Tuning in to Admiral Radio – An Interview with Becca and Coty and Preview of their Upcoming Koger Center Concert

“As a kid, the Koger Center was like that crown jewel of the city where so many foundational memories live for me. It’s really an honor to be able to perform here, especially with Coty. It’s something I never dreamed would happen.” - Becca Smith

On Thursday, January 26, Admiral Radio will perform at the Koger Center for the Arts at 7:30 PM to kick off their new series, “Live in the Lobby: Southern Sounds.” If you’re unfamiliar with Admiral Radio, the husband-and-wife singer-songwriter duo of Becca Smith and Coty Hoover is known for their unique Americana style of musicianship. Their name stems from their beloved eponymous radio from 1941, which promptly inspired the duo’s passion for delivering comfort and storytelling through music. To newcomers who could hear them for the first time at the Koger Center, Admiral Radio describes their sound as something “not quite country or traditional bluegrass, but rather something in between of all those things,” taking inspiration from artists like Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Shovels & Rope. Always on the lookout for inspiration and new material, each artist they listen to and love end up being reflected in their own work.

The new series, “Southern Sounds,” adds to the lobby repertoire at the Koger Center as they continue to maximize the use of every space within the facility. When it comes to describing the sound of the South, Becca and Coty say it as “hard to pin down. No matter the genre, whether it’s jazz, country, R&B, rap, folk, rock, soul, indie, or something in between, it’s the stories we tell that seem to resonate most and cross over.”

“Live in the Lobby” paves the way for more intimate concert settings, reducing the physical and metaphorical barrier between the audience and the performer.

“I grew up going to the Koger Center. It was something that my late grandmother had a strong appreciation for, and she made an effort to share the arts with me,” Becca says. “If you’re from the Midlands or even the state at large, you know this venue.”

As the Koger Center continues to define itself as a performing arts venue for all forms of music, not just classical, the duo is excited for the continuous development of Columbia’s music scene. “There are so many things to love about Columbia’s music scene. Columbia’s scene reflects its people: it’s DIY, gritty, humble, and special. What we love most is the sense of community we’ve found,” the duo says. They’d love for more listening rooms and general spaces to share a bond over music with the rest of Columbia, and the Koger Center continues to push for those opportunities, too.

With an abundant level of love for their craft and for Columbia always visible to those around them, Admiral Radio is an absolute treat to watch live. They thrive on the communication shared between themselves and the audience when they perform. “Sharing feels like a moot point without an audience there to help make sense of the world with you. Hearing people’s stories and knowing their names is what gives us the biggest feeling of inspiration and purpose when we perform live,” Becca and Coty say. The attitude they share towards live performances sets the tone for a magnificent evening of music and camaraderie this Thursday, and it’s something you won’t want to miss.  

The Palmetto Opera Presents Madame Butterfly

by Meg Carroll

One of the most renowned operas of all time is opening Sunday, January 29th at 3:00 p.m. at the Koger Center for a one time matinee—Madame Butterfly. The elaborate, full-scale, vocally rich performance is made possible by Columbia’s very own Palmetto Opera in conjunction with Teatro Lirico D’Europa.

Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly follows the tale of Cio-Cio-San, a Japanese teenager, who finds herself in the throes of a love affair with an American naval officer, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton. However, Cio-Cio-San’s love is unrequited, unbeknownst to her, leaving the operatic audience to despair over Cio-Cio-San’s devotion and Pinkerton’s debauchery. The famous aria for which Madame Butterfly is known, “Un bel di, vedremo” or “One fine day, we’ll see,” is sung by Cio-Cio-San in anticipation of the return of her wayward American lover.

For this performance of Madame Butterfly, Palmetto Opera has paired with Teatro Lirico D’Europa, an organization that sources opera singers from all over the world. The part of Cio-Cio-San will be sung by Melliangee Pérez, from Puerto Rico, who boasts many operatic distinctions as well as numerous lead soprano roles. The part of B.F. Pinkerton will be played by Alessio Borraggine, from Italy, who has a habit of receiving rave reviews on his beautiful tenor voice. 

Pairing with an organization like Teatro Lirico D’Europa allows some of the most prestigious voices to come to South Carolina, yes, but Teatro Lirico D’Europa also provides set designs, costumes, and professionally trained instrumental musicians as well. This makes for all the more ornate of an opera performance, which we get to enjoy in our very own home state of South Carolina.

When speaking with the Palmetto Opera Board Chairman (and Jasper Project board member), Paul Leo, about the reasons behind Palmetto Opera’s choosing Madame Butterfly, he cited the opera’s longevity and respectability. This opera has been performed since 1904 and is one of the most famous operas in the world, and it has inspired countless other artistic projects in its wake, including the Broadway musical Miss Saigon.

Paul Leo has been head of the Board of Directors at the Palmetto Opera for about three years now, although Palmetto Opera itself has existed for about twenty. Since its start in 2001, Palmetto Opera and its board of directors has been dedicated to bringing professional opera to the state. Leo notes that the board holds fast to the distinction that Palmetto Opera is the only organization producing “Grand Opera” in South Carolina.

The board of directors operates on a volunteer basis, and Leo stresses that the collaboration of the board is vital to the success of the shows that they put on. Currently, the board consists of the aforementioned Chairman Paul Leo, Program Director Mari Hazel, and Artistic Director Peter Barton, among others.

The Palmetto Opera has performed many of the most popular operas, including the best of Porgy and Bess, Carmen, and La Bohème. This performance of Madame Butterfly will actually be the third that the organization has sponsored, indicating perhaps a fierce loyalty to and admiration of this production.

When asked what Leo loves most about opera in general, he said, “It is built to last!  An art form perfected before the availability of electronic amplification and enhancement, it simply transcends fad and fashion.”  

The only local in the opera will be 5-year-old Asher Cobb, playing the part of Sorrow. When he is not rehearsing for his part in Madame Butterfly, he enjoys trains and jumping in muddy puddles.  

As for what’s to come, Palmetto Opera is going to keep on with its mission to bring professional opera to South Carolina. Their next performance in May will be Great Voices: From Broadway to Opera. But they always need help from local opera lovers. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so here.  

Tickets for this one time matinee of Madame Butterfly can be purchased on the Koger Center’s website here.

Jasper Presents a Two-Part Valentine's Day Event -- An Evening with Bernie Love A Tribute to Elvis AND Love Hurts/Love Heals - New Art from Wilma King and K. Wayne Thornley

Jasper Presents a Two-Part Valentine’s Day Celebration:

Love Hurts/Love Heals featuring the art of Wilma King and K. Wayne Thornley followed by An Evening with Bernie Love—A Tribute to Elvis, both at 701 Whaley

Worried about taking that special someone to yet another crowded and overpriced boring Valentine’s Day dinner? Put your fears aside as The Jasper Project has your Valentine’s Day festivities figured out!

Join us on Tuesday February 14th at 701 Whaley for a two-part arts party.

Part One – from 5 – 7 pm in the 701 Community Hall Gallery we welcome esteemed Columbia-based artists Wilma King and K. Wayne Thornley for their interpretations of the phenomenon of Love Hurts/ Love Heals. Both artists’ works will line the halls for your interpretive pleasure, and you and your date are invited to enjoy wine and light snacks as you view the work.

Part Two – from 7 – 10 pm and following the Love Hurts/Love Heals exhibit, wander just a few feet over to the 701 Whaley Market Space where a night of Vegas-style entertainment awaits you both at An Evening with Bernie Love – A Tribute to Elvis. Featuring Patrick Baxley in the title role accompanied by Marty Fort, Jay Matheson, and Kevin Brewer, this tribute will focus on some of the King’s most romantic musical numbers performed in a classic Vegas cocktail party type setting.

Food will be provided by Chef Joe Turkaly and champagne and beer will be available for purchase.

Did you wait too late to shop for a special little something special for your beloved? No worries! Columbia artists Cait Maloney, Lindsay Radford, and Gina Langston Brewer will be on hand with a selection of their original romantic art gifts, and portrait artist Jamie Peterson will be commissioning small portraits of you and your sweetie based on photos you have taken at the event.

Doors for Bernie Love open at 7 pm with the main event kicking off at 8:30 pm when the King arrives in true Vegas style. Tickets to An Evening with Bernie Love are $20 and are available in advance at www.Jasper.org or by clicking here. A limited number of tables are available for $500.

Love Hurts/Love Heals is a free drop-in event. .

REVIEW: Torch Song at Workshop Theatre

Torch Song began its evolution as three one-act plays, the first of which, International Stud,  opened off-off-Broadway way back in 1978. It was followed by Fugue in a Nursery the next year and finished with Widows and Children First. The three were combined into Torch Song Trilogy which made its Broadway debut in 1982. Harvey Fierstein’s groundbreaking piece took home the Tony for Best Play in 1983.  In his acceptance speech, Producer John Glines openly acknowledged his lover and the show’s co-producer, Lawrence Lane. This, kiddoes, had never been done before.  

Join me and Mr. Peabody in the Wayback Machine. (IYKYK)  It’s the late 70’s and early 80’s. AIDS has just started to ravage the gay community, aided and abetted by the nonchalance of the straight community. (Thanks, Ron & Nancy. I digress.) We’re just over a decade past Stonewall. In this environment Harvey Fierstein spins the (largely autobiographical) story of one Arnold Beckoff. He addresses issues such as gay marriage and adoption, which were unheard of 40 years ago.  Look how far we’ve come…(hold that thought) 

In Workshop Theatre’s production, Arnold is played lovingly and endearingly by Julian Deleon.  The show opens with Arnold in his dressing room at International Stud, transforming himself into Virginia Ham. (Pay attention to the list of drag names with which he peppers his opening monologue. You. Will. Love.)  Deleon’s delivery of this exercise in self-analysis is fast and furious and funny, and absolutely spot-on. It would be so easy to turn Arnold into a caricature. This piece was, after all, written by and originally starring Harvie Fierstein. DeLeon never steps over that line.  His Arnold is maddening, infuriatingly needy, manic, frustrating, and utterly and completely loveable and heartbreaking.  

Arnold meets one Ed Reiss up in da clurb. Ed is a charming fellow, a school teacher who must be circumspect in all things, as we are not yet a “woke” world. Arnold falls head over heels in love with Ed, because of course he would. Because a Torch Song by definition cannot have a happy ending.  

Ed is set up on a blind date with the lovely and hapless Laurel and falls head over heels into the easy out, which is to marry the straight girl of his parents’ dreams. Ed and Arnold remain “friends.” At Laurel’s invitation, Arnold visits the lovebirds at their farm in upstate New York and brings along his new love, Alan. Interesting conversations ensue.  

Enter Mother. Dear, strict, conventional, conservative Jewish Mother. Hurtful, passive-aggressive, put upon Mother. Debra Haines Kiser plays this role with such conviction and passion. When she makes one jab too many and Arnold can take no more…. I thought I’d accidentally wandered into George and Martha’s study. Kiser and Deleon work beautifully off each other. Their scenes snap, one line on top of another, until we are all exhausted.   

Crouch has assembled a good, solid cast. Brady Davis plays David, Arnold’s soon-to-be-adopted son. His David is such a 15-year-old gay boy – sassy, bitchy, rebellious, outspoken, and very loving. (Can we do something about poor David’s suit? He’s about to be adopted by a drag queen with mad sewing skills. Arnold would not have allowed him to leave the house in a suit two sizes too big.)   

I wish Marshall Spann’s Ed had been more… energetic? Ed is supposedly so charming that both gay men and straight women cannot resist him. I wanted to see more of that charm.  

Beth DeHart’s Laurel is enigmatic. She vows to have fallen in love with Ed and has come to terms with his bisexuality, but has she?  Arnold and Alan visit the farm on her invitation, not Ed’s. To what purpose? Is she proving herself to herself? Is she testing Ed’s dedication to being straight? Is she deliberately taunting Arnold? There is no incorrect answer.  

Taylor Diveley creates a perfectly adorable Alan with whom Arnold cannot help but fall in love.  He’s a smart, gorgeous cocker spaniel puppy. You want them to be together forever and ever and ever. (This is a Torch Song) 

Set, costumes, and music come together nicely.  (Please make a mix-tape of the show’s music and sell it in the lobby). I tried to figure out a way to sneak the kitchen table and chairs out of Arnold’s Act 3 apartment but wasn’t able to make it work.  

I shall now pick a nit. Please. Please. Please. When food and drink are mentioned in a script, have food and drink onstage.  It isn’t that difficult to whip up a pot of instant mashed potatoes to put on plates and have water/tea/coffee in a pitcher or kettle to pour into cups. After all  the tremendous care and effort put into a production, it’s annoying to see actors trying to block the fact that they are serving imaginary food.  

Fierstein has written, and Jerry Crouch has lovingly directed a show about what we all ultimately want - to be loved and respected for who we are.   

Torch Song runs through January 29.

REVIEW: Mr. Burns - A Post Electric Play

Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, running at Trustus Theatre, is, to put it mildly, a challenging production. Ann Washburn’s three act 2012 dark comedy (with a score by Michael Friedman) follows a group of individuals who have just experienced an unspecified cataclysmic event (although all signs point to a meltdown of multiple nuclear power plants) which has destroyed life as they know it. Like humans throughout time, the near-strangers strive for some sense of normalcy by sharing stories. In this case, they frenetically try to reconstruct an episode of the long-running animated series, The Simpsons. The group has settled on “Cape Feare,” an episode where Bart Simpson (that spirited little scamp) is stalked by Sideshow Bob, an ex-convict who has a long-standing hatred of Bart. Based in part on the two versions of the “Cape Fear” movies, the episode follows the Simpsons as they try to escape Sideshow Bob by moving from their home to a houseboat, to no avail. Sideshow Bob appears with murderous intent, and Bart distracts him by asking for an entire production of “HMS Pinafore,” to which Sideshow Bob gladly assents.

But back to Mr. Burns: A stranger appears in the dark; guns are drawn. Suddenly, the camaraderie is broken. But the stranger proves he, too, has some sense of the Simpsons episode, and the process begins again and is enriched.

Act II finds the same group of individuals seven years later, bonded together as a theatre company, roaming the land with its version of the “Cape Feare” episode, complete with commercials. And it turns out other theatre troupes exist, and they compete for audiences of survivors by “buying” material to produce better shows. It seems cockroaches and capitalism both survive nuclear holocaust.

Act III occurs 75 years later and operates as a standalone production of what the original story has become. A Greek pageant complete with stylized masks and costumes, many details of the original “Cape Feare” episode have evolved and changed, and the production tells a story of the dichotomy between good and evil.

In the Trustus production, the ensemble cast works well together. Particular kudos go to Patrick Kelly, whose dizzily horrifying performance in Act III is breathtaking. Allison Allgood is equally strong in Act III, balancing Kelly’s necessarily oversized performance with seeming ease.

Both the simple and inventive set by Danny Harrington, and the light design by Marc Hurst enhance the dystopian script. While the staging is a bit static in Act I, it completely evolves by Act III.

As noted, this is not an easy production to take in. It is dark and dystopian in its comedy, and that may not be for you. But true to Trustus’ history and mission, it is a show that won’t leave you right away. You will likely mull it over on the way home. You will probably think about it the next day. And that’s a good thing.

Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, runs at Trustus from January 20 through February 4, 2023.

In Memoriam - Drue Barker

“That’s what we call magical thinking, Cindi.” - Drue Barker

I first met Drue Barker way back in 2007 when she was interviewing for the director position of the Women’s and Gender Studies program at USC.

As an adjunct instructor in the department, I had already served under both Sue Rosser and Lynn Weber, the only two previous directors.

In meeting Drue I knew that, if she took the job, the culture of the department would change. And it did. Drue was a far more relaxed leader than her predecessors and she showed adjuncts the same respect that she showed full professors. This not only touched and validated me, as a non-PhD instructor, it allowed us to develop a friendship away from the department. This friendship and my knowledge of her love for the arts, particularly opera and contemporary dance, led me to ask Drue to join the board of directors for the Jasper Project in 2020, and I was honored when she accepted.

Drue loved her cottage home in Earlewood and often enjoyed winning Yar of the Month

In addition to being a brilliant academic, frequently enlightening her students and peers as a Marxist-feminist economist,  Drue was a fascinating friend. She wore her intelligence like an invitation to anyone she met to engage in discourse. Honest, straight-forward, no-games-played conversation. It didn’t matter whether those involved agreed or disagreed vehemently—the point and purpose was the exchange of ideas. She welcomed opposing viewpoints with the same generosity that she welcomed those more aligned with her own perspective.

Drue loved the arts, having been an avid patron of contemporary dance at Hollins University where she had taught before coming to USC. As a member of the Jasper Project board of directors Drue’s focus was on contemporary dance in Columbia and she was a heart-felt supporter of the new dance company Jasper helped incubate, Columbia Repertory Dance.

Drue enjoying a beer in Berlin

Drue was kind and generous. I don’t think she ever told me no, no matter what I asked of her. She loved my husband Bob maybe more than she loved me, always finding Bob at parties at our house or wherever we were, and talking endlessly about beer, which he brews and she found fascinating (and delicious), and science, something they both had in common.

I am so very sorry to have lost Drue far sooner than we should have, and I’m sure she’s sorry to be gone. She still had stuff to do.

Thank you for your gifts, Drue Barker. We will miss you and say your name forever.

- -Cindi Boiter

~~~

On January 1, 2023, the ever analytic Drue posted the following message on Facebook which included a list of her favorite films. May I invite you to join me in choosing several of Drue’s favorite pieces of film art to watch and enjoy as Drue would have herself. Art unites us all, in this life and the hereafter, whatever we find there.

From Drue:

“FB friends, here is an impromptu list of my some of my favorite movies. It reflects only my tastes and preferences. Not the critics. I realize it is really old and white: sigh, I need to expand my horizons. (I have become way too dependent on Amazon Prime and Netflix.)

But if you are looking for a movie to watch over and over again, these are some suggestions. There are many, many other movies that I love. But they did not pass the criteria of "watched at least 5 times and would watch again!"

These only include movies in the English language. I may make a new list for others that I love in other languages. Also, the list is not ranked!!! It is just in the order of my memory. I love them all.

One note, I love the romcoms from the 30s and 40s. Women were tough, beautiful, and totally cool. They knew what they wanted! Especially Barbara Stanwyck. (One of my favorite actresses.) Can't really relate to the contemporary ones.

Another observation is how versatile Billy Wilder was! Whatever he did, he did well.

So here you go! Happy New Year!!!”

Extravaganzas:

1981 Chariots of Fire Hugh Hudson

1954 On the Waterfront Elie Kazan

1965 Dr. Zhivago David Lean

1957 Bridge Over River Kwai David Lean

1962 Laurence of Arabia David Lean

1939 Gone With the Wind Victor Fleming

1942 Mrs. Miniver William Wyler

Murder:

1944 Double Indemnity Billy Wilder

1950 Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder

1958 Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock

1954 Dial M For Murder Alfred Hitchcock

1954 Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock

1967 In the Heat of the Night Norman Jewison

1951 A Place in the Sun George Stevens

Comedy:

1960 The Apartment Billy Wilder

1959 Some Like It Hot Billy Wilder

1934 The Thin Man W.S. Van Dyke

1936 After The Thin Man W.S. Van Dyke

1958 Auntie Mame Morton DaCosta

1934 It Happened One Night Frank Capra

1941 Meet John Doe Frank Capra

1945 Christmas in Connecticut Peter Godfrey

1941 Ball of Fire Howard Hawks

Soul Searching:

1948. The Red Shoes Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

194 Black Narcissus Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

1986 Working Girls Lizzie Borden

1973. Badlands Terrence Malick

Fall Lines Release Event Rescheduled for March 25, 2023 2-5 pm Richland Library

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the release of Fall Lines Volume IX has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 25, 2023 from 2-5 pm at the Richland Library Main Branch on Assembly Street in Columbia, SC.

Authors are invited to attend and read from their Fall Lines contributions in the order in which they are printed.

The Jasper Project thanks you for your support and patience.

Evelyn Berry, South Carolina Poet and Author 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow

“At our time when the lives and future of queer people seem to be precariously endangered, I want to share stories of how we have survived, how we will continue to survive.”

Evelyn Berry

Congratulations to Evelyn Berry (she/her) for being awarded a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow. A trans author from Aiken, South Carolina, she is best known for her poetry. She published the chapbook Buggery (Bateau Press, 2020) which received the 2019/2020 BOOM Chapbook Prize from Bateau Press and has the upcoming poetry collection GRIEF SLUT due to be released in 2024 (Sundress Publications). In 2022 she received the Dr. Linda Veldheer Memorial Prize and was awarded the 2019 Broad River Prize for Prose in the Jasper Project’s Fall Lines literary journal, and the 2018 Emrys Poetry Prize, among other honors.

Other pieces of her work can be viewed in GASHER, Beloit Poetry Journal, Raleigh Review, Gigantic Sequins, Anti-Heroin Chic, petrichor, beestung, Taco Bell Quarterly, Underblong, and elsewhere.

Thirty-six fellows, including Berry, were selected through an anonymous review process, and judged on artistic excellence for the award. NEA’s Director of Literacy Arts Amy Stolls explains, “their poetry explodes with originality in form and content, offering powerful reflections of the pain and joy of our modern times.” (www.arts.gov, January 12, 2023). They received funding through this award to advance their literary careers. Berry describes this award as “a life-changing achievement

Berry’s desire, through this award, is to continue to “write poetry and prose that make visual the lives of transgender people in the American South, an often-hostile place I call home.” She states that receiving the $25,000 award allows “for the purchase a working automobile, to better afford healthcare, and to afford rent in a time of escalating inflation” which gives her more time to write. (www.arts.gov, January 12, 2023)

Berry wants to access archives and research to better understand the “legacies of queer communities in South Carolina.” In her personal statement to the National Endowment for Arts, Berry says, “At our time when the lives and future of queer people seem to be precariously endangered, I want to share stories of how we have survived, how we will continue to survive.” She continues to describe the importance and life changing effects of writing for herself and others, “Queer stories and poems have helped reflect myself back to me, have helped me imagine a future in which I was still alive. Trans people have always belonged in the South, and we will always belong here.” (www.arts.gov, January 12, 2023)

Visit www.evelynberrywriter.com to read about her literary work and accomplishments, and about her work as museum educational specialist and freelance editor in Columbia.

To view the complete Evelyn Berry release from the National Endowment of the Arts visit www.arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows/evelyn-berry

To view bios and artist statements from all the 2023 recipients and past Creative Writing Fellows visit www.arts.gov.

— Ginny Merett

Girls Speak: Decriminalizing Youth with Art and Digital Media Making Opening at Stormwater Studios January 18th

Girls Speak features art and other digital creative media made by adolescent girls at Lexington County Juvenile Arbitration Center. This exhibition challenges what it means to be a “criminal offender,” as well as sheds light upon the experiences of adolescent criminality. There is a motif of joy and resiliency, and not losing hope, which pervades the artwork shown in Girls Speak.

This exhibition is coordinated by the UofSC Diversity and Inclusion Pilot Grant and the Women’s Well-Being Initiative, a part of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program. 

The opening reception will be January 19th from 5:30 to 6:30, and will be followed by a public forum from 6:30 to 8:00. However, the exhibition can be viewed from January 18th at 11:00 am to January 22nd at 3:00 pm. Stormwater Studios is located at 413 Pendleton Street.

All artist’s identities have been concealed for protection.

Announcing Jasper Galleries at the Koger Center Featuring New Work by Thomas Crouch, January - February

We are excited to announce the newest location in our Jasper Galleries series: Jasper Galleries at the Koger Center. As part of our effort to promote local artists and support local art endeavors, Jasper has teamed up with the Koger Center to craft this gallery space with hopes to draw more visitors to the Center and to create a new stop in the Vista’s existing Third Thursday.

Presently, Thomas Crouch is scheduled for January, Lindsay R. Wiggins is scheduled for February, and Quincy Pugh is scheduled for March. Each show will have an Opening Reception and Artist Talk on the Third Thursday of their respective month, and the work will remain up for the remainder of the 4-week period separating shows.

Thomas Crouch is a visual artist in Columbia SC. After studying at The Lorenzo De Medici School of Art 1990-92 in Florence, Italy he graduated from the University of South Carolina Bachelor of Arts in 1997. He was accepted into the inaugural Sedona Summer Colony Artist Residency 2016 in Sedona, Arizona as well as the Con Artist Collective Winter Residency 2017 in Manhattan NY. He is a member of Solas Studio NYC and has work in private collections nationally and internationally.

On Thursday, January 19th from 6:00pm – 8:00pm, Crouch’s Opening Reception will initiate the new gallery with a showing of his new work entitled Process Abandon. He will hold an Artist Talk at 7:00pm, and art will be available to purchase during the reception as well as throughout the month via QR codes on each individual label.

According to the artist, “This group of paintings focuses on the process. Composition, texture, and value become the subject matter. I’ve wanted to do large abstract nonrepresentational pieces where the viewer can interpret the paintings rather than the artist dictate their experience. This departure from the animal portraiture I’ve done in the past is refreshing to me. Incorporating the two has been both frustrating and rewarding. Painting this way is interesting to me because the end result changes from day to day. The final image is not known to me. There are no blueprints to work on top of and no animals to envelope the canvas. Instead, thick brush strokes create linear texture and wheat pasted prints demand attention from the rest of the canvas. The images shown here that serve as a subject are merely vehicles for the piece. My work has continually changed over the years. This recent change is a return to early form as well as a new direction. Every new piece builds on the last while exposing something new. This group of paintings are the most recent examples of an ongoing process of layering looking and leaving.”

 The work will hang in Koger’s Hallway Gallery, which is located on the 2nd floor of their main lobby. Many thanks to Nate Terracio (Director), Chip Wade (Marketing Director), and Emily Moffitt (Marketing and Administrative Assistant) at the Koger Center for their shared vision and their work in making this new location a possibility.

For more information about our spaces visit the Jasper Galleries page.

The Supper Table Visits the Myrtle Beach Art Museum

After a 6-month-long residency at the Morris Center for Low Country Heritage in Ridgeland, South Carolina, Jasper’s multidisciplinary, collaborative arts project, The Supper Table is moving to Myrtle Beach. The table, place settings, portraits, tiles and films about the project will be exhibited at the Franklin G. Burroughs—Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum from January 26th until April 16th. Exhibit details are on their website.

More about The Supper Table

An event in honor of Vic Carrabotta featuring Sanford Greene

6 p.m., Thursday, January 19

Hollings Library, enter through Thomas Cooper Library

1322 Greene Street

University of South Carolina

Columbia SC 29208

Free and open to the community

Award-winning comics illustrator Sanford Greene counts Marvel illustrator Vic Carrabotta among his most important influences. At this event, Greene will talk about his years-long friendship with the late visual artist.

Please join us for this special look inside mentorship in the comics world.

A South Carolina native and Benedict College graduate, Sanford Greene has worked professionally in the illustration and related industries for more than 18 years. He has worked for mainline publishers such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image Comics. He helped reshape the Marvel Comics characters Powerman and Iron Fist, as well as illustration work for Black Panther and Luke Cage, published by Marvel Comics.

His most recent work can be seen in the two-time Eisner and Ringo award-winning Bitter Root, an action/horror fantasy set during the Harlem Renaissance, published by Image comics. Bitter Root is slated to become a film produced by Ryan Coogler, the director of the acclaimed Black Panther, and directed by Oscar award winner Regina King. Sanford also has won the 2020 and 2021 Ringo Award for outstanding artist.

To register go to: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-event-in-honor-of-vic-carrabotta-featuring-sanford-greene-tickets-510857808457

Mark Your Calendars! Announcing Our 2023 Tiny Gallery Lineup

It’s been 5 years since we started Tiny Gallery in 2018, and we’re delighted to announce another slate of stellar artists—old and new to Jasper—whose work will be available throughout 2023. Like previous years, each artist will be featured in a solo show with artists switching out monthly, and the gallery will be virtual with work available to peruse and purchase 24/7.

 Learn more about each of our artists below and put your favorites on your calendar so you can check out their shows when they go live!

---

January: Thomas Washington

Kicking off the year (starting today!) is artist Thomas Washington, also known as Thomas the Younger, with his work both magical and undeniably real.

Perhaps the most important pursuit of an artist is the facilitation of Escapism. Perhaps each project is the equivalent of a Narnian door…or that lamppost beyond, coaxing a wanderer into another realm. Thomas Washington Jr. (thomas the younger) functions on that premise. Since his childhood, he has produced multitudinous works in this vein—from being hired (out of high school) to illustrate in a local graphic anthology, he has subsequently striven to bring stories in every medium; to breathe life into the fantastical by imbuing it with the familiar…and, of course, to find fun and fulfillment along the way. As a result, it required the birth of his children to make him care about money. (He still struggles with this.) –For years, he was perfectly fine living as a Bohemian: he laid his head in strange places among strangers, eventually becoming a pleasant strain of strange in the process. He thus entertains all sorts of bizarre notions—the importance of world peace, an unshakeable belief in fundamental similarities that make Humanity one big family, intense opinions on interstellar travel, and so-forth. Recently, he took the leap of emerging in his local scene. He has sat on panels, joined the instructor roster for community arts centers, partaken in various shows, (finally!) founded a website, and essentially joined the dialogue of Art’s Place in Society.

Check out Thomas’ website.

---

February: Maya Smith

In the month of love, we have an artist who clearly loves the act of creating—Maya Smith—whose work is effervescent and poignant.

South Carolina based artist, Maya Smith, has been honing her skills as a freelance artist for the past fourteen years. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2006 with a BFA in Illustration. Her work celebrates people of color and women with shape. Using pencils and paint to create imagery that counters negative stereotypes and provokes conversation.  Maya’s work has been commissioned by Oscar Award winning director, Steve McQueen for the film, Widows. Her work is part of the New York Public Library archives through the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY.

Follow Maya on Instagram @mayatheartist and check out her website.

---

March: Nikolai Oskolkov (NikO)

NikO’s oil paintings feel haunted in this piercing almost clarifying way—still images that feel rife with movement.

Nikolai Oskolkov, simply known as NikO, lives and works in Columbia, South Carolina. He has been involved in fine art since early childhood and has made painting a career since high school. In his 29 years, he has travelled far and wide from Russia to Canada and the US, and throughout Europe and the Caribbean. Defining himself as a “visual musical composer,” NikO constantly expands his own creative vocabulary from the observation of nature and use of imagination. He also believes that regular practice is the only way of hopefully mastering the lyrical instrument of painting.

---

April: Pascale Bilgis

Pascale Bilgis is a wildly innovative artist whose work with color and her addition of 3D figurines makes the unreal tangible and the real magical. 

Growing up in a small village in Burgundy, France, and later in Dijon for her studies, Pascale was completely immersed in an infinite astonishing countryside which comes to life in her paintings. At the age of 18, she left her homeland to continue her studies at the University of South Carolina. After obtaining a BA in photography, she followed her dream of a faraway colorful land and moved to Turkey, where she specialized in archaeological sites photography while raising a family on the Mediterranean coast. However, it is in Istanbul, the majestic city on two continents, that she developed her real passion for painting. Now back in South Carolina, Pascale discovered new techniques, such as wood and ceramic, in order to emphasize the natural essence of her art.

Check out Pascale’s website.

---

May: Tennyson Corley

Tennyson Corley showed off some of her paintings in a 2021 Tiny Gallery show, and since then, she’s been expressing her whimsical creativity with 3D ceramic creations that each tell a unique story from their own world.

My childhood has led me to my current body of work. I am the product of an illustrator who chose books based on the beauty of the illustrations. I have continued this collection. Referencing characters and ideas for my own work. I grew up surrounded by animals on our farm. Studying them, the ways animals interact and coexist among each other, how species intermingled, the hierarchies that arose. I gave them personalities in my mind. Constructing back stories and human characteristics for each one. Fast forward to 2018, when I took my first pottery class which landed me with a membership at a pottery studio. I began to find what my artistic practice was craving. It took me back to my childhood, constructing animals out of playdough and drying them on my shelf. In a full circle moment, I combined my love for childrens book illustrations, building back stories for the creatures around me, and moving from playdough to clay to create, what I call, my ceramic illustrations. Each sculpture is a mix of Beatrice Potter and an Orwellian Animal Farm character. Conceptualized in my mind, were I work out their features, back stories, faults, and qualities. Then, through my hands, they are birthed into life through earthen clay, underglazes, and the fire of the kiln.

Follow Tennyson on Instagram @tennyson_corley_art

---

June: Mana Hewitt

Withstanding the heat of southern summer is metalsmither herself, Mana Hewitt, whose undeniably one-of-a-kind metal pieces of art will conclude the first half of 2023. 

Mana Hewitt is an artist based in Columbia, South Carolina. She recently retired from the  University of South Carolina School of Visual Art and Design where she was the Senior Instructor of Jewelrymaking. Mana is a nationally recognized artist with over forty-five years of experience in the fields of painting ceramics and metalsmithing. Her award-winning work is in private collections, museums, and galleries throughout the U.S. I work with my hands and perhaps I think with them as well. This has led to my interest in metal. I am intrigued by metal's transformation from rigidity to vibrant and fluid designs through hammering, etching, casting, and effort. My works explore word play through imagery associated with the human condition. My goal is to create works that are aesthetically pleasing and conceptually interesting. When all is said and done I find satisfaction when an idea turns into a successful work that I can share with others.

Checkout Mana’s website.

---

July: JJ Burton

JJ Burton not only puts her colorful ideas on canvas but on tiny pendants. For her show, she will feature small canvases as well as wearable pieces of art.

Too many beautiful subject in this realm that gave me spark to create and paint. I am mostly drawn to water, trees, animals and colors black, white, blues & red. My palette depends on the moment I am in, though from time to time I also experiment some different hues. I usually sketch and plan on what to paint before creating a master piece. And occasionally, I just go with it without any sketching or planning, and surprisingly producing a fascinating result.  What I enjoy most is process and not knowing what would be the final result, like opening a present. The materials I use are canvases, magnets, tiles, wood panels and any that I could repurpose. My goal is to capture my fascinating crazy ideas, present it and share it to the world.

Check out JJ’s website.

---

August: Benji Hicks

Benji Hicks is a first for us, as it will be Tiny Gallery’s first artist to do Japanese woodblock prints—no surprise, since Mokuhanga is a unique form Hicks has studied intently. 

For as long as I can remember, I have always been an artist. Drawing, watercolor painting, and wood carving. What I love about Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock printing), is that it encompasses all these things I enjoy doing. The meditative process of woodblock printmaking brings me great joy and satisfaction. Most of my work is inspired by nature and shows up in my prints as fun-loving characters, in vivid color, living in a reimagined space where anything can happen. Like in a world where a banjo playing frog and a rail riding hobo turtle can be best friends.

Follow Benji on Instagram @benjihicksart

---

September: Keith Tolen

Keith Tolen kicked off our Tiny Gallery way back in October 2018 at Tapp’s. His work is new and fresh to him—and yet still so keenly his. 

Keith Tolen is a longtime resident of South Carolina, where he has painted and created for decades. He is a retired art teacher who presently owns the Red Bowtie Group. An illustrator and photographer, his paintings make strong use of color and depict a variety of figures. Recently, he’s also created a series called DaBirds, a group of cartoon images that “work to make our planet a better place.”

---

October: Stacy Morgan

As the (rare) cool nights begin to come into Carolina, it’s time to curl up with your favorite mug, of which you’ll surely find among Stacy Morgan’s creations, who will show functional and decorative work.

Stacy Morgan, a Lexington SC based potter, is known for her impressionistic paintings that capture elements of nature on her pottery. She draws most of her inspiration from the flora and fauna of the Lowcountry, with an emphasis on the beaches and wetlands. Recognizable subject matter is altered and enhanced due to the nature of the underglazes and high temperature kiln firings on her functional pottery pieces, creating an organic and imaginative visual experience. Most of her pottery is functional for daily use, making everyday life a bit more beautiful.

Follow Stacy on Instagram @pottery_for_daze

---

November: Caroline Hatchell

It’s always a relief to get your holiday shopping done early, and these handmade beaded jewelry pieces from Caroline Hatchell will make irreplaceable presents for loved ones (or for yourself!).

My tiny canvas...tiny glass beads woven into wearable art. While I have explored many different jewelry mediums, I am proud to return to traditional bead weaving. Fusing ancient techniques with modern design, my work honors the tradition of our ancestors, while still remaining relevant. Using only the finest glass seed beads available, each piece is finished with .925 sterling silver or 18K gold filled earwires and findings. I have been a jewelry designer since I was 17 years old. I picked up some seed beads at a local craft store, and just started bead weaving. At the time, I was completely unaware that I was intuitively doing a traditional, Native American beading technique. Fast-forward over 30 years, and I have come full circle, back to where my journey began, bead weaving! My bead weaving techniques are a very slow, meditative process so my work is made in small batches, limited quantity or made to order by commission.

Follow Caroline on Instagram @carolinehatchelldesigns and check out her website.

---

December: Midlands Clay Ornament Show

For the past two years, we’ve had ornament shows, but this year we’re delighted to team up with Midlands Clay for a selection of ceramic ornaments from a variety of talented artists. As 2023 progresses, we’ll be able to share even more details about who is participating—but you can go on and peruse Midlands Clay’s website to see their wonderful artists!

Midlands Clay Arts Society was created to encourage fellowship, communication, education, creativity and experimentation in the clay arts community.

Follow them on Instagram @midlandsclayart

Welcome to 2023! Cola-based Artists Share Their New Year’s Resolutions

We often struggled with creating our own New Year’s Resolutions, so this year, Jasper turned to creators themselves to see what they hoped for their 2023s. Hoping you take as much inspiration from these as we as did! 

Artists shared the simple but deep desire to create more, from the general to the specific:

“To sketch everyday” – Laura Garner Hine

“To create more art, see more art and share more art” – Keith Tolen

“To create a fresh collection of meaningful works to show by the end of the year.” – Ashley Herring Warthen

“To be more consistent and spend time in the studio every day.” – Olga Yuhkno

“To sketch a few times each week even though I am working a regular job and still in school.” – Heather Lynn Endicott

“To complete my translation of Havamal, and put together the video where I tell the story.” – Price Lassahn-Worrell

Some artists addressed the desire to return to unfinished projects – with both earnest desire and humor:

“To finish a few of the many unfinished works sitting in my studio. To find creative inspiration and spurs.” – B.A. Hohman

“My 2023 New Year's resolution is to finish all the craft projects from 2022 that I should have done in 2021, since I started them in 2020 after buying the supplies for them in 2019.” – Valerie Lamott

A recurrent theme was the desire to stop listening to the nagging voice in the back of our minds that tries to scare us or quiet us:

“To be less critical of my art and to be more open to ideas flowing in and reconnect with my inner voice.” Renee Rouillier

“To override my inner critic and follow my intuition.” – Ginny Meret

Similarly, artists shared a desire for understanding of themselves and the space they occupy:

“To respect the fact that life brings changes and art sometimes has to occupy a different position on the list of priorities.” – Mary Ann Haven

“To paint more of what I WANT to paint.” – Sean Madden

“To paint and write (about my daily experiences, culture, and cooking) on a daily basis in 2023. I could not manage to paint or write regularly in 2022 although I realize and internalize how painting and writing are effectively helpful to my inner peace and well-being (my mental health) and nurture my inner child.” – Khin Myat

The desire for self-exploration came up again and again:

“To explore new mediums, to be more vulnerable, to be more generous.” – Lucy Bailey

“To delve deeper into the world of sound & rhythm by availing myself of educational opportunities. The goal being to broaden and enhance my understanding of how sound affects us and to incorporate that knowledge into my craft.” – Dick Moons

“To play with more mix media, experiment more with oils, delve into interchangeable art with my business partner Barry wheeler who always pushes me to keep exploring.” – Michael Krajewski

“To allow Artist-Self more Exploration of Shadow Self//privately (perhaps publicly) …let those kids merge—dissolve some things and mend some others, all the while being colorful, honest and vulnerable through visual & written prophetic blabber!” – Emily Wright

And, artists expressed a desire to grow within a community, with goals for unity and collaboration:

“1. Listen to people more and work on humility as well as developing healthy, in person relationship that encourage aggressive kindness. 2. Help cultivate and create a culture of collaboration with “Columbia-Centric" artists from all mediums in order to reinforce a positive art infrastructure. 3. Finish writing and producing three original albums. 4. Stay clean and sober. 5. Serve the city.” – Saul Seibert

“To see, and be a part of, more collaboration with artists and our communities. Utilizing our talents and materials to create and unify....” – Gina Langston Brewer

The common message among these various goals is this: create what you want to create, create whenever you can, and create in constellations. The act of making something, of there now being something where there once was nothing, may often be simple, but it is magical. Go into 2023 treating yourself with grace and with the open-mind and willingness to create something where there wasn’t something before.

And Happy New Year—from all of us!

A Playground in Kyiv

The year is ending and the war in Ukraine has been going now for more than 10 months. As we reflect on the blessings and losses of the past year, we think about the hardships of those suffering still from war, violence, and the struggle over national borders. As we reflect on the state of the world, we offer here a poem by USC student Alexander Seyfried.

Alexander writes, “I have been living in South Carolina ever since 2000. Part of my family on my mother’s side comes from Ukraine in the capital of Kyiv. Before 2014, when Putin annexed Crimea away from Ukraine, which was the starting point of the Russo-Ukrainian War, my mother and I would travel to Kyiv every summer to visit our family and friends since I was around four or five years old. Over those two or three summer months, I would make many precious memories with my family and friends and would travel visiting different parts of Ukraine. Today, some of my family members are still alive during the current war, as well as some of my friends who I still have contact with. I wish I could say I knew where the rest of my childhood friends are and how well they are doing right now. I would like to share a poem from memories of how each day I would be with my friends at the playground before these nightmarish events even happened.”

A Playground in Kyiv 

Overseas apartment in Kyiv
every summer when I was kid
two small playgrounds with old childhood memories.
Green and blue wooden benches
old broken wooden sandboxes under trees.
Jumping off blue metal color swings
flying high through the air
landing on soft sand underneath.

Climbing on big and small trees
eating chips while drinking bottles of Pepsi
acting like monkeys sitting on tree branches.
Having peach, pear, and spikey green chestnut trees
with thin paper birches and thick oak trees.

Red paint chipping from two tall metal slides
sliding down not with our butts,
but standing on our feet like surfers
riding down ten times in a row.
The only American kid from the friend group
wishing to reunite with my old Ukrainian friends once more.

Columbia Artists Share Their Christmas Wishes for the Art Community

It’s that time of year again, where we deck our halls and trim our trees, scoot closer on our couches to those we love, and curl up tight in our blankets as we sip hot chocolate (which South Carolinians can actually do this year—brr!). It’s in these moments of peace and joy we often close our eyes to make our Christmas wish. This year, here at Jasper, we asked a handful of our local artists their wish, specifically: “If you could make one Christmas wish for the Columbia arts community, what would it be?”

Artists wished for more space—places old and new alike where they can freely share their creative gifts with the city they love.

“Main St. Back…”
—Michael Krajewski, visual artist

“More places to show (and make) art!”
—Lucas Sams, visual artist

“An artist’s alley in a public space where anyone can contribute however/whenever they want!”
—Cait Maloney, visual artist

“As a member of the Cola arts community, if I had one present for Christmas, it would be to have more spaces like CMFA (or to expand CMFA), where community members can rehearse and perform and support each other (for free)!! CMFA has been invaluable to Bonnie [Boiter-Jolley] and I’s company, the Columbia Repertory Dance Company!” 
—Stephanie Wilkins, dancer and Artistic Director of Columbia Repertory Dance Company

Artists wished for an expansion of funds for local artists so that they can express themselves fully and without burden.

“I think the community could give back to the artists—no strings attached guaranteed income for those who pour into the community with their creative gifts and talents. This would help artists have the opportunity to at least cover living expenses due to the increase of the cost of living and still have the opportunity to pursue a creative career.”
—Maya Smith, visual artist

I’d wish for sufficient financing for artists to present their art to the community. There are many costs involved in producing a play, a concert, a ballet, and other art events that ticket prices alone cannot cover. To have the financial support from the public and private sectors to present our art in the best way possible would be an amazing Christmas present.
— Becky Hunter, performer

Artists wished to spend more time with each other, to acknowledge each other and create inter-community support.

“More togetherness throughout the arts community where everyone mutually supports each other, meets together quarterly, and promotes each other.” 
—Arischa Conner Frierson, actor

“A 3-Day retreat filled with Skill Shares and Improv and Games so that we can learn to love each other even more. Like Family <3”
—Monifa Lemons, poet and actor

And, finally, artists wished for the chance to grow as humans and creators, not just within themselves but within a community as a whole where each person can better the other.

“My holiday wish (mostly for myself but also) for the Columbia arts community is for the courage to be open. I know I can seem insular because of my own internal obstacles, but I think collaboration can elevate our art beyond our skillsets and help us fulfill and even exceed our creative concepts. Collaboration builds our artistic support systems and creates informed testing audiences. While I believe it’s important for one to make the art one needs to make without regard to how others may receive it, I believe it’s also nice to be able to ask for constructive criticism and maybe be given encouragement along the way to a project’s completion. I don’t know if I’ll personally gain this kind of courage by the time January rolls around (or ever), but I’m always hopeful I will and that others might, too!”
— Desirée Richardson (Death Ray Robin), musician

“As a social worker, I was trained to practice from a ‘strengths perspective.’ This perspective acknowledges challenges while encouraging us to identify and work with whatever resources we have access to within ourselves and the community. So, the gift I’m hopeful for this year is our collective vision to see the strengths that exist within the Columbia arts community and to employ those resources in fostering expressive projects that bring meaning to people’s lives.”
—Lang Owen, musician

“My Christmas wish for Columbia is…more people of skill and intellect and intuition and caring go see more shows and performances and exhibitions. These people would then share their thoughts and impressions with the rest of us. Helping to strengthen and spur the conversations between art and artists and patrons. CRITICS! I want more critics of every size, shape, gender, sex, color and perspective to do good work in Columbia.”
—Darion McCloud, performer and storyteller

“I want all the artists and soon-to-be artists in Columbia to find, embrace, and share their gift. I hope that even when it’s dark they see they are loved and supported.”
—Adam Corbett, musician and visual artist

From our family of artists and art supporters, we thank everyone for the love they have shown this community this year, and our Christmas wish for you today and always is that you have all the joy and support there is to offer. Merriest of Christmases—and have an extra boozy eggnog on us!

THE BEAT: My Favorite Music of 2022 by Kevin Oliver

The following is a list of my favorite music released by Columbia, South Carolina artists in 2022. It is woefully incomplete, as there were many other artists and albums I enjoyed this year, but these are the ones that have really made a home in my head for the foreseeable future. 

 

1. Saul Seibert, etc., Zion: A Composition

An extremely ambitious multimedia project is probably impossible to fully appreciate in just its audio form, but the three movements that comprise Zion are at least enjoyable that way, if not as mind-blowing as the full three-dimensional live experience. The ebb and flow of the various parts, instruments, and their arrangement throughout create a psychedelic space in which a listener can exist however they choose–passive acceptance, interactive challenge, or somewhere in between. 

Music | Zion. A Composition. (bandcamp.com) 

2. Lang Owen, She's My Memory

It’s not hyperbole to say that Columbia hasn’t ever produced a songwriter quite like Lang Owen before; his combination of 70’s singer-songwriter style and an incisive, observational writing technique would be rare anywhere these days. The songs here are his best so far and defy a simple paragraph explanation–so do me a favor, go listen and let them speak to you, too. To paraphrase “The Long Way,” he’ll take you the long way and then bring you back another. 

She's My Memory | Lang Owen (bandcamp.com)

3. EZ Shakes, Everything Changes

An Americana powerhouse of a band over their two full length releases, on this brief three-song EP, EZ Shakes announced their transition into a sonically more rock ‘n’ roll soundscape. The Velvets-meets-Neil Young feel of “Damn Fools” is driven by the most addictive two-note bass line ever, courtesy bassist Jim Taylor, while singer and bandleader Zach Seibert stretches his vocal instrument on “Waiting on the Bubble To Pop,” a Wilco-esque slice of sublime, chiming tunefulness that shifts gears effortlessly. It’s a cliche to say it, but the worst thing about this release is that at three songs, it’s way too damn short. 

▶︎ Everything Changes | E.Z. Shakes (bandcamp.com) 

4. Numbtongue, Phantom Limbs

Bobby Hatfield has been turning heads and ears with drama-filled rock since his days with The Sea Wolf Mutiny. As Numbtongue, his musical vision has only expanded, eschewing the limitations of a traditional ‘band’ with a combination of acoustic and synthetic sounds. On this new album, the arrangements are next level, with multiple themes threaded throughout and even the smallest elements adding texture and finesse to the songs. There are traces of everything from Radiohead to Tyler the Creator here arranged in chasms of genre and style that Hatfield not only manages to cross but bind together in a way that somehow makes perfect sense.

▶︎ Phantom Limbs | numbtongue (bandcamp.com)  

5. Brandy and the Butcher, Lucky Foot

There are female singers, and then there are frontwomen. Liz Hale is the latter, a blast-your-face-off vocalist who’s all attitude, all the time. The band has no choice but to keep up with her energy level, and they succeed handily here, diving headlong into a bracing set of songs that evoke all the great punk and rock raconteurs, from The Stooges and MC5 to The Cramps and X. 

▶︎ Lucky Foot | Brandy and the Butcher (bandcamp.com) 

6. Candy Coffins, Once Do It With Feeling 

Jame Lathren has a fondness for 80s goth-rock and the dramatic flair of David Bowie, and that comes through loud and clear on the darkly rendered songs here as he snarls and sneers. The delay effects from former Bachelors Of Art guitarist Tom Alewine don’t hurt in setting the proper mood, either. But it is Lathren’s songwriting that lifts this above being a simple genre exercise and into classic songcraft as he details the rise and fall of a relationship over the course of ten songs. 

 Candy Coffins (bandcamp.com)  

7. Moses Andrews, Exodus Pt II

Confessional songwriting is a genre unto itself, but Moses Andrews puts himself out there in ways not often heard with this collection. Contributing bass, drums, organ, synth, and vocals along with a supporting cast of locals such as Cecil Decker and Sean Thomson, Andrews touches on hip-hop, country, pop, and indie rock sounds in the process of illustrating the world through his own experiences with others. The mirror he’s holding up here is uncomfortable, but entirely accurate and needed. 

▶︎ Exodus Pt. II | Moses Andrews III (bandcamp.com)

8. Rex Darling, Living Room Diaries

One of the more adventurous live acts to surface in Columbia in recent years, this recorded effort delivers on that promise with atmospheric, exotic pop music that packs a surprising punch. There are traces of cabaret jazz and more than a little Amy Winehouse in vocalist Catherine Hunsinger’s style, while the guitar work of John Vail introduces jam rock and 70s fusion into the improbable mix. All that, and the songs are playful, inventive, and catchy as hell. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/2mfp1JvgUm5jguQeEXMBI2?si=TNuD1sLzQqCJyT5fwihboQ 

9. Todd Mathis and Clayton Mathis, Home

Siblings have made some great music together, but this is no sibling harmony album. Instead, these are the brothers who sit on their dad’s back porch reminiscing about all the shit they did to each other as kids. Steeped in family ties, this is some of Todd’s most endearing and accessible work.

Home | Todd Mathis, Clayton Mathis | Todd Mathis (bandcamp.com) 

10. Hillmouse, See You In The Car 

Tyler Gordon’s current musical vehicle is transporting a nicely done batch of new songs here, the kind of timeless melodies that evokes everyone from Tommy Keene to Ed Sheeran–a wide range, to be sure. His world-weary vocal delivery stops the proceedings from skidding into saccharine-sweet territory, instead parking Hillmouse in a post-emo lethargic swoon. 

▶︎ See You In The Car | Hillmouse (bandcamp.com)

Congratulations to Columbia Area Artists Accepted into ArtFields 2023

APRIL 19 – 29, 2023

The Jasper Projects congratulates all the artists accepted into the 2023 Artfields Celebration and recognizes the following members of the greater Columbia, SC arts community for their inclusion:

Olga Yukhno

Patrick Parise

Mary Ann Haven

Alicia Leeke

Gregory Wilkin

Janet Swigler

George Stone

Robert V. Shuler

Edward Schmunes

Jordan Sheridan

Ellie Marie Rose

Cameron Porter

Maggie Mullin O’Hara

Cait Maloney

Lori Isom

Ellen Fishburne

Gerard Erley

Morgan C. Eddy

Michael DeWitt

John Derhammer

Roberto Clemente De Leon

Nakisa Beigi

Quincy Pugh

ArtFields started in 2013 with a simple goal: honor the artists of the Southeast with a week’s worth of celebration and competition in the heart of a traditional Southern small town. The competition and exhibition offers over $145,000 in cash prizes. The winners of two People’s Choice Awards are determined by the votes of people visiting ArtFields; a panel of art professionals selects all the other awards, including the $50,000 Grand Prize and $25,000 Second Place award.

Up to 400 works of art will be on display in locally-owned venues, from renovated 1920s warehouses and professional art spaces such as Jones-Carter Gallery and TRAX Visual Art Center to the library, the history museum, the Ronald E. McNair Life History Center, restaurants, boutiques and other shops. During ArtFields, what was once one of South Carolina’s most prosperous agricultural communities becomes a living art gallery as we recognize, celebrate and share the artistic talent of the Southeast.

The Jasper Project Congratulates New Columbia City Poet Laureate Jennifer Bartell Boykin

Jennifer Bartell Boykin

As one of only a few southern cities to recognize the position, the City of Columbia is proud to announce the selection of poet Jennifer Bartell Boykin as Columbia’s second Poet Laureate.

Bartell Boykin will serve a four-year term that begins January 2022. Recognized by the Mayor and City Council in a resolution passed on October 21, 2014, the honorary position of Poet Laureate “encourages appreciation and create opportunities for dissemination of poetry in Columbia, promotes the appreciation and knowledge of poetry among the youth, and acts as a spokesperson for the growing number of poets and writers in Columbia.”

“Sharing the stories and art within our community are critical to our success in Columbia,” says Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. “I am honored to welcome Jennifer Bartell Boykin as the new poet laureate for the City of Columbia and look forward to seeing her success representing our great community.”

“I am very pleased with the selection of Jennifer Bartell Boykin as the Columbia Poet Laureate,” says Councilman Howard Duvall, who represented the Arts and Historic Preservation Committee in the selection process. “She will be the perfect person to build on the foundation established by Ed Madden.”

Jennifer Bartell Boykin is originally from Bluefield, an African American community in Johnsonville, South Carolina. For most of her career, she has been an educator, most recently as an English teacher at Spring Valley High School. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies and is currently pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of South Carolina. She has sponsored the Poetry Out Loud competition and W.O.R.D. (Write.Organize.Read.Dream), Spring Valley High School’s poetry club. She’s been a regular participant in work under the post of Dr. Ed Madden, served as a former board member for the Deckle Edge Literary Festival, and contributed to the work of The Jasper Project; including writing for Jasper Magazine, serving on its board, and writing for special projects such as The Supper Table and Marked by the Water.

“I am honored to become the city’s second poet laureate,” says Bartell Boykin. “Ed Madden set a blueprint for the Columbia Poet Laureateship, and I will continue to build on his legacy. I am elated about spreading more poetry throughout our schools and in our communities. Poetry is for everyone, and I’m excited to facilitate bringing more of it to every corner of our city.”

Bartell Boykin hopes to continue the public projects that Dr. Ed Madden has initiated during his time as Poet Laureate. Still, she also hopes to develop a community-wide poetry event that would include readings and participation by K12 students. She is also keenly interested in ways that poetry can help people and hopes to build collaborations with artists and organizations to develop projects that engage the residents of the Columbia area.

Boykin takes the role from Dr. Ed Madden, the city’s first Poet Laureate who served two terms in the position, poetry editor for Jasper Magazine and Muddy Ford Press. His projects focused on community-centered activities that helped increase awareness and accessibility around the literary arts, particularly poetry, with the mission of using literary art as a public art.

“Being the city laureate for the past eight years has been such a privilege and an honor,” says Madden. “It is humbling to serve as another voice for the city, but also such a joy to promote so many other writers and voices, all the ways we can define who we are and who we hope to be as a city. I look forward to seeing what the next laureate does with the role, to hearing their work, and to discovering what new voices they elevate.”

The Art Bar Hosts Jasper's Santa Crawl this Thursday!

Join the Jasper Family, Friends, and Future Friends this Thursday night (12/15) for our first official Santa Crawl.

We’re meeting at Art Bar at 7 pm. For those who would like to explore the Vista’s various bars and restaurants, we will send you on your way, while a number of us will simply be crawling around the Art Bar, enjoying a cocktail menu specially designed for the occasion, with a portion of sales from this menu going to benefit the Jasper Project. Jasper Santas will be onsite at the Art Bar from 7 – 11.

Wear anything from your warm and cozy Santa suit to Sexy Santa, Silly Santa, the Grinch, Rudolph, Hermey the future dentist, Coach Comet, or whatever Christmas character makes your little round belly shake like a bowlful of jelly!

New Jasper Magazines will also be on hand!