answers of her subjects in order to provide inspiration for color palettes and the style of mark making that she would opt for on that particular person’s portrait.  

Allen’s mission for her exhibition lies within creating and portraying a wider visual vocabulary of what can be considered feminine. “The point of the show is to show that a body does not dictate identity. The pieces share commonalities of queerness and femininity, and those things don’t have a specific aesthetic.”  

By creating works of art with a variety of body shapes and posing, they force us to question what our predilections of femininity include, questioning the heteronormativity of gender roles. Allen notes that we as humans are often predisposed to associating looks with the character of an individual, causing our perception of femininity to often lie within physical attributes rather than mentality or emotion. Through the grand scale of the models and universal theme of questioning what we perceive as a feminine individual, Allen hopes to evoke self-reflection in the audiences as we view her work, letting ourselves reevaluate how we see femininity out of the liminal scheme of exclusively womanhood.  

Viewers of Allen’s past work definitely see that the connecting threads between her existing body of work, and the passion she harbors for this exhibition is clear.

“In My Skin, Her Skin” is on display in McMaster College’s Passage Gallery on the first floor through May 14th. A reception will be hosted at 6 PM on May 5, and some of Allen’s earlier but relevant work is also still up on display in Cool Beans! across from Wardlaw College.

 

The Jasper Project Welcomes Lucy Bailey to the Tiny Gallery

Jasper is excited to welcome artist Lucy Bailey to the Jasper Project Tiny Gallery!

Lucy Bailey’s ceramic sculpture centers around the figure, with liberal use of layered textures and mixed media elements. Additional work explores combinations of ceramics and wood or wire, and earthenware altar boxes that create narratives through assemblages of found objects.

In 2021 one of her sculptures was exhibited at ArtFields in Lake City, SC. Her work was awarded the Best in Show distinction in exhibitions by the Annual Artist’s Guild of Spartanburg (SC) Juried Show and the Arts Council of York County (SC) Annual Juried Competition. Bailey’s work has twice been selected for the 701 Center for Contemporary Art’s South Carolina Biennial show. Her work was published in Lark Books’ 500 Figures in Clay-2.

With work ranging from $32 to $130 there is something for everyone to be found in this month’s Tiny Gallery. Check out a few items below and then venture of to Jasper’s Tiny Gallery to see the entire exhibition!

 

And while we have you, please consider supporting the Jasper Project tomorrow during Midlands Gives. Here’s a list of what Jasper has accomplished over the past twelve months!

You can find our Midlands Gives Donation Page right here! Thanks!

A Midlands Gives Message from Cindi & Wade -- The Jasper Project's State of the Heart

Thank you!

As we approach Midlands Gives next week and you make your decisions on where to invest your gifts, we’d like to report back to you on how the Jasper Project has used the tokens of your kindness since last year.

First and foremost, we have published two 64-page issues of Jasper Magazine and we have another issue in design now that will be in your hands in a matter of weeks.  These issues have reviewed, previewed, examined, explained, memorialized, and celebrated more than 100 of our Midlands-based artists. The issue coming your way will look at the art of Lindsay Radford, Quincy Pugh, Rebecca Horne, Lucy Bailey, Tyrone Geter, Diko Pekdemir-Lewis, Mike Miller, Jane Zenger, Josetra Baxter, Tamara Finkbeiner, Terri McCord, Juan Cruz, Saul Seibert, Rex Darling, Tam the Viibe, Desiree, Katera, Lang Owen, Hillmouse, Space Force, Candy Coffins, Admiral Radio, Carleen Maur, the mission of SCAC ED David Platts, and the international efforts of Columbian-founded dance organization, Artists for Africa.

We have published a dual volume of Fall Lines – a literary convergence, celebrating the prose and poetry of 60 SC writers, awarding the Broad River Prizes for Prose to Randy Spencer and Kasie Whitener and the Saluda River Prizes for Poetry to Angelo Geter and Lisa Hammond, while at the same time celebrating the photography of Crush Rush. And we have issued a call for Fall Lines 2022.

We have conceptualized and implemented a competition for the publication of a chapbook for a SC BIPOC writer in honor of Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer and the winner is being announced and celebrated as we speak. Board member Len Lawson brought us this beautiful idea and will edit the book which will be published this fall. 

We have implemented another issue of the Play Right Series, with new board member Jon Tuttle issuing a call for an original, unpublished one-act script, overseeing the adjudication, and selecting young playwright Colby Quick as the winner. Nine community producers have joined director Chad Henderson and his cast to learn more about the page to stage process for theatre arts, and we will invite you to join us for a staged reading of Moon Swallower in August. 

We have featured one artist per month in our virtual Tiny Gallery under the direction of board member Christina Xan, including artists whose work you know very well and artists whose work we think you’ll be happy to learn about including Gina Langston Brewer, Adam Corbett, Bohumila Augustinova, and more.

Because of the dedication of our amazing web maven and board member Bekah Rice, we have a website that is comprehensive, up-to-date, easy to maneuver, and quite lovely, if we do say so ourselves. Since last spring we have brought the good news of Columbia arts to you via more than 160 Online Jasper (previously blog) posts. And counting.

We threw a fabulous party to celebrate the 10th birthday of Jasper Magazine, and, with board member Laura Garner Hine’s incredible work, we welcomed more than 30 artists to demonstrate and celebrate their talents.

We have shown art for Columbia artists at Jasper Galleries that include Harbison Theatre, Motor Supply, also under the management of Laura Garner Hine, and our sidewalk gallery at the Meridian building conceptualized and realized by board member Bert Easter.

We have included the work of 25 (and counting) brilliant SC writers under the auspices of the Jasper Writes project, implemented in conjunction with Jasper poetry editor, Ed Madden. 

We have helped a new non-profit spread its wings by serving as the fiscal agent to Columbia (Summer) Repertory Dance Company, which is now its own entity. Bye bye little birdie! 

We have launched several new projects including:

  • A new weekly music column by Kevin Oliver called THE BEAT;

  • First Thursday featured artist exhibitions at Sound Bites Eatery – with artists including Marius Valdes, Ginny Merritt, and Quincy Pugh lined up for the next few months, and Alex Ruskell showing his work in May;

  • The monthly Jasper Poetry Salon hosted by Al Black at the One Columbia Co-Op;

  • Another monthly singer/songwriter happening called Front Porch Swing, also by Al Black, also at the One Columbia Co-Op.

  • Last Thanksgiving, we launched a weekly newsletter called Sundays with Jasper that keeps the community up-to-date on Jasper news and arts happenings in general. You can sign up for Sundays with Jasper here.

Of course, none of this could have been done without the support of our community and your recognition of the vital role grassroots arts organizations play in the landscape of an arts community.

We continue to vow to you that every penny that comes the way of the Jasper Project will go directly back into the greater Midlands area arts community as we keep our overhead close to zero, save for insurance and rent (when we have a brick-and-mortar home.) None of your generous funding goes to payroll, taxes, or nice desks and chairs. We work from our homes and from our hearts.

It's worked this way for 10 ½ years. We’re keeping at it as long as you let us.

Thank you for your continued support.

Cindi Boiter, Wade Sellers, and the entire board of the Jasper Project and staff of Jasper Magazine

 

Announcing the Winner of the Inaugural Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer BIPOC Chapbook Prize - Maria S. Picone

Maria S. Picone (photo courtesy of the artist)

It is with great joy that the Jasper Project announces that the winner of the inaugural Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer Poetry Chapbook Prize is Maria S. Picone of Myrtle Beach, SC for her chapbook entitled, Sky Sea Edict.

Maria S. Picone/수영 is a Korean American adoptee who won Cream City Review’s 2020 Summer Poetry Prize. She has been published in Tahoma Literary Review, The Seventh Wave, Fractured Lit and Best Small Fictions 2021. Her work has been supported by Lighthouse Writers, GrubStreet, Kenyon Review, and Tin House. She is a 2022 Palm Beach Poetry Festival Kundiman Fellow and Chestnut Review and The Petigru Review's managing editor. 

Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer (1868-1936) was a teacher and social activist in Orangeburg, SC. Born in Pickens, SC, she taught at the Normal and Grammar Schools at Claflin College for 40 years. Her published anthology of poems Prejudice Unveiled, and Other Poems (1907) examined the Jim Crow South’s propensity for lynching, racism, and social injustice. Moorer was also an advocate for women’s suffrage in South Carolina, especially in the Methodist Church. 

The purpose of the Lizelia August Jenkins Moorer Prize, affectionately called the Lizelia Prize, is to offer a BIPOC poet from SC a publishing contract with Muddy Ford Press to publish their debut chapbook under the guidance of an established poet. The inspiration of Dr. Len Lawson, who is a member of the Jasper Project board of directors and the author, editor, or co-editor of four books of poetry, Lawson will also serve as editor of Picone’s chapbook and will collaborate with them on the construction of the book. Picone will receive publication via Muddy Ford Press, a cash prize, and ten author copies of the book.

This year’s judge of the more than 10 submissions was Raena Shirali. Shirali is a poet, editor, and educator from Charleston, SC. Her first book, GILT (YesYes Books, 2017), won the 2018 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award, and her forthcoming collection, summonings, won the 2021 Black Lawrence Press Hudson Prize. Winner of a Pushcart Prize & a former Philip Roth Resident at Bucknell University, Shirali is also the recipient of prizes and honors from VIDA, Gulf Coast, Boston Review, & Cosmonauts Avenue. She holds an MFA in Poetry from The Ohio State University and is an Assistant Professor of English at Holy Family University, where she serves as Faculty Advisor for Folio—a literary magazine dedicated to publishing works by undergraduate students at the national level. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A Day, The Nation, The Rumpus, & elsewhere.

About Picone’s work, Shirai writes, “What does it mean to belong—to a country, to a culture, to oneself? Maria S. Picone’s work is defined by these questions, and her work joins a storied lineage of Asian American authors who have wondered the same. Dense, insistent, and endlessly rewarding, Sky Sea Edict studies loss through identity and identity through loss in poems overflowing with language and yet marked by their empty spaces. These poems defiantly experiment, crossing text out, attempting language by repeating, iterating, attempting, scrapping it all and trying, again, to learn a mother tongue. Sky Sea Edict is a glorious declaration of oppositional existence, a vibrantly musical exploration that—as Picone herself writes—“weigh[s] these lucks against the lacks.”

Lawson is also delighted with the outcome of the inaugural poetry competition, saying, “Maria S. Picone translates her experience as a Korean adoptee in the South into the language of poetry, filling in any gaps with compelling verse, connecting her timeline with her original and adopted tongues. She braves the unknown in her life with these courageous words, offering a free-spirited narrative we must observe from all angles of both sky and sea. Picone has a voice to remember going forward.”

Lawsone continues, “The legacy of South Carolina poets of color became the impetus of this project with the example of Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer at the forefront. Her poetry and service to South Carolina presents a beacon for any artists of color seeking to make a permanent mark in their communities. My hope is for this project to endure as more gifted voices emerge from our state.”

For more information about Maria S. Picone please visit her website.

Jasper Welcomes the Multi-talented Alex Ruskell to First Thursdays (slightly) Off Main at Sound Bites Eatery

After a resounding success at Jasper’s first First Thursday featuring artist Michael Shepard in April, we are thrilled to be back at the new arts downtown dining den, Sound Bites Eatery, for First Thursday in May.

May brings us the bright and whimsical art of Alex Ruskell!

When Ruskell isn’t serving as the director of Academic Success at the UofSC Law School, he is a member of the equally bright and whimsical band, the Merry Chevaliers.

A champion of silliness and advocate of art in all its frivolity, Ruskell’s art offers a dose of something most of us have come to cherish of late — a reason to smile.

Joining Alex for this opening event will be Dick not Richard who will be laying down the groove and keeping our heads bopping and our hips swinging.

Come out for an evening of visual art, music, and fabulous food!

Free and open to the public — See You Thursday at First Thursday (slightly) off Main at Sound Bites Eatery - 1425 Sumter Street.

Fall Lines Call for Poetry and Prose is Open

Fall Lines – a literary convergence is a literary journal presented by The Jasper Project in partnership with Richland Library and One Columbia for Arts and History.

Fall Lines will accept submissions of previously unpublished poetry, essays, short fiction, and flash fiction from April 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022. While the editors of Fall Lines hope to attract the work of writers and poets from the Carolinas and the Southeastern US, acceptance of work is not dependent upon residence. 

Publication in Fall Lines will be determined by a panel of judges and accepted authors (ONLY) will be notified by October 1, 2022, with a publication date in January 2023. Two $250 cash prizes, sponsored by the Richland Library Friends and Foundation, will be awarded: The Saluda River Prize for Poetry and the Broad River Prize for Prose.

Ø  POETRY: Up to five poems may be submitted with each submitted as an individual WORD FILE.
Include one cover sheet for up to five poems. Submit poetry submissions and cover sheet to FallLines@JasperProject.org with the word POETRY in the subject line.

Ø  PROSE: Up to five prose entries may be submitted with each submitted as an individual WORD FILE.
Include one cover sheet for up to five prose submissions. Submit prose submissions and cover sheet to FallLines@JasperProject.org with the word PROSE in the subject line.

COVER SHEET should include your name, the titles of your submissions, your email address, and mailing address. Authors’ names should not appear on the submission. Do NOT send bios.

ALL ENTRIES SHOULD BE TITLED.

There is no fee to enter, but submissions that fail to follow the above instructions will be disqualified without review.

Simultaneous submissions will not be considered. Failure to disclose simultaneous submissions will result in a lack of eligibility in any future Jasper Project publications.

 __

 The Columbia Fall Line is a natural junction, along which the Congaree River falls and rapids form, running parallel to the east coast of the country between the resilient rocks of the Appalachians and the softer, more gentle coastal plain.

Something Blue at 701 Whaley Hallway

1st Place - Kim Kim Foster

2nd Place - Kim Kim Foster

3rd Place - Russel Jeffcoat

Better Days by Kim Kim Foster

PhotoSC presents Something Blue featuring the work of 15 local photographers interpreting of the concept ‘blue” in a photographic exhibition which opened on Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Hallway at 701 Whaley.

The prospectus asked photographers to address the concept of blue – “a color – what shade, tint or hue? An emotion – what does it feel like? A time of day – dawn or dusk? A memory of who, where or what?”

Photographers juried in the show include Sandy Andrews, Kimberly Case, Steve Chesley, Kim Kim Foster, George Fulton, Susan Hogue, Latrease Holman, Russell Jeffcoat, Mathew John, Tracy Martin, Fred McElveen, Maggie Mullin O’Hara, ML Miller, Yeshua Perez, Ed Shumnes, and Sam Wolfe.

Kim Kim Foster is awarded the first and second place prize in the show, beautifully illustrating both the color and the emotion in her two photographs, ‘Better Days’ and ‘Where from Here?’ Dark and moody, these two photographs reach out to the viewer in on an emotional level as well as thru her color palette.

The second place went to Russel Jeffcoat, a well-known Columbia photographer, for his unique cyanotype print, ‘Abandoned,’ an image of old tires heaped in a pile. Cyanotype is one of the oldest photographic processes with a distinctive blue color, often used for botanicals, it is known as a blueprint.

The exhibition was juried by Leslie Burns, a noted alternative process photographer from Charleston, SC. Burns has been exhibited internationally and published in Cyanotype: The Blueprint in Contemporary Practice by Christina Z. Anderson. She has been featured on Fotosavant.com, Lenscratch.com and OneOneThousand.org. In June 2012, Burns was named as one of the “100 Under 100: The New Superstars of Southern Art” by Oxford American Magazine. She has been an Instructor of Photography at University of Georgia, Trident Technical College, College of Charleston and Redux Contemporary Arts Center.

The juried exhibition features 31 images that span the genres of abstract, architecture, alternative processes, fantasy, landscape, nature, portraiture, still life, and street photography and will hang thru the end of June 2022 in The Hallway at 701 Whaley.

PhotoSC is a 501C3 non-profit arts organization dedicated to the exploration of photography and visual culture. Supported by the SC Arts Commission, our long-term plans are to illuminate the general public and the art community about the photographic canon through education and gallery shows, to address visual literacy and photography’s role in society, and to create spaces where photographers can reveal their work to a larger public thru in a dedicated facility

Jasper presents Line-Up for First Thursday Featured Artists at Sound Bites Eatery

It almost feels like we’re back to normal.

But really, what is normal? Will we ever be normal again? Were we ever normal to start with?

You can help answer these questions and more by joining Jasper as we bring back one of our favorite pre-pandemic events - gathering with the Jasper tribe (that’s YOU!) to welcome art from a featured artist to our walls. But now, given that the Jasper Project no longer has walls on Main Street we’ll be gathering for First Thursdays Slightly Off Main at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street, one block off Main Street between the Taylor and Hampton Street blocks.

After an exciting launch of our new series in April with featured artist Michael Shepard, we’re thrilled to announce our line-up for the season below:

May 5 – Alex Ruskell

June 2 – Kimber Carpenter

July 7 – Ginny Merett

August 4 – Marius Valdes

September 1 – Quincy Pugh

We’ll start at 6 pm and the artists will be in the house to chat with you about their art and maybe grab a photo with you when you pick out a treasure to take home.

Terri Mac and Mai Turner will have the kitchen open so plan on grabbing a delicious dinner or glass of vino or beer to enjoy while you check out new art and either catch up with friends or meet some new ones.

In the meantime, stop by Sound Bites Eatery by the end of April for some yummy food and the art of Michael Shepard!

Columbia Baroque Presents “Catesby Comes to the Carolinas: A 300th Anniversary Celebration” May 10, 2022

Richard Stone

From our good friends at Columbia Baroque …

Columbia Baroque invites you to join us Tuesday, May 10 as we present ”Catesby Comes to the Carolinas: A 300th Anniversary Celebration” the final program of our concert series, “Around the Globe: Exploring Unfamiliar Territories.” Our concert is a collaboration with the Catesby 300 organization as they lead the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Mark Catesby in the Carolinas. We are delighted to welcome John Myers, historian, and guest artist Richard Stone, theorbo and lute, who joins our performers Brittnee Siemon, mezzo-soprano; Mary Hostetler Hoyt, baroque violin; Erika Cutler, baroque violin; Gail Ann Schroeder, viola da gamba; and William Douglas, harpsichord. 

The renowned English naturalist, Mark Catesby came to the Carolinas in 1722 to study flora and fauna, the results of which were included in his Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. In addition, Catesby enjoyed singing and was especially fond of the music of Georg Frederic Handel.

Our concert will open with a delightful trio sonata by William McGibbon followed by English songs from the pub favored by Catesby as a participant. To connect with Catesby’s love of nature, we will include a section of music in imitation of birds followed by solo selections for each member of our ensemble. The program will conclude with music by Catesby’s favorite composer, Georg Frederic Handel.  

The Washington Post has described lutenist Richard Stone's playing as having "the energy of a rock solo and the craft of a classical cadenza." His recordings of the Fasch lute concerto and the complete Weiss lute concerti are available on Chandos. Other recording and broadcast credits include Deutsche Grammophon, Polygram, NPR, the BBC and Czech Radio. He has been guest soloist with Apollo's Fire, Handel and Haydn Society, Mark Morris Dance Group, the Boston Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Stone co-founded and co-directs Philadelphia baroque orchestra Tempesta di Mare and is professor of lute and theorbo at the Peabody Institute. 

A career teacher, John Myers began as an adult educator for unique groups in South Carolina: migrant and seasonal farmworkers and for state Native Americans, specifically the Catawba Nation. He retired from the South Carolina Department of Education in 2019 and is now employed as a historical interpreter at the Lexington County Museum. An avid birder, Myers is a member of the Audubon Society of Columbia and a team leader of the Catesby 300 planning committee, a group of SC state and national park administrators, statewide educators and museum administrators and historians. 

Columbia Baroque’s “Catesby Comes to the Carolinas: A 300th Anniversary Celebration” will be presented Tuesday evening, May 10 in the Recital Hall at the University of South Carolina School of Music, 813 Assembly St. in Columbia. Come early for “Concert Conversations,” hosted by scholar, Peter Hoyt beginning at 7 p.m. with the performance at 7:30 p.m.  

Tickets are $20. All students attend free. For ticket purchasing and information visit www.columbiabaroque.org. 

Celebrating the Jasper Guild!

At the Jasper Project, we celebrate the community members who join us in our mission of promoting, supporting, and shining a bright and loving light on the members of the greater SC Midlands Arts community by joining the Jasper Guild.

Thank you to the newest members of the Jasper Guild and Welcome to the Jasper Family!

April 2022

Al Black                                               ALLY

Clark Ellefson                                      ALLY

Kimber Carpenter                               ARTIST PEER

John Casey                                          ADVOCATE

Pat Gillam                                           ARTIST PEER

Phillip Bush                                         FRIEND

 

March 2022

Bekah Rice                                          FRIEND

Jane Zenger                                         CHAMPION

 

Feb 2022

Gail Anastasion                                   ARTIST PEER

Terri McLaughlin                                FRIEND

Randy Spencer                                    ADVOCATE

 

Jan 2022

Susan Craig                                         ALLY

Richard Laymon                                  CHAMPION

Arthur Turfa                                        FRIEND

If YOU would like to join the Jasper Guild — or join the Jasper Family in some other role — please visit

the Jasper Project website

by the end of this week so YOUR NAME will be in the next issue of Jasper Magazine. releasing May 2022!

THE BEAT: Stardog - On the Ropes - Self-released

By Kevin Oliver

When the sudden news of Stardog guitarist Beau Long’s death spread through the local rock scene last year, it looked like a void had opened up that would be difficult to fill. Long’s proficiency in the kind of 70s/80s arena-ready rock swagger that Stardog excelled at is not something that’s all that common anymore. How would the band soldier on, or would they? 

Turns out that Long had one more fight left in him; his guitar parts for the band’s next album were completed prior to his passing. It is a fitting tribute to their late bandmate that the remaining band members chose to press on and finish what they’d started with Long. 

Four of the six tunes here are new compositions–Long’s last written and played with the rest of the band. There’s the boxing allegory, “The Left Hand,” which equates the sweet science to life lessons learned the hard way. “Lying” brings the Stardog sound into a more swinging 90’s alt-rock direction, more Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots than anything that might have worn spandex tights on stage. It’s also lead singer Artie Joyner’s peak performance, vocally, where he’s just soaring above the music on the chorus, yet emotive and restrained in the verses when he needs to be. 

 “All Time High,” with an insistent tempo driven by rock solid drummer Scott Mark King and a chorus that invites fist pumping and singing along, is typical of the band’s strengths–taking something that in lesser hands might be considered dated and cheesy and making it sound fresh and exciting all over again.  

The other thing that Stardog does well is create the kind of songs that make you think you’ve heard them before. “Nobody’s Sleeping” is one of two older songs included on this new release, It opens the proceedings with a not-so-subtle Van Halen style arrangement; stick around for the scorching Beau Long guitar solo–it’s worth the wait. “Lemonade Girl” is built on a riff and chord progression that’s naggingly familiar (I have my suspicions, but I’ll let you figure it out for yourself) before the full band kicks in for yet another great singalong chorus.

There is no pretense or artifice in the music Stardog plays, nor has there ever been. The band’s signature style is pure unadulterated over the top FM rock grandiosity, and here they deliver it like they are playing for the kids in the cheap nosebleed seats, lighters raised for an encore.