Upcoming Opportunities for Artists & Film Makers

Carolina Film Network - Networking Event

CFN Is meeting Saturday August 6th from 3pm-5pm to talk about their film festival Freedom Festival International and how to get involved. Check out their Facebook event for details and location.

Richland Library Fall Pop-up Art Show for BIPOC Artists

Richland Library continues collaborating with local visual artist Jeff Rivers to expand the social and economic participation of underserved artists and communities. They are currently seeking submissions for an outdoor exhibition series in September, October and November 2022.

The Pop-Up Art Shows aim to connect the community with local working artists and to provide creative and educational opportunities to the community in a way that supports cultural and artistic exchange.

The deadline is Thursday, September 1, 2022 (to exhibit at Richland Library North Main or Northeast) and Saturday, October 15, 2022 (to exhibit at Richland Library Southeast).For questions, please contact

Read the full guidelines and apply online.

Rosewood Art & Music Festival

Rosewood Art & Music Festival is a non-profit, one-day, free admittance, outdoor festival where thousands of visitors descend into the Rosewood Neighborhood to enjoy multiple stages of live entertainment, visual arts, poets, music, and more to celebrate southern arts and culture.

The festival is taking submission for artists and musicians until August 31st
Read their submission guidelines and apply online.

The 701 CCA Prize 2022 for South Carolina Artists 40 Years & Younger

701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, S.C., announces the sixth installment of the 701 CCA Prize, a biennial, juried art competition and exhibition for professional South Carolina artists 40 years and younger. The project takes place this year with a juried process resulting in a October – December exhibition for the competition’s three finalists and an award celebration announcing the winner. Eligible artists are invited to apply for the 701 CCA Prize 2022 by completing and submitting the application package by September 1, 2022. The application guidelines and link to the application are on their website.

Crucial dates are as follows:

July 29 – September 1, 2022 - Submission Period

September  15, 2022 - Announcement of Three Finalists

October 20, 2022 - Exhibition opens with a public reception.

November 29, 2022 - 701 CCA Prize Celebration Event and Announcement of Winner

December 31, 2022 - Exhibition Closes with year end celebration 

“The 701 CCA Prize continues to add a crucial component to the ecosystem and infra-structure for artists and the visual arts in South Carolina,” -Wim Roefs founding board member 701 CCA

The project’s purpose is to identify and recognize artists 40 years and younger whose work is exemplary in its originality, shows awareness of artistic developments and is of high artistic merit. The winner is selected by a panel of three art professionals. The 701 CCA Prize 2022 will be awarded to one young professional South Carolina artist for outstanding art production since January 1, 2020. Aside from the age requirement, eligible artists must currently live in South Carolina. They also must fulfill several practical requirements outlined in the application guidelines. 

An independent jury of three art professionals will select three finalists for the 701 CCA Prize. The three finalists will be included in the 701 CCA Prize Exhibition at 701 CCA. The three members of the jury panel will be announced later.

The 701 CCA Prize Winner will receive a six-week, paid residency at 701 CCA; a solo exhibition at 701 CCA. The previous winners were James Busby of Chapin in 2012, Shannon Rae Lindsey of Columbia in 2014 and Yvette L. Cummings of Conway in 2016, Jena Thomas of Spartanburg in 2018, Adrian Rhodes of Hartsville in 2020.

Jasper Presents First Thursday at Sound Bites with Adam Corbett

Adam Corbett has been a part of the Columbia music scene for almost 20 years. On top of his own projects he’s been in several bands — Guitar Show, The Restoration, and Husband to name a few — and played with local artists Marshall Brown and Rachel Kate. It may have come as a surprise to some, then, when he decided to branch out into visual art. 

Being at home more than usual over the last two years and seeking a creative outlet outside of music led Corbett toward painting and drawing. During this time he’s experimented with different mediums, techniques, and styles, figuring out what he likes best. He admits that, ultimately, the variety of options and experimentation itself might be what he enjoys most. Out of all the things he’s tried, he seems to gravitate most toward watercolors. 

 
 

“I suspect my attraction to watercolor is how unpredictable it can be while also still being malleable,” Corbett shares, “I also really like it when someone who clearly is digging one of my paintings asks and is a bit shocked that the weird cartoon bat clown they are looking at was done with watercolors.” 

Since 2020, he has participated in several local markets and art events: Kennan Terrace Art in the Yard, Art Along the Trail, Cottontown Art Crawl, Melrose Art in the Yard, and, most recently, AG+Art in Lexington and Charleston. Aside from being a part of Jasper’s 10th Birthday Party art salon, First Thursday will be Corbett’s longest show and the first one indoors, for which he is extremely thankful (it’s hot out there, y'all!). 

Join us Thursday, August 4th at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street from 6pm-9pm.

First Thursday Facebook Event

Adam’s Facebook, Instagram & Music

The Beat: Remembering Ruba Say

PC: Ruba Say’s Facebook

“We thought he’d outlive us all,” went one of the many comments online after news of the July 16th passing of Columbia musician and iconic personality Ruba Say at the age of 56 (From a chronic medical condition) broke. It was his larger-than-life persona that most locals remember, along with an easygoing attitude that meant he got along with everyone. In my nearly 30 years of writing about local music in Columbia, I can’t recall a time when Ruba wasn’t around, doing something, playing somewhere, sending me demos or sharing news of a new album or show. 

Ruba was his own best promoter, and before social media came along he was creative in his efforts to be heard. Former WUSC-FM student DJ Tug Baker recalls his first encounter with Ruba:

“The first interview I ever did at WUSC was with Ruba Say. During one of my first shows freshman year, he burst into the studio during my show and said he was scheduled for an interview about Ruba Say and the Cosmic Rays. No one had told me anything about it, and I was pretty sure he hadn’t asked or cleared it with anyone at the station. But I went ahead and rolled with it, interviewed him, played some of their songs, and we had a good time.”

Ruba also had a habit of turning up in places you’d least expect. Emily Strickland recalls one such night at the Hunter-Gatherer.

“We went to see Hick’ry Hawkins play, and Ruba was there. At some point late in the set Ruba started playing guitar with him, and next thing you know they’ve closed the front door to the pub, Ruba is wailing on guitar, and Hick’ry is standing on a table belting out AC/DC songs. It wasn’t a big crowd, but that’s part of what made it so special–it was just this intimate moment of high energy rock and roll that we all shared–Ruba brought that, and shared it with all of us.”

Naturally, however, it is his fellow musicians who have the best stories about Ruba. 

“I remember walking into Group Therapy about 30 years ago to a wall of rock,” says Soul Mites bassist Thom Harman. “There was Ruba, spinning on the floor and tearing up a guitar solo at the same time–that is rock and roll, and he embodied it like few people ever do.”

Artie Joyner of Stardog remembers one particular night out of many spent in Ruba’s company:

“Ruba was legally blind, so I drove him around a lot, and we’d take turns playing our favorite tunes on the car stereo. On the way back from Summerville once, he pulled a joint out of his shoe, we lit it up and jammed to Motley Crue’s “10 Seconds To Love” all the way home.” 

Jay Matheson, of the Jam Room recording studio and too many bands to list here, recalls an early 1990s night with Ruba:

“I decided to roll down to Charleston to play bass on a gig with Ruba and his drummer, Brian Kennedy–we were opening for some band at Cumberlands. When we walked on stage to play, 80 or so hippie kids were sitting cross-legged on the floor waiting on some chill, groovy music, so we were wondering what was going to happen. Ruba jumped to the microphone and started screaming out a rocking song with his trusty Crate amplifier cranked wide open. Brian and I looked at each other, shrugged, and started blasting along with him. The crowd was horrified, I don’t think they had any idea what was happening–I was well entertained and drove back to Columbia feeling like the trip was well worth it.”

Keith Woodward, owner of the legendary Columbia store Superior Feet Playhouse, met Ruba at the store one night, around Halloween of 1989.

“We were having a late night happy hour and this new face in town came through, he was a musician, knew all the music, and as everyone was putting on costumes, Ruba put on a Viking helmet, which went with his red hair so well I gifted it to him. He was part of an exodus of Florence musicians who came to Columbia in the 1990s, and he was always one of those who could turn a small thing into something bigger, just through all the people he knew–he was the original social network all on his own.”

Steve Gibson, original co-owner of the legendary Rockafellas, remembers Ruba fondly.

“Ruba was ubiquitous, always around, and always positive,” He says. “There are very few in Columbia who contributed so much, for so long, on the local scene.”

Back in 2017 I reviewed a self-titled Ruba Say and the Cosmic Rays album that had just been released, and this excerpt sums up my own feelings about Ruba and his music, and the loss that we’ve all felt this past week: 

“There is a legendary space in the Columbia music scene where Ruba Say exists as a sort of alternate reality rock god everyone knows and loves…Take the first KISS album, throw in some UFO, a little Stooges, and a lot of Alice Cooper, and you've pretty much got the meat of what Ruba does… The result positions the Cosmic Rays as a garage band of the finest order, content with blasting the roof off whatever dive bar they can find.”

Ashley Bennett Talks Inclusivity, Immersion, and Interaction Before Upcoming Tiny Coven Performance

On August 5, visitors and regulars of Art Bar will be treated to a performance by Columbia’s Tiny Coven Dance, a dance studio run by Ashley Bennett that prides itself on teaching fusion dance while also prioritizing diversity and inclusivity. We interviewed Ashley to find out more about what to expect from their upcoming show as well as some more information on what developed her passion for dance!


PC: Cesar Palacio

JASPER: What is your personal background within the world of dance? What was that "a-ha" moment that pushed you to pursue dance as a career?

BENNETT: I have wanted to be a dancer since I can remember. There is actually a photo of me on my 5th birthday, wearing a pink leotard with a tiny tutu, holding a ballerina teddy bear. In the photo, I’m wearing a gold “5” pin on my leotard and posing in “bras bas” (think arms down in a rounded position, teddy bear nestled into the crook of one arm). I hadn’t taken a dance lesson yet because we couldn’t afford it. My first ballet class was at age 12, while attending Davidson Fine Arts, a magnet school in Augusta, GA. While there, I studied modern dance with a Paraguayan instructor who also taught us traditional South American dances; since then, I was interested in multicultural folkloric dances. I remember seeing bellydancers at a festival and distinctly remember that there were moms performing in troupes with their teenage daughters and I thought that was really cool. I took a couple of lessons at a recreation center but wasn’t able to go regularly, so I didn’t end up studying bellydance seriously until after I graduated from high school.


JASPER: What can the audience expect from the performance at Art Bar? 

BENNETT: The show is a musical treat. We used pretty much all international electronic music. Think Arabic and Turkish rhythms with full, bassy, moody layers. I was very careful to keep the music esoteric enough to transport the audience, while still being easy to listen to. Everything is right around heartbeat level, which is probably how I stay sane choreographing and rehearsing as much as I have been. I have not divided performances by skill level, and have instead interspersed less experienced dancers with company seniors; this way, I am staying just within my team’s abilities, while still pushing them to their limits.


JASPER: Have you performed at Art Bar before?

BENNETT: Art Bar was the home stage for the company I moved here to join, “Delirium,” which later became “Columbia Alternacirque,” and that was in 2007. I think it was about 2017 that we did about 9 monthly shows at Tiny Coven, in an event we called “Shrine Underground,” and it was a fast-paced choreography/rehearsal schedule that helped my senior troupe members sharpen their stage tools. In this period of time, my new performers became very efficient with training, as well as costume/makeup and stage craft.


JASPER: How would you describe the dance community in Columbia? Do you think it’s changed or grown over the past few years?

BENNETT: I feel like the dance community is still very much in an incubation stage, thanks to the pandemic. Our ability to rehearse and train together is dependent on everyone being available. We have still been struggling with missing dancers while they quarantine — but it’s coming back. I think bellydance is one of the least-respected dance forms, so it’s difficult to promote online. I refuse to market my classes in the frame of an “exotic new hobby,” and I also refuse to promote weight loss at my business, so the dancers that find me are coming to train because they like my dance style and want to be a part of it. That makes me a bit insular, and that’s okay. There are a couple of other bellydance instructors in town, and they know that my door is always open for collaboration, rehearsal space, cross-promoting events, etc. and we have been that way since before the pandemic


JASPER: What does the troupe do to ensure the audience has a unique experience watching you?

BENNETT: Art Bar is such a great space for blurring the lines between audience and performer. As much as we love ennui, the enthusiasm of a performer standing RIGHT next to you — breathless and awaiting their next cue — is probably my favorite thing about the venue. I remember, years ago, dancing there for a packed house. I finished my solo and made my way to the back of the audience, but couldn’t see. I climbed onto a chair and grabbed a man’s shoulder to stabilize me. A couple of days later, I read Jeffrey Day’s review of our show in The State, and he was the man whose shoulder I had grabbed. For someone who is so accustomed to being completely separate from the performers in professional dance shows, the experience was groundbreaking. He STILL reminds me of that story whenever we see each other and I still get warm and fuzzy.

 

Tiny Coven’s performance starts at 8:00pm on the 5th, and admission into the show is free! Support local bars and local artists by stopping by to check out a one-of-a-kind performance you won’t want to miss.

Facebook Event

Jasper Talks with Marshall Brown on Experiences New and Old Post 5th Album Release

“I’m a strong believer that if there’s just one person in a room that takes something in from a performance then you’ve done your job”
— - Marshall Brown

We talked with local musician and DIY recording master Marshall Brown about his music, process and upcoming projects. His 5th album, Ay Es Em Ar, released in May of last year, was Voted best SC Album of 2021 by Free-Times.

Photo by Shane Sanders

What beverage or meal pairs best with your music?
Hmmmm. I'd say “Changing Of The Garb” pairs with a smoothie of some sort, and with “Elephants Walking Lightly” maybe a smooth wheat beer and pop a melatonin. “Awakened On The Weekend” is definitely a Bourbon Soda, but it's a daytime Bourbon Soda to be enjoyed in the sunshine. 

What makes a song good? 
I like a song that gets stuck in my head. I also like production that has a lot to listen to and keeps you interested — where maybe there's something in the 2nd verse that wasn't in the 1st verse. Sometimes I do get tired of the everyday "Verse –chorus," but I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't say that sometimes it's just all you need, too.  

What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever recorded? 
I find that the more time I spend on a record, the more love I have for it — I guess for obvious reasons. The more I labor over and pour myself into a project, the more connected I feel to it. Every time I put a record out, I generally have put more into it than the one before, so I'd say my favorite is usually my latest. 

What is your process like when writing and or recording? Is there anything you wish you could do differently or that you don't like about it? 
Organization is key. I keep notes on my phone of random couplets or just titles that I may think are witty or interesting. Also, I have another folder that has song ideas that are maybe a little more developed. I have a folder with finished lyrics that I'm logging until music is recorded and online, and I have a folder for lists of songs such as ones that I'm planning to release on this project or that one. So I try to stay organized and make it a point to write stuff down when I have something cool or interesting cross my mind. Otherwise, I'd forget it easily, and that's a waste. 

How has the pandemic impacted your music and creative process? 
I was really on a lonely down spiral right before the pandemic so it wasn't an incredible change in lifestyle for me. I did, however, come out on the other side a more healthy person with the help of some close friends. Since the heart of the pandemic, I've been collaborating with other artists a lot more than I used to. I hardly ever really collaborated before. SHOWS is a project that has always been a real pleasure for me. We try and keep it loose and intentionally light and fun. We dress up in painter's uniforms when we play live. Zion is a project that I've been involved with more recently, and it's a darker more existential landscape that we're building. It's been a beautiful experience embracing that part of my personality as well. I have the sense that we're really creating something important. 

How do you know when something is done? 
Sometimes you just know. Sometimes things spill out and you just don't want to change them. You keep them in that visceral form they were born in, and you wouldn't dare corrupt the simple beauty of that. Other times, you have a little nugget that you're really crafting and crafting to shape like a gem. Those are the ones that can be tough to let go of and just let them live in the world. I had some on Ay Es Em Ar that I really got lost on, and I ended up sitting on that album for a long time because I just got lost at a certain point in time. When I came back to it later, I had more of a determination to make some deadlines for myself and get it done. It was definitely a situation where some deadlines and a sense of urgency really helped me get it done, and it ultimately made me a little more confident in my craft. 

If you had any advice for other musicians looking to get into DIY recording, what would it be? 
I like to spread the news that there aren't any rules. I realize that can sound naive as there certainly are some guidelines to try and 'color inside of' for a good quality recording, but I do feel like a lot of the rules that people will tell you CAN, in fact, be broken in some instances. If you're recording music, it's probably because you have an ear. If you have an ear, use it and trust it. The great thing about music is, if it SOUNDS good, it IS good. I've been in situations where I've been really strained to figure out why something is working because my knowledge of theory tells me it should be all wrong. Don't do that. If it sounds like it's working, then let it work. 

As far as equipment goes, just know that you can use a really cheap mic, but use good technique with a really fresh musical idea, and you've got gold. Some great records have been made with sub standard equipment. If you keep at it long enough, you'll get to a point where you'll drool over better equipment, but go as slow as you need to and just do the best with what you have. The average person won't even notice if you're good at your craft.  

What's your favorite or least favorite show you've ever played and why? 
I'm a strong believer that if there's just one person in a room that takes something in from a performance then you've done your job, but I did get sick and lost my voice right before a big music crawl event one year and was missing a whole section of my vocal register. I had to sing my songs completely differently than normal and really put a lot of thought into my endurance. That was a fairly dreadful experience. I also have had nightmares about being at a venue and not having one small piece of equipment that I need to make everything work.

What is the ideal way to listen to your music? 
Headphones for the win. I like music that has detail in it and often try to put things in there that you may not even notice without headphones. I like the way headphones give you the proper stereo field where you can hear things happening all around you. it's not just left and right because something that has a lot of reverb sounds like it's far away from you and something that's more dry sounds like it's closer. 

Did you have a favorite stuffed animal growing up, and if so, why haven't you written a song about it? Or have you? 
I had many. I remember them getting very ragged as they were loved. The 3 that come to mind are an orange Popple with green hair, a Papa Smurf, and a well known chipmunk named Alvin. Perhaps, I could do a Chipmunks Vocal style remix of a song in the future. I remember listening to Chipmunk's Christmas and Chipmunk's Sing The Beatles a bit when I was really young. 

What's next for you? Are you working on anything? 
Yes, definitely have some songs built up from the last few years that I'm looking forward to birthing into the world. I've been making lists and doing some organizing. I suspect I have a few EPs and a full length in me as of now. Might even have other secret collaborations in the mix too. Who knows? 

Tell us about your coming show.
I'm looking forward to this show with Elf Power on the 28th. I haven't had a chance to play the Ay Es Em Ar songs with a full band yet so that, in itself, is exciting. I've got some different guys called The New Garbs with me this time. It's certainly no slight to The Rare Birds, my most recent partners in crime. The Rare Birds are still The Rare Birds and can't be replaced. The New Garbs are just my attempt to branch out and have experiences with playing with different people. Looking forward to hearing Elf Power as well. Their new record sounds great, and, being a big Olivia Tremor Control fan, I've always been amused by the Elephant Six Collective that they're associated with. I admire the sense of community there in Athens during the 90s. 

See Marshall Brown & The New Garbs July 28th at New Brookland Tavern with Elf Power and ER Jurken.

Follow Marshall on Facebook and check out his albums on Bandcamp





Get to Know the Artist: “Mark-Maker” Michel McNinch

 

“Prayer for Nancy”

 

Local artist Michel McNinch may be a Columbia staple, but her art stretches back far before any might guess.

“People ask me ‘How long have you been an artist?’ and I tell them that I drew the best snowman in kindergarten,” McNinch warmly shares, “My very first memory is crawling next door to get their crayons. The big ones. Eight colors. I wanted to touch them so bad. It is a vivid memory.”

It wasn’t only McNinch who felt her desire to create, though.

“My mother felt it,” McNinch recalls, “Everything she put in my hand gave me decisions to make—what color, how to mold it, what story to read. Oh! Remember the watercolor coloring books? Magic. I have always been a mark-maker.”

Back in these days, McNinch was growing and becoming on the “bright, khaki sands” of Sullivan’s Island. Of all the life there, what she recalls is the church and her beach.

“Stella Maris Catholic Church was at the center of our community. My entire family went to church and school there,” McNinch reminisces, “Although we lived on the front beach, I loved the ‘back beach.’ Small tidal creeks were the nurseries of all living things that I loved. The birds, crabs, oysters, shrimp, and fiddlers were my companions. A perfect place for a mark-maker like me to grow up.”

“Lake Murray Light Show”

This self-proclaimed mark-maker has explored creation through primarily pastel, watercolor, and oil—though the latter is her favorite, asserting that “[oil] is durable enough to last hundreds of years and the materials are readily available.”

It is these materials with which McNinch has made her mark.

“My paintings are reflections of my surroundings and experiences. I don’t worry too much about being unique—I am more interested in what holds us together,” McNinch effuses, “The arts and the culture it creates is what binds us as a community. My paintings may reflect the same experiences as many other art and nature lovers. We connect that way. We become a community.”

These days, you can find McNinch in Studio #7 at Stormwater Studios (413 Pendleton), which she calls “heaven on earth for an artist.” There she ruminates on her own past and on those she has interacted with over the years as she paints. In these moments, her mother stands out as an inspiration for her: “She always said I would be an artist and gave me so many opportunities to prove her right!”

When it comes to fellow South Carolina artists, McNinch fondly speaks of the late Larry Lebby. “He beat the odds with his sheer talent. One of my teachers was brave enough to take a class of middle-schoolers to the museum. Larry Lebby’s work was on exhibit. I was astounded at the level of craftsmanship—and all done with a ballpoint pen,” McNinch intimates, “As an adult, I found myself working for his lawyer. Larry Lebby lithographs were in every room of the office. I was surrounded by the talent that inspired me.”

 

“Somewhere Familiar”

 

Presently, McNinch is working on a collection of landscape paintings from SC State Parks and Wildlife Management Areas.

“We have a wealth of beauty in South Carolina, and much of it can be found in our State Parks. So, I am selecting several favorite state parks and painting about 10 landscapes from each,” McNinch details, “They will be displayed first to my email community—then, on my website.”

If you’d like to join McNinch’s “vibrant and engaged” email community, rife with an audience she is “so lucky” to have, you may do so here: Subscribe

You can also peruse her current work on her website or email her with inquiries at michel@michelmcninch.com

If you want to learn more about McNinch, you can watch her interview.

Mark Your Calendars - Future Poetry Events with The Jasper Project and Al Black

For the poetry lovers and art appreciators in the Columbia area, Jasper’s own Al Black will host a plethora of live events for poets and readers to be a part of. Each of the events have their own schedules, allowing for plenty of opportunities to fit everyone’s schedules. 

Mind Gravy Poetry is a weekly event that meets on Wednesdays from 7-9 PM at Cool Beans Coffee Company. The event includes music and poetry features, followed by open mic time, allowing for new voices to let their creativity and written word be heard.

For monthly meetups and activities, the first Tuesday of every month holds Simple Gifts, from 7-9 PM at the Friends Meeting House. The meetup includes music and poetry features and concludes with an open mic session. On the last Tuesdays of every month is the Jasper Poetry Salon, from 7-9 PM. It occurs at 1013 Duke Avenue and encourages poets of all experience levels to come and share their writings and appreciation for the art form. On the last Sunday of each month is Front Porch Swing, an outdoor event with live music; don’t forget your lawn chairs and coolers! Front Porch Swing also takes place at 1013 Duke Avenue, from 2-4 PM.  These monthly events are sure to provide anything you’re looking for in the realm of Columbia’s poetry scene.

Words, Words, Words is a quarterly event hosted on a random Saturday in January, April, July and October from 2-4 PM at the Richland Library Southeast Branch on Garners Ferry Road. This event features a published poet with an original music introduction; the featured poet is often from out of town, providing a great surprise factor for those interested in attending each of the meetings for Words, Words, Words. The next event will be in October, and we’ll update when we know more.

Black often organizes and hosts ekphrastic poetry events that feature galleries and artists from the Southeast—showcasing the appreciation of the combination of the written word and visual accompaniment. 

THE BEAT: Isabelle's Gift Revisits American Idle by Kevin Oliver

One of the Columbia music scene’s most iconic hard rock acts, Isabelle’s Gift, will be celebrating two things this week with its show Friday night at New Brookland Tavern. 2022 marks 30 years since the band’s first live shows, and singer Chris Sutton will turn 50 this week. For those reasons, and more, the band felt it was appropriate to mark the occasion and it has chosen an interesting way to do it– with a set that promises a full performance of the 2006 album American Idle.  

“We hadn’t played much for the past few years, even going into covid,” Admits Sutton, in a recent conversation with him and bassist Jason Carrion in the space where it all began–the former Rockafella’s, now Jake’s Bar & Grill, at 2112 Devine Street. “Everyone was separating, splintered apart, with kids and jobs and other things going on. Also, who wants to see a bunch of dudes our age get up there and play rock and roll?”  

Carrion agreed and noted that the logistics alone were daunting–but when they did convene with the idea to do another show, things clicked naturally. 

“I was very uncertain about where things were going to go–we couldn’t jam, it was a long time to not work on music together,” He says. The turning point came when he and Sutton recruited former Gift member (and current Soda City Riot, Gruzer, and Firenest member Travis Nicholson) and former Throttlerod leader Matt Whitehead.  

“We’ve all been friends for decades,” Carrion notes. “We toured with Throttlerod, Travis was in the band before, Scott (Frey, the drummer for Isabelle’s Gift’s last several years) came from the punk scene with Bedlam Hour. There’s a lot of history there. Chris and I have been playing together longer than most people’s marriages.” 

The addition of Nicholson and Whitehead changed the dynamic in the room and expanded what was possible.
“It’s a room full of gunslingers,” Sutton says. “It was pretty nerve wracking the first time we all practiced together, actually, because it felt like everybody was on their game except me.”

Nicholson is a natural fit, having been in the band before. He and Sutton have remained close over the years, too. 

“He helped write some of the stuff that was on American Idle,” Chris recalls. “Our families are close; our kids have played together for years. With Matt, it has been a bucket list kind of thing for me to play with him ever since our bands toured together.”  

Whitehead has been a revelation of sorts during the process of rehearsing the songs for this show, Sutton admits. 

“Going back and revisiting these songs, I was still writing on guitar for some of them and I feel like I was poorly trying to do what Matt was doing really well right off the bat with Throttlerod. So now, it’s almost like he’s going back in time and fixing everything that I did.” 

It’s important to both Sutton and Carrion to note that although they are playing an entire album of older material, the songs and the band may not sound like fans remember from the recording–and that’s fine with them. 

“It’s a texture that he adds to a lot of the songs,” Carrion says. “He’ll put melodies in places they didn’t exist before.” 

“I told both Matt and Travis that I wanted to make sure the verses were the same, and we kept the hooks, but I wanted them to bring their own feel to everything else,” Sutton says. “There’s no question there will be a difference in the sound, it almost feels like I’m fronting Clutch at times. Plus, I have a bunch of backup vocalists in the band now, which is exciting.” 

Rehearsals have revealed one major problem, Sutton says, and it has to do with how equally excited the entire band seems to be with the proceedings. 

“I’m concerned about keeping our tempos slower,” He admits. “We’re playing these songs in practice like we’re trying to kill somebody with them.” 

Isabelle’s Gift has always been the angry red-faced stepchild of the local scene, railing against mediocrity, hypocrites, traditional society, and more in their music and motifs. American Idle, released through the Jimmy Franks label of the Bloodhound Gang, was a high-water mark for the group, combining the sludgy Soundgarden vibe of their bottom end grooves with a punk fury reminiscent of Charlotte legends Antiseen. Topically, many of the subjects broached are still relevant a decade and a half later, and Sutton says getting reacquainted with how his younger self felt back then was not just surreal, it was affirming of his own life journey. 

“I remember the things I said, and the way I sang, as something I was embarrassed about,” Sutton says. “I realized that not only was I proud of some of the songwriting that was on it, the music is great, and it told a much more intricate story than I remembered–it made me a little more proud of who I was, and I’d forgotten a lot of that.”  

It was the album’s unexpected current relevance that inspired the idea to just perform the whole thing, he says.  

“It was scary how topical it was, and with the exception of maybe one song title and a couple of lyrics it even fits into current events,” Sutton says. “Usually guys our age are going to run into problems about things we said in our past being politically incorrect now, or not in step with some of the things we are defending these days, but it all checked so many weird boxes.  

“Within minutes of me telling the other guys the idea at rehearsal, we were blasting through the album, and I got left in the dust because I didn’t remember as much of the songs as the rest of the band.” 

Ultimately, it all started coming back to him, and in the process of working through the songs again, Sutton says it was a cathartic experience for him. 

“I don’t like to come right out and say some of the things I’m saying in these songs, but it’s unbelievably fitting in today’s political climate,” He admits. “I’ve always dealt with a lot of trauma, I’m lucky to be alive, and I didn’t plan on living this long. Back then I was pretty suicidal and I’m not now. Those are feelings I’ll be working through my entire life. I’m a completely different person than I was back then, but the trauma might even be felt stronger.” 

At this point the biggest question might be how the band’s new chapter might be read by fans old and, possibly, new. Sutton and Carrion both admit they are unsure, but optimistic.

“I don’t how it fits into today’s environment, how people who used to like us may take where we are coming from,” He says. 

“The last time we played a live show was in February, three years ago,” Carrion says. “We played that Ramones tribute show earlier this year, and getting to know those people, and the excitement behind that and other local shows lately, I love seeing the support now.” 

As for American Idle, growing up, and looking back, Sutton has the last, encouraging words for himself–words that might apply to anyone taking stock of their list of accomplishments later in life. 

“It’s so fucking honest, all the way through. I felt like walking up to myself like I was one of my kids and saying, ‘Good for you, you did better than I thought you did…you were honest, and it feels real as shit.’” 

Isabelle’s Gift plays this Friday, July 22nd, at New Brookland Tavern. Shun and the Transonics open the show. Visit www.newbrooklandtavern.com for tickets and more information. 

JAM ROOM MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP FOR OCTOBER 1ST

Jam Room Music Festival returns to Main Street to bring free live music to the streets of Columbia

——— OCTOBER 1 ———

The Jam Room Music Festival returns to Columbia, SC’s Main Street for the first time since 2019. This year’s festival is headlined by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Titus Andronicus, both of whom are celebrating new music releases. The festival will take place on October 1 and feature two stages, one on Main Street and one on Hampton Street in front of the Columbia Museum of Art. 

“It’s great to have the Jam Room Fest back and bringing live indie music to the heart of South Carolina,” says festival Executive Director and owner of the Jam Room Recording Studio Jay Matheson. “After two years off due to the pandemic, we’ve been looking forward to bringing the festival back, and we couldn’t be more excited about this year’s lineup. It’s hard to believe we’ve been doing the festival for nearly a decade, and we’re still looking forward to growing it for years to come.” 

Jay Matheson photo credit Ken Lucas

Now in its 9th year, the Jam Room Music Festival has brought acts such as Superchunk, Blonde Redhead, Justin Townes Earle, Son Volt, Waxahatchee, and Guided by Voices to its stages. 

In addition to venerable headliners CYHSY and Titus Andronicus, the festival will also host Titan to Tachyons, Shiner, Mourning [A] BLKstar, Bailey Road Band, The Explorer’s Club, and Columbia’s own local music champions Dear Blanca. In all, the festival will book up to 12 acts, with several more to be announced. 

Tonight! Meet the Artist - Michael Dwyer at Motor Supply - & read this essay by Catherine Walworth

Join Jasper and Michael Dwyer this evening in the bar at Motor Supply Co. Bistro to chat about and celebrate Dwyer’s new exhibit in the restaurant gallery. This is a casual affair with patrons gathering around the large communal table and at the bar, having dinner, drinks, and stimulating conversation with and about the work of one of Columbia’s most exciting contemporary artists.

Jasper and Dwyer will be arriving at 7.

To kick things off we present this lovely essay composed by a dear friend to Columbia, Catherine Walworth, Ph.D.

Painting is a visual language that speaks with its own rhythm, organizational syntax, and lyrical cadence. To look at Michael Dwyer’s paintings is to give yourself over to looking at colors and shapes and textures that exist playfully on the surface of a plane, yet in a seriously complicated way.

At first, one’s eye wants to track the upper layer of painted structures that bend and jerk like a conga line of conjoined dancers, and then you see how many layers and purposefully altered decisions went into the build-up of his paint below. Dwyer thinks of these strata as akin to the layering of instruments and the interweaving medley of sounds that happens over time in a piece of music.

Also like jazz, there is a tension between the sense of control and improvisation in Dwyer’s paintings. One can follow the jig across the painted surface, where bars of color bend and intersect, approach the limits of the painting’s edge only to stop short, or carry on into imagined elsewheres. Each bar is a different color, and in that bar are layers of past color choices, sometimes fighting to rise to the surface like a ghost, and other times anonymously adding layers of thickness to the final opaque color choice. This density and subtle quality of relief give the paintings an objectness, and asks the viewer to walk back and forth to take in little shadows, amplifying the sense of rhythm and movement.

Dwyer uses a palette knife to scrape and smooth paint, but also whatever is at hand. While he used to paint in a more organic, rounded, and gestural way with a brush, now he is a happy workman, troweling his bricks of color into built worlds. The paint layers in the background offer up clouds of color on which the hard-edged bars float in a colorful ether. As with Kazimir Malevich’s or Ellsworth Kelly’s geometric forms that hover on the painted surface, seeming to take a living breath, there is a sense of “being in the world” in Dwyer’s forms in space. They, too, feel as if they are hovering and jostling, announcing their impossible sentience.

Dwyer and I have at various times marveled over painting and how so many seemingly disparate parts could come together in a composition that teeters on the edge of falling apart during the making, only to have the artist stop when it seems inexplicably “right.” There is a resolution that cannot always be explained, particularly when there is no figurative subject matter to gauge, but the result is astounding, and each time the conditions of a painting’s “rightness” are excitingly different.

But then, Dwyer has been trained from childhood to recognize the fitness of compositions. His parents, both painters, raised him in a home in which modernism was the thing, and took him to museums as a natural practice. His paintings speak directly to so many of the artists’ styles that he has absorbed by faithful looking— Paul Klee, Brice Marden, Piet Mondrian, Elizabeth Murray, and Frank Stella, to name a few. Stuart Davis is close to home at this stage in Dwyer’s career. Like Davis who pronounced his direct connection with jazz, Dwyer comes back again and again to his love of music when describing his process, as well as his evangelical adherence to abstraction.

ART AT HOME: McKissick Museum Offers Digital Exhibit - Piece by Piece, Quilts from the Permanent Collection

“Some women don’t care how their quilts look. They piece the squares together any sort of way, but she couldn’t stand careless sewing. She wanted her quilts, and Joy’s, made right. Quilts stay a long time after people are gone from this world, and witness about them for good or bad.” ―

Julia Peterkin, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist from Fort Motte, South Carolina, author of Scarlet Sister Mary

Double Irish Chain

Designed by Tabitha Meek Campbell (1822-1889) 
Spartanburg County, SC
ca. 1860
Gift of Sarah M. Norton

The desire to create is a powerful force that will fight its way out of you even when you try to suppress it or pretend it isn’t there. Lord knows that traditionally impoverished Southern women rarely found their way to store bought canvasses on which to paint. But their talent and creativity poured forth in other ways, not the least of which was the way they kept their families warm with homemade quilts fashioned from cast-off clothes and pieces of fabric put aside for a rainy day.

Homemade quilts are more than family heirlooms to store in a linen closet.

Homemade quilts are story tellers and canvasses and books with chapter after chapter to be explored in square after square of their making.

And if the heat or germs or whatever personal reason of your own is keeping you home right now, you can still enjoy an incredibly comprehensive and enlightening virtual trip to the museum right from your own computer screen by visiting McKissick Museum’s Digital Exhibition, Piece by Piece - Quilts from the Permanent Collection.

In Piece by Piece, the exhibition introduces the visitor to a variety of quilts dating as far back as the early 1800s and as recently as 2015 with a quilt crafted by Summerville’s Peggie Hartwell, recipient of the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award presented by the SC Arts Commission. Ms. Hartwell is a founding member of the National Women of Color Quilters Network.

Wisdom 11 “To Thee I Give You Our Past”

Peggie Hartwell (1939-present)
Summerville, SC
2015

McKissick Museum Collection 2017.20.01

The McKissick Museum website writes, “The McKissick Museum collection includes over two hundred quilts, featuring examples of appliquéd, whole cloth, and pieced works from the Southeast. Since the 1980s, McKissick has documented and celebrated quilting traditions, produced several publications, and developed programs exploring the topic. The quilts in this exhibition illustrate the evolution of this textile tradition over the past two hundred years. From the early use of chintz fabrics to the widespread popularity of solid colors, these quilts reflect traditions with roots in Europe, Africa, and the American South.

“Quilting traditions in the Southeast were not uniform. Quilters were influenced by geographic, economic, and cultural circumstances. Many of the quilts displayed here illustrate characteristics distinctive to individual makers, while others reflect the influence of popular styles and trends. Quilts are as varied and diverse as the women and men who make them. They can evoke powerful memories and provide tangible connections to loved ones or specific events. More important, makers often use quilts to express social commentary, communicate personal narratives, or document family or community history.”

The Virtual Exhibit features distinct sections on Southern Quilts, primarily from the Carolinas and Georgia; the Makers’ Voice, which profiles known quiltmakers; the eponymous Crazy Quilt, and the University’s Quilt History Project from 1883-86. Included is a quilt created in 1986 by Hazel Ross depicting scenes from Columbia’s history to celebrate the city’s bicentennial.

Columbia Bicentennial Quilt

Designed by Hazel Rossl
Columbia, SC
1986
Gift of Logan Lap Quilters

McKissick Museum Collection 2012.08.01

For more exhibits at McKissick Museum, both virtual and physical, please visit this link and continue to enjoy the meaningful connection between art and history.

-Cindi Boiter

CALL FOR ART: SC State Fair Fine Art Competition Entry Period is Open NOW Through September 1st

Showcase your talents in our Fine Art Department for individuals 18+.

Divisions include Professional & Amateur 2-D, 3-D and Photography. 

Exhibitor must be a resident of South Carolina or attending a college or university in South Carolina or a member of the Armed Forces stationed in South Carolina.

Fine Art Exhibit Guide

Fine Art Professional Entry Form

2022 General Rules & Regulations

More Information

Stormwater Studios & the Charlotte Art League Gallery present THE EXCHANGE

In the kind of innovative arrangement many of us have been clamoring for, the artists of Stormwater Studios have partnered with those of the Charlotte Art League Gallery for an Artist Exchange and the opening night reception for the Columbia leg of the adventure is

Thursday night, July 14 from 5-7 pm.

In a nutshell, the artists from both galleries—Stormwater Studios and the Charlotte Art League Gallery—swapped galleries, with the Stormwater artists opening their exhibit on July 8th in Charlotte and the artists from CAL opening theirs Thursday night here in Columbia.

CAL Gallery is located at 4237 Raleigh Street in Charlotte. Stormwater is located at 413 Pendleton in the Congaree Vista.

Both exhibitions will run through July 29, 2022.

1980: STUDY OF DEREK RIDGERS' "THE OTHERS"

2,000.00

Artist: Ella Williamson

Medium: Graphite and charcoal

Resilience

Artist: Pat Gilmartin

Medium: Bronze

Dimensions: 5”x22”x4”

Price: $1300

TRUMPET PLAYER

475.00

Artist: Melvin D Nix

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 18" x 24"

Jasper Presents the Staged Reading of the 2022 Play Right Series Winning Play -- Moon Swallower by Colby Quick

MOON SWALLOWER STAGED READING

SUNDAY AUGUST 28TH — 4 PM

at CMFA

TICKETS $10 ADVANCE - $12 AT THE DOOR

The Jasper Project presents the staged reading of a brand-new play, Moon Swallower by novice playwright, Colby Quick.

Quick is the winner of Jasper’s second Play Right Series competition in which he competed with other unpublished playwrights for an opportunity to have his play workshopped and developed by a team of seasoned theatre artists with the end result being a staged reading and the option of further development toward a fully realized stage production.

Moon Swallower will be presented at CMFA on Sunday August 28th at 4 pm with a talk back session and reception following the reading.

Moon Swallower is directed by Chad Henderson with a cast that includes Lonetta Thompson, Stann Gwynn, Becky Hunter, Richard Edwards, and Michael Hazin. Katie Leitner is the stage manager. Veteran playwright Jon Tuttle is the project manager for the 2022 Play Right Series.

The 2022 Jasper Play Right Series is made possible by the contributions of a team of Community Producers, all of whom will have contributed financially to the development of the project and have, reciprocally, been involved in the process from an educational perspective.

They are Bert Easter, Ed Madden, James Smith, Kirkland Smith, Bill Schmidt, Paul Leo, Eric Tucker, Cindi Boiter, Wade Sellers, and Jon Tuttle.

The purpose of the Play Right Series is to empower and enlighten Community Producers by allowing them insider views of the steps and processes of creating theatre art. In exchange for a  minimal financial contribution, Community Producers are invited to attend designated open readings and rehearsals, informal presentations by cast and crew, and opening night performances with producer credits. The result is that Community Producers learn about the extensive process of producing a play and become invested personally in the production and success of the play and its cast and crew, thereby become diplomats of theatre arts.

Community Producers’ names, and that of the Jasper Project, will also be permanently attached to the play and will appear in the published manuscript which will be registered with the Library of Congress and for sale via a number of standard outlets under the auspices of Muddy Ford Press and the imprint of the Jasper Project.

The Jasper Project produced their first Play Right Series in 2017, producing a staged reading of Randall David Cook’s Sharks and Other Lovers under the direction of Larry Hembree. 

About the playwright: Colby Quick is a thirty-one-year-old writer, singer, musician, actor, husband, and father of two. He is the lead singer and guitarist of a Stoner Doom band known as Juggergnome and in the development phase of a rap duo project called Ski & Beige. Colby played Ebenezer Scrooge in Northeastern Technical College’s stage production of A Christmas Carol in 2019 and is currently in his final semester at Francis Marion University as an English Major and Creative Writing Minor. “I have mostly written poems, songs, and short stories, as well as an unpublished novel.: Quick says. “When I was young, I would make stop-motion videos and I wrote scripts for all of them. I think this helped a lot with writing the Moon Swallower.”

About the project manager: Jon Tuttle is Professor of English and Director of University Honors at Francis Marion University, author of THE TRUSTUS COLLECTION (Muddy Ford Press, 2019), which includes six of his plays that premiered at Columbia’s Trustus Theatre, and a recipient of the South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities.

The Jasper Gallery at Motor Supply Co. Bistro Welcomes the Art of Mike Dwyer

Meet the Artist

Friday, July 15th @ 7 pm

in the Bistro Bar

BAD WORDS

2022
acrylic on panel
12 in. x 16 in.

In the Jasper Project’s continued efforts to facilitate the exhibition of the art of Midlands-based artists on Columbia’s public walls we welcome the work of Michael David Dwyer to Motor Supply Co. Bistro at 920 Gervais Street in Columbia’s historic Congaree Vista.

In his decades-spanning practice, Michael Dwyer has focused on making abstract paintings that place color front and center. His recent work deploys crisp-edged chunks of translucent color that meander, zigzag, or float through the composition. The paintings are improvisational structures that often reveal evidence of their evolution.

LEXIKON

2022
acrylic on panel
14 in. x 18 in.

Dwyer holds a BFA from Syracuse University and an MFA from the University of South Carolina. His work has been exhibited in Syracuse, Providence, and various cities in South Carolina. Most recently, Dwyer's work was included in the exhibition The Shape of Things at 701 Center for Contemporary Art.  

GHOST NOTES

2021
acrylic on panel
14 in. x 11 in.

Dwyer says, “As a kid, I was surrounded by modern art at home - mostly my father’s paintings. I loved visiting my dad's studio. I liked the spattered dishevelment, the smell of paint, and the paintings that I couldn't fully understand, but instinctively grasped, as the works came to life. I knew at an early age that making art was something I wanted to pursue.

“A sense of movement has been an important element in my work for many years. Earlier pieces often conveyed a feeling of forms drifting in space. Then there was a shift toward using linear compositions to create direction. I wanted your eye to move along a variety of paths and have experiences along the way. My paintings relate to movement, physically, but also as it exists in music. I also found from my earlier collage work that I like shapes in my paintings to have crisp, assertive edges, like those that came from using scissors. Pieces are sometimes informed by elements of our environment like billboards, architecture, and graffiti. Ultimately, I’m always chasing that transcendent moment where color, shape, and movement come together in a way that‘s thrilling and right.”

The Artist - Michael Dwyer

The show opens on Tuesday July 12th with an invitation to Meet the Artist on Friday, July 15th in the bistro bar at 7 pm.

Head for the Hills to Support Columbia's 3D Artists Clay Burnette, Lee Sipe, and Susan Lenz

“There’s gold in them thar hills!” — a quote originally spoken by Georgia miner M. F. Stephenson, though ironically lifted by Mark Twain and attributed to his character Col. Mulberry Sellers in his 1892 novel, The American Claimant.

If you’re looking for a reason to flee the hot and humid dog days of this particular Soda City summer for some cool and cleansing mountain breezes, Jasper has a thought—Why not pack up the old wagon and head up to lovely Asheville to show support for some of Columbia’s finest 3D artists whose work is currently exhibited there?

At Blue Spiral Gallery, Clay Burnett and Lee Sipe are part of a group show of unique and innovative basket makers representing artists from throughout the country.

Of Staked Out: Contemporary Basketry, the gallery website says, “What can you make with sweetgrass, copper wire, clay, thread, paper, reed, pine needles, beeswax, cement and paint? A whole lotta baskets! The artists in Staked Out use traditional and non-traditional materials to create functional and sculptural masterpieces. Some artists stake out the form and weave though with the traditional methods of the Cherokee peoples; others build it up from clay or wood; while others use brightly colored thread and natural fibers to enhance decorative elements.”  

Fertility by Clay Burnette

Clay Burnette from the gallery website:

“I coil pine needles with waxed linen thread. I begin the process by gathering fresh pine needles from longleaf pine trees that grow in the sandhills of South Carolina. The needles are colored with fabric dyes, acrylic paints and iridescent inks, then sewn into coils using various colors of waxed linen thread. My tools are simple: a large steel upholstery needle and a pair of sharp pointed scissors. When completed, each piece is preserved with a light coating of beeswax and signed with my initials. I use the basic basketmaking technique of coiling to create contemporary shapes that incorporate lots of patience, persistence, and imagination. Time is irrelevant whenever I am stitching. The exploration of color, pattern, texture and form keeps me focused on the moment, but always thinking of what is yet to come.”

Vessel No. 380 by Lee Sipe

Lee Sipe from the gallery website:

“My heritage helps me to appreciate the unusual beauty in the common, the simple and the ordinary as well as the beauty of form and detail. I use weaving, twining, hand building and coiling to transform pine needles, clay, reeds, copper wire and other materials into forms that capture my experiences. I value order, hard work, detail, the beauty and tranquility of nature, tradition, family and sharing with friends. I also place great value on innovation. I consistently strive to create works that incorporate these values and are totally new, fresh and unique.”

The show runs July 1 through August 24, 2022, in the Blue Spiral Lower-Level Gallery, 38 Biltmore Avenue.

Mandala CXXIII by Susan Lenz at the Grovewood Gallery

While in Asheville, one should always pay tribute to the work of Columbia’s own Susan Lenz who has been represented by the illustrious Grovewood Gallery for a decade or more. Lenz’s Stained Glass, In Box, and Found Object mandalas are items of high demand in the gallery, and, in fact, the artist is toiling away at present to provide the gallery with Lancet Windows which, once again, are in short supply.

Lenz writes on her website:

“I stitch both by hand and machine but also indulge a passion for book arts and unique, 3D found art objects. Altering found photos is an obsession. My work has appeared in national publications, numerous juried exhibitions, and at fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Smithsonian Craft Shows. I've been featured on art quilting television programs and on South Carolina Etv's Palmetto Scene. My work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the McKissick Museum in South Carolina.”

Grovewood Gallery is adjacent to the Grovepark Inn at 111 Grovewood Road in Asheville.

An aside:

If you know of any other artists showing their work out in the hinterlands beyond the SC Midlands, please let Jasper know so we can help spread the word. Lord knows the spaces for our artists to show off the fruits of their labors are slim, which is a sad commentary on a state’s capitol city. So, until we have that problem collectively resolved, let’s put on our Deadhead hats and, as much as we can, follow our artists wherever they show!

-Cb

Jasper Welcomes Ginny Merett to Sound Bites Eatery as July's First Thursday Artist in Residence

RECEPTION THURSDAY JULY 7TH AT 6 PM

SOUND BITES EATERY

1425 SUMTER STREET

Ginny Merett

Jasper welcomes Ginny Merett to Sound Bites Eatery as the First Thursday Artist in Residence for the month of July! Merett’s signature collage work has become her trading card over the past few years creating a one-of-a-kind aesthetic that has yet to be duplicated. Bright and whimsical, the work often offers a first impression that is lighthearted but, upon further inspection, proves to contain powerful messages and social commentary.

Ginny Merett has been an artist and art educator in the Columbia community for over three decades. Through those years she used various media to create art but for the last ten devoted her time to creating multimedia collage pieces. Inspired by stylish women and ordinary faces and images, she portrays unique characters using parts and pieces from current day and vintage media.


Ginny’s collage pieces have been shown at Stormwater Studio, ArtFields, Koger Center for the Arts, the Jasper Project, USC School of Visual Art and Design’s McMaster Gallery, SC State Library, and other local venues like Trustus Theater, She Festival, Cottontown Art Crawl and Melrose Art in the Yard. Her work is published in the Jasper Project’s Jasper Magazine, Spring 2019 edition and in Sheltered: SC Artists Respond During the 2020 Pandemic; and in Bullets and Band-Aids Volume 3. 

She gives back to the community by visiting and sharing her work with various area schools and donating art to local charities.


Ginny was born and raised in Denver and has lived in South Carolina since 1987. Art has sustained Ginny throughout her life and is the cause for her every success. She constantly sewed, created, and treasured drawing as a child and sought out every art opportunity in school. Because art was such a passion of Ginny’s youth, she studied art education where she explored a wide range of disciplines and mediums; and taught art in the public schools for 30 years.


Her influences include David Hockney’s joiners, Robert Rauschenberg’s combines, Hannah Hoch’s timeless collages, and the beautiful execution of John Singer Sargent’s portraits.


Ginny is a member of Figurativeartists.org and is an Artist Peer with the Jasper Guild. Look for her at ginnymerett.com and on all social platforms.

Merett’s exhibition will run from Sunday July 3 through the end of the month. The public is invited to a an opening celebration on First Thursday, July 7th at 6 pm at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street.

CALL FOR JASPER FIRST THURSDAY ARTIST RESIDENTS @ SOUND BITES EATERY

********** CALL FOR ART **********

The Jasper Project is looking for 2D artists to show their work on a monthly basis as part of a partnership with Sound Bites Eatery, 1425 Sumter Street.

If YOUR WORK is vivid, whimsical, brightly colored, small-to-medium in format, and offered at modest price points and if YOU are fun, flexible, and chill, You might be a good fit as a Jasper First Thursday Artist Resident!

Jasper First Thursday Art Residents will hang their work before the first of a new month and celebrate their exhibit opening on the first Thursday of that month with a reception starting at 6 pm. Purchased is processed by the Jasper Project which takes a 25% commission of the price of the art. In return, Jasper promotes the show on the Jasper Project website and social media with articles, press releases, and frequent internet posts. (Humble reminder: the Jasper Project is an all-volunteer, non-profit, grass-roots organization and all incoming funds go directly toward the publication of Jasper Magazine and our many projects promoting and supporting members of the SC Midlands area arts community.)

If you are interested in applying to be a Jasper First Thursday Artist Resident, please send the following to JasperProjectColumbia@gmail.com:

  • Name and contact info

  • 4-5 samples of your work

  • Bio

  • Artist Statement

Previous First Thursday Artist Residents have included:

Next available residency is October 2022.

What? Was that June 30th that just FLEW RIGHT BY? Lucky for us, FALL LINES is FLEXIBLE!

FALL LINES DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 5TH!

At Jasper, we know how hard it is to keep deadlines in our headlights and out of our rearview mirrors!

And while we are thrilled with both the quantity and quality of the submissions we’ve received this summer, we have no reason not to take a deep breath and invite our beloved SC wordsmiths to do the same, take pen in hand once again, and send us even more poetry and prose for Fall Lines volume IX.

That’s right, you have until July 5th midnight to send us your first batch of work if the deadline passed you by.

OR, if you scrambled to get your submissions in on time, we invite you to send us another batch to double your chances of being published this year.

Same rules as the first time around - just an extended deadline.

How’s that for independence?

We Got Your Fall Lines Submission Guidelines Right Here.