Jack Williams Concert at Tree of Life (ToL) Coffeehouse

JACK WILLIAMS

The non-profit ToL Coffeehouse is now working to restart its singer/songwriter concert series, which began 30 years ago in Columbia and was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Jack Williams, a nationally touring performer and long-time Coffeehouse favorite who grew up in our area, will perform April 22 at the Tree of Life Congregation at 6719 North Trenholm Road in Columbia. He will be performing with the Winterline Band, which consists of Columbia-area musicians Cary Taylor, Susan Taylor, and Danny Harlow.


Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with sandwiches from Groucho’s, plus desserts and beverages. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 if purchased online in advance (at tol-coffeehouse.square.site) or $27 at the door.


The Coffeehouse music series had its roots in house concerts held by Dr. Jimmy Riddle, a Columbia psychiatrist with a passion for folk music. His concerts featured nationally touring singer/songwriters. About 1993, local singer songwriter Susan Corbett suggested holding similar concerts at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Heyward and Woodward streets in Shandon, where she served as religious education director. The concert series became known as the UU Coffeehouse.


“A bunch of us helped in a variety of ways — selling tickets at the door, helping run sound, managing the kitchen, setting up the sanctuary, putting posters around town, and anything else needed to hold shows,” said Mike Paget, then a member of the fellowship and longtime volunteer.


Paget took over as director of the series from about 2000 to 2013, when he moved to Kansas City, where he started the Green Guitar Folk House. Steve Fisher took over until the last concert at the UU in February 2017. The UU had decided to no longer host the event, and the Tree of Life Congregation picked it up.


Ironically, the Coffeehouse venue in Shandon was built in 1952 by the Tree of Life Congregation and served as its synagogue until it moved to Forest Acres in 1986. Ellis Paul kicked off the renamed ToL Coffeehouse series with a concert at the Trenholm Road synagogue Nov. 17, 2017. In another irony, Ellis Paul played Feb. 15, 2020, which turned out to be the series final concert before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the season’s final show, which had been planned for April 15.


If this event is successful, the volunteers who run the ToL Coffeehouse hope to launch a full series of four or five concerts this fall. 

 

Vastness Captured in Small Scale: Nikolai Oskolkov's Tiny Gallery Art

St. Basil’s Cathedral

Jasper’s Tiny Gallery currently features the work of Moscow-born and Columbia-based artist Nikolai Oskolkov, also known as NikO. 

For this series, Oskolkov’s artistry met with the typical constraints of the gallery, most importantly that pieces must be under 15” x 15”, which is smaller than what is typical for an oil painting—Oskolkov’s preferred medium. The artist says that he “love[s] working on small artwork for every benefit that it offers,” and through this collection, he demonstrates a wide variety of approaches that actually utilize this size constraint. 

Interestingly, many of the pieces in this collection are landscapes, which evoke an impressive expansiveness for paintings that are so physically small. The perspective work in these pieces does a lot to contribute to this feeling.

In a painting entitled “Midwestern Plains,” the sky with its large puffy clouds looming over the diminutive strip of grassy plains down below, dotted with buildings in the distance, takes up most of the painting surface. In another painting, “Lagoon,” the lower part of the canvas depicts gently rippling water, which reflects a distorted image of the architecture in the painting’s upper third.  

Laagoon

“This expansiveness is also reflected in a number of pieces portraying Russian architecture from historically and culturally significant monuments, like St. Basil’s Cathedral and Kremlin, to more industrial features, like Downtown Moscow and War Train. These architectural features stretch across the canvas, impressing the viewer with their intimidating stature, seeming at once close and yet far removed from the natural world they’re in front of, in many ways rivaling it.  

In contrast to these vast landscapes, Oskolkov also examines significantly smaller subjects in close ups. The piece Fallen Angel depicts an angel figurine, lying face down, its golden head reflecting something indiscernible. Its upper back is chipped, just behind its wings, and the hole left behind is sizable, offering a glimpse of the darkness in the hollow of the figurine. These details evoke a kind of vastness as well, emphasizing just how much there is to even the smallest subject. 

Be sure to check out Nikolai Oskolkov’s work at the Tiny Gallery here through the end of March! All pieces are under $200, and the artistry is sure to amaze you.

REVIEW: A Chorus Line at Workshop Theatre

"I’d be proud to be one of them. They’re wonderful. They’re all special. I’d be happy to be dancing in that line.” — Cassie, A Chorus Line

The 1975 musical A Chorus Line has been a beloved musical since it opened on Broadway nearly 40 years ago, and last week, it opened at Workshop Theatre. Directed by Hans Boeschen, the musical brings together over 20 local actors as it delivers the familiar plot: a tense fight for individuality veiled behind humor, sweat, and tights. 

These personalities are stepped into well, for the most part, by the cast. The humor is certainly the part best received. Craig Allen and Adai’shun Cook, as Bobby and Richie respectively, are fabulous at using body language to command the stage and complement the jokes in their dialogue. Gracen Cabiness, who plays Kristine, is fantastic at facial humor, pulling out many a laugh from the audience in her rendition of “Sing.”

When it comes to embodying the almost character actor element of this play, the cast shines, but they do struggle at times in the nuance of the performances. Shelia and Val, for example—portrayed by Reign Capers and Tajiana Nechelle—are great in stepping into the shoes of confident vixens who know what they want and aren’t afraid to take it. However, when there are moments for these women to be vulnerable and for doubt to creep in, the performances don’t seem fully taken advantage of.  

Though at its heart A Chorus Line is a musical about potentially losing ourselves in our journey to be seen, it’s a show outwardly focused on singing and dancing—two things this production did decently but not exceedingly well. 

This cast only includes a few professional dancers, and choreographer Erin Bailey certainly did a fair job creating dance moves where every person could produce the moves and still look identical. Sometimes, however, the moves were a bit awkward, even in solo scenes that felt like a time to show off. For example, Cassie’s solo is meant to highlight her acting and dancing chops—and Katherine Brown, who portrays her, has a professional background in dancing—so it would have been nice to see some more striking, powerful movement. 

That being said, Katherine Brown was a standout in the show. Cassie demands an aesthetic and energy that is set apart from the other dancers, and Brown brings this to the role. The speech in which she reveals why she has returned to the chorus line felt genuine, and her vocal performance, though not transcendent, was one of my favorites—along with Gaby Walker’s solos as Diana.  

All-in-all, there were pockets of highlights in the show where someone’s voice hit just the right pitch and tone or there was a dance move that caused you to hold your breath, like Katie Page’s brief tap dance routine as Mikah during “I Can Do That.” However, looking the show as a whole, there were several hiccups with the song and dance that was exacerbated by issues with sound. The mics produced feedback at several times during the performance, and the music was a bit too loud and partially muffled the actors’ singing/talking. The visuals, though, worked well, with the traditional mirrored dance room backdrop and scattered gym bags defining the space (set by Patrick Faulds).  

Further, the costume design, led by Andie Nicks, was deft, showcasing pieces that well reflected the individual character’s personas while also looking like what one simply would naturally wear to practice dance, which made the performance as a whole feel modern and real from the start—and which gave the final change into matching uniforms the punch the closing scene requires. 

The one thing this performance certainly has going for it is heart. It was funny, and it was passionate. Being there as a patron was a joy, simply to exist in the audience where fellow audience members laughed out loud and ended the performance with loud claps and screams of joy and support. They made it clear Workshop is doing something right. 

Overall, if you want to support the arts and local talent, it’s worth the drive to Cottingham Theatre at Columbia College to see it. Even though it is not a flawless production, it is passionate and real and showcases a group of people whose individuality deserves to be recognized.

Virginia Russo Joins Saul Seibert for Artists Showing Artists THIS THURSDAY


For the first installation of the Jasper Project’s Artists Showing Artists series taking place this Thursday night at 7 at The Living Room, Saul Seibert chose Artist Virginia Russo as one of the artists he would like to feature. 

Kara Virginia Russo is a visual and performance artist who grew up in the tiny lake towns of 1980's central Florida, before moving north and earning a BFA from Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. After living for a while in both Asia and Europe, she returned to settle with her husband and two children in South Carolina, where she splits her time as an artist between Columbia and Greenville. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions from Charleston to Asheville.  

Most recently, she collaborated on Zion: a Composition by Saul Seibert, contributing album art, projection visuals, merchandise design and creation, and live ritual based performance art.



According to Russo, “My job as an artist is primarily to SEE, and only secondarily to communicate what I see. In expressing what is unseen (both within and without), I have found it helpful to use the visual language of an inner world I think of simply as The Planet. I like to explore the tension of navigating the wild terrain of the unseen from the safety of the imaginary. Think of my work as paintings, photographs, and explorer’s notes from a place you’ve never been, but one which feels immediately familiar.

“My pieces are built of layers upon layers of wet in wet watercolor and ink, relying on long experience to predict what the unleashed media might do, while staying open to surprise. Over the wet media (or occasionally under), I layer pencil, oil and chalk pastel, collage, and embroidery. I think of the wet media as attempts to paint mystery, and the dry media as attempts to expound and interpret to myself what I have painted, like notes in the margin of a well-loved book.” 

Russo continues, “My collaboration with Saul on Zion happened one day while he was looking at some of my recent work. I remember him sending me a message in response to some pieces that read simply, "I know this place."  I felt the same way the first time I heard the beginnings of the music. The work we've done together has been based on that ever since. We are artistically walking the same landscape. I see my role as simply making visible what is already there inside the music. When I listen to Zion, I'm transported to this place that is unique to Zion but is set in some other corner of my own imaginary world that all my work comes from. I can walk around, explore, see the features of this world, and then come back and paint it. The performance art is the same, I use the body as an instrument to convey visually the emotions and narrative of the piece in real time for the audience at live shows. I contribute all visual art for the project, from designing and hand printing the shirts, to the album art, to the bank of film that Ash Lennox, who does our live visual sets, pulls from. It's an incredible piece of music, and I still can't believe I get to collaborate on it. The musicians are phenomenal, I'm blown away every single time they play it.  

“Zion as a project was more or less part of my life as an artist for two years, from the very beginning of the project. It provided the steady thread all through an overseas move back to America, and all the transition that came with it. Zion stayed the same, I think the project kept me sane.  

“When the collaboration began, I had only been making art again for a year after a decade long hiatus. Zion provided the framework I needed to find my voice and confidence. I would ask Saul his opinion, and he would just say that he trusted me completely. I had complete artistic freedom, which was intimidating at first, but challenged me to grow as an artist in ways I'm grateful for. I grew into the project, in a sense. Every now and then, Saul would say something like "wouldn't it be cool if..." and I knew I was about to learn to do something I didn't think I could do. I picked up whole skill sets I had never tried before, ranging from stop motion, to illustration, to block printing. Saul had such confidence in my abilities, anything seemed possible. On top of that, Columbia has welcomed me into the creative community, and I can't imagine making art without all this support.” 

Join Jasper on Thursday night as we facilitate Rebekah Corbett’s project, Artists Showing Artists with Saul Seibert. Saul has invited poet-songwriters, Alyssa Stewart, and NoN (Keith Smyly), as well as his band King Saul and the Heretics. Art will be on display and available for sale by Virginia Russo, Adam Corbett, and Emily Moffitt. 

Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. 

The Living Room, 6729 Two Notch Road #70, Columbia, SC, 29223

Tickets

jasperproject.org/artists-showing-artists/tickets


Refillable Jasper cups for beer and wine will be available for $10 as well as hotdogs and a selection of baked goods. 

All proceeds go toward supporting the Jasper Project’s mission.

REVIEW: The Light at USC Lab Theatre

Trigger Warning: sexual assault is a primary subject in this piece.

Spoilers ahead

You should see this show.

Loy A. Web’s script is a bit heavy-handed at times but the subject(s) and the conversations they can prompt override that. It’s filled with quick turns and twists and surprises. 

The show opens in an ordinary apartment. Rashad is rehearsing how he will propose to his girlfriend, Genesis. Asaru Buffalo plays the role of Rashad, and he is perfectly charming. This opening scene is lovely and joyful and playful, and I loved it. Genesis, played by Shakori Jennings-Shuler, enters her apartment, and is not in the same good spirits as Rashad. Genesis is a school principal and has discovered that one of her new teachers, someone she admires and respects, feels that Brett Cavanaugh is being judged unfairly. Genesis is disappointed and surprised at her new colleague’s stance and wonders whether how she can reconcile herself to their obvious political differences. (I daresay that at some point in the last 9 years we all have found ourselves in a similar situation.) 

Rashad tried to lift her spirits and his ploy begins to work. Genesis then accuses him of not knowing “today’s” significance. It’s revealed that it’s their anniversary. He has, of course, completely forgotten this. The engagement ring steps in as an anniversary gift. The proposal is gleefully and tearfully accepted. Joy ensues. He has planned to recreate their first date and has obtained at great cost tickets to a concert by her favorite artist. How happy can two people be?

Hold my beer. 

The headliner and producer of this concert is the fictional rapper Kashif. Kashif has been a source of conflict between Rashad & Genesis before. Genesis condemns Kashif for his misogyny. Rashad supports Kashif for the good he does for the community. Genesis initially tells Rashad Kashif raped a friend of hers in college. She admits her friend did not report the rape. Rashad has been falsely accused of domestic assault; he had been a football player with a bright future. These dreams evaporated with the false accusation. He is also the custodial parent of his daughter.  

Rashad implores Genesis to understand his existence as a Black man who is never afforded the benefit of the doubt. Genesis implores Rashad to understand her position as a black woman in an unending struggle to be seen and valued as being black and as a woman.  

Spoiler alert: Genesis reveals it was not a friend who was raped, but herself.  The opening scene set the stakes really high. I won’t tell you how it ends. 

It was nice to see two young actors honing their craft. There were no bios in the program, so I have no idea about the work the actors have done previously. Ms. Jennings-Shuler needs to watch her volume and energy. There were times I lost what she was saying because she spoke so softly. Her final soliloquy was powerful, and she delivered it with anger and frustration. Mr. Buffalo needed to kick up the volume a bit; he may have been suffering from a cold or allergies. His focus on Ms. Jennings-Shuler’s monologue never faltered. He remained focused on her the entire time. 

The set was completely serviceable. It would be nice to have a coat rack or a hook on the back of a door for Rashad to hang his jacket. Otherwise, there was nothing to really detract from the performances. 

I saw the Thursday performance with friends who are also actors. It was a diverse group; one Black man, two Black women, and one white woman. We went out afterwards and talked and argued and discussed the show for over two hours. The disrespect and devaluation of Black men and women, the irreparable damage of false accusations, the very personal perceptions of what constitutes “rape”… it was enlightening on many levels. That’s what good theatre does - it opens the door to conversation and debate, which is how we all move forward. Unfortunately you have only two more chances to see this show. Take one of those opportunities. You won’t be disappointed.                               

Philip Mullen at Richland Library Main Branch

Join Philip Mullen and Jasper for an exciting Artist-led Tour on Friday, April 28th at 2 pm at Richland Library!

In advance of the release of the Spring 2023 print issue of Jasper Magazine, in which we feature an article on Philip Mullen, Jasper is excited to help share the news that Professor Mullen will be installing a new collection of his work at the Main Branch of the Richland Library at 1431 Assembly Street.

Mullen’s new exhibition, most of which is drawn from his private collection, will consist of 15 new pieces, 14 of which have never been shown in Columbia before.

On Wednesday March 29th from 6 - 7 pm, Mullen will conduct an artist’s talk which is open to the public and will include a look-back at the last 30 years of his work.

But on Friday, April 28th at 2 pm, you are invited to join the Jasper Project for our own tour of the exhibit led by the artist, Philip Mullen, himself!

Meet Artist Mullen and Jasper Project Board Member and singular Artist herself, Ginny Merett, in the lobby of the Main Branch of the Richland Library at 2 pm to begin the tour. The event should last between 45-60 minutes. For more information check out the event on social media.

Tuesday, March 21 – Saturday, May 6

Richland Library, 1431 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC

Jasper Presents Fall Lines - a literary convergence Volume IX at Richland Library

Join the Jasper Project on Saturday, March 25 from 2 - 5 pm for the release of Fall Lines - a literary convergence Volume IX at the Main Branch of the Richland Library on Assembly Street.

Poetry and prose accepted for publication in this year’s Fall Lines journal include the following

Fruit – Gil Allen

The turning – Ken Autry

The last battle in Alabama – Ken Autry

Bachman's Warbler – Ken Autry

Bird – Libby Bernardin

with spoiled fruit – Evelyn Berry

Dear Raphael – Al Black

Porcelain doll – Al Black

If I were a man – Cindi Boiter

Prudent – Cindi Boiter

Seamstress – Carolina Bowden

Signs that say what you want them to say (not signs that say what someone else wants you to say) – Lucia Brown

Before we turn on the table saw – Lucia Brown

walking a half-marathon through your hometown – Lucia Brown

Members of the backyard church – Tim Conroy

Nasty Bites – Tim Conroy

How to cut up a chicken – Susan Craig

Touching Wyse's Ferry Bridge – Susan Craig

The Older Poet Yearns to Carpe the Diem – Debra Daniels

Dream Three – Heather Dearmon

Bring Me Something – Heather Dearmon

Across the River - Marlanda DeKine

talking to themselves -  Marlanda DeKine

For my cat, every Sunday afternoon – Graham Duncan

Ghosts in Poems – Jo Angela Edwins

Stricken – Jo Angela Edwins

Nana Lencha – Vera Gomez

You don't know what you don't know – Vera Gomez

Coattails – Kristine Hartvigsen

River – Kristine Hartvigsen

A Quiet Love – Jammie Huynh

A ghazal to my father – Jammie Huynh

Bad Idea Boyfriend, or White Jesus – Shannon Ivey

D. – Suzanne Kamata

Red Bird / Blue Bird – Bentz Kirby

Hunter's Chapel Road – Len Laurin

I love you 3000 – Len Lawson

Crown – Terri McCord

Space – Terri McCord

For a 20% Tip – Rosalie McCracken

"Yes, please" – Melanie McGhee

Cycles – Joseph Mills

Office hours – Joseph Mills

Those of us with bushy white beards – Joseph Mills

So long, Greenie – Eric Morris

Chopin all over her – Eric Morris

Old photos (for Ahmaud Arbery) – Yvette Murray

Thundering shadows – Frances Pearce

Gone to the birds – Glenis Redmond

"Praise how the ordinary turns sacred" – Glenis Redmond

Strangers in a Strange Field – Aida Rogers

Pre-Columbia Intersections – Lawrence Rhu

Meaningless – Michael Rubin

Small things I notice – Randy Spencer

Next Day Now - Randy Spencer

Above the poplars – Arthur Turfa

For the Love of Mz. Joe – Ceille Welch

The Broad River Prize for Prose this year goes to Tim Conroy for his short fiction, Nasty Bites and the Saluda River Prize for Poetry goes to Jo Angela Edwins for her poem, Stricken.

Carla Damron was the adjudicator for the prose prize and Lisa Hammond judged the poetry prize.

Both contributors and the public are invited to attend. Contributors are also invited to read from their included works during the event in the order in which it is published.

Thank you to Carla Damron, Lisa Hammond, Richland Library, the Friends of Richland Library, One Columbia, and Muddy Ford Press for their support of this project.

Previewing the Parker Quartet’s Beethoven Cycle

“The length and impact the Parker Quartet has had on the School of Music is unique. The level of commitment they have to us is unparalled.” - Dean Tayloe Harding

“Although I know these works well, this will be the first time in my life that I’ve heard the complete cycle live. For our community and our students, this is really a once in a lifetime experience.” - Dan Sweaney

Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

It is an impressive feat to complete and perform a Beethoven string quartet. It is even more impressive when you perform all 16 of them in the span of one week. Despite the daunting task, the Parker Quartet are up to the challenge.

Founded and based in Boston, the Parker Quartet are the current quartet in residence at the University of South Carolina’s School of Music. Founded in 2002, the group currently consists of Daniel Chong (violin), Ken Hamao (violin), Jessica Bodner (viola) and Kee-Hyun Kim (cello). This year marks their tenth year of working with the music department, providing masterclasses for the dedicated students of USC and concerts for all audiences across the Midlands. They have grown so close with the music community and capital altogether; according to School of Music Dean Tayloe Harding, it is evident among the faculty and staff at the School of Music that the Quartet thinks of the city “as a second home.” Everyone at the School of Music has enjoyed getting to see the growth and development of this quartet alongside their own Gamecock musicians. “The beautiful thing about this quartet is that they’re young, but each member plays like they’ve been playing for decades, like the Emerson Quartet,” Harding said. “They play like they have been together as a group their whole lives. There is a unique symbiosis within the group and with the school that makes the residency so easy to sustain.” Associate Professor of Viola Dan Sweaney and his students have gotten to work extensively with the members of the quartet, and to him, all the members “have really become like family.” Alumni of the University continue to attend the concerts and often invite their own students to attend with them. Other projects that the Parker Quartet have accomplished through their residency include visiting schools in the area, working with the USC String Project and performing for the inmates at the DJJ Juvenile Detention Center.

To the untrained ear, this concert series may not sound so intimidating. In the past, the School of Music has conducted series of musical cycles for individual composers; one such cycle presented 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas as a concert series with Dr. Scott Price, the School of Music’s Coordinator of Piano pedagogy. Harding said, “That kind of series is way more common than the complete quartet cycle. It is rare for something on this scale to be done since the quartets make up a half, quarter, or full concert length on their own.” There have been other cycles of concerts for other famous composers at the School of Music, like a community Mozart festival back when Harding first arrived at the School of Music. There is a poignancy that this Beethoven cycle has that is incomparable to anything the department has ever done in the past, which automatically sets this series above any expectations audiences may have. The rarity of this Beethoven series is unmatched and a major incentive for audiences to attend. Beethoven’s string quartets are considered the pinnacle examples of the genre, and Carnegie Hall’s short guide to the group separates the pieces into three groups: Early Period, Middle Period and Late Period. The tones vary from the “introspective and tempestuous” Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131 to the “humorous” Quartet in F Major, Op. 59.

The School of Music and the Parker Quartet are partnering with Historic Columbia to host four of the six concerts at historical locations around the city. Each of these concert venues-Rutledge Chapel, the Robert Mills House, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and the Seibels House-all existed during Beethoven’s lifetime. “Chamber music was originally meant to be played in the home and later in small venues,” Sweaney said. “The historic homes are precisely where chamber music would have been played during the classical era.” This cycle bolsters relationships between local Columbia organizations and departments within the University umbrella and develops the foot traffic among the involved facilities further.

The venues and lack of price tag for tickets all contribute to the mission of making classical music accessible to audiences across Columbia. The growth in accessibility provides a pathway to a newfound appreciation for the genre, which is exactly what Sweaney and Harding want audiences to experience. “We hope to reach people who love chamber music and some people who’ve never heard a string quartet before,” Sweaney said. “They might just become chamber music lovers after this.” According to Harding, even though several of the venues have already sold out, the larger venue performances are located on campus-specifically in Johnson Hall of Darla Moore School of Business and the School of Music Recital Hall-and there will be livestreams available for each performance.

You can reserve seats for any or all concerts online through Eventbrite. For more information or if you have any questions, contact Audra Vaz, the Assistant Dean for Advancement for the School of Music, at audra.vaz@sc.edu. If you want to read more about the quartets, check out the Carnegie Hall’s guide.

LAURIE MCINTOSH, GATHERINGS: MY WORLD IN LINOCUT at Stormwater Studios

Visual artist Laurie McIntosh will open a new showing of work called Gatherings: My World in Linocut at Stormwater Studios, 413 Pendleton Street, Columbia, SC, March 8 through March 18, 2023 from 11am -5pm each day. An artist reception will be held on Friday, March 10 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm. The exhibition is a collection of more than 30 images created using linocut reduction and multi-block processes.

Laurie McIntosh is an accomplished South Carolina artist and painter known for large bodies of thematic work inspired by her specific interests and life experiences. She is the owner of Laurie McIntosh Art in Camden, SC, a working studio she founded in 2016. She was previously a member of Vista Studios/Gallery 80808 in Columbia, SC.

Linocut reduction is a relief printing process in which the artist carves a reverse image in a block of linoleum. The image is inked in a single color and printed on paper. The artist then carves an additional layer, applies a different color, and prints again. The process is repeated until all color layers are applied. Because the process does not allow an artist to adjust a prior layer, the process is sometimes referred to as “suicide printing.”

“Gatherings is a result of navigating the isolation of the past three years and celebrating our coming out of it,” said McIntosh. “My family enjoyed being together during that time, spending time gathering crabs and fish, growing tomatoes, and doing the things outdoors that we love. It kept us busy.”

McIntosh notes her family’s most treasured times are sharing that bounty with dear friends, which is reflected in the collection. “Being able to gather with people again and enjoy homegrown and home-caught food, tell some tall tales, drink a cold beer, and have a laugh is what my family is all about. I hope that love of people and the land comes across in this body of work.”

Laurie McIntosh is a South Carolina native who earned a BA in Fine Art from the University of South Carolina. She went on to train at the Center for Creative Imaging, the Penland School of Crafts, and other prestigious studios. Previous noteworthy exhibitions include All the In-Between: My Story of Agnes, which served as the inspiration for an annotated art book authored by McIntosh in 2012; the South Carolina State Museum 30th Anniversary Juried Exhibition in 2019; and numerous juried and invitational, solo and group exhibitions throughout the state. In 2019, McIntosh was commissioned to create public art for the “Art Bus” for Comet Public Transportation in Columbia, SC. She exhibited a solo show, Beautiful Swimmers, in 2020 at Stormwater Studios in Columbia, SC.

For more information on artist Laurie McIntosh please visit lauriemcintoshart.com. To learn more about Stormwater Studios, see stormwaterstudios.org

From https://www.stormwaterstudios.org/event/laurie-mcintosh-3

Spring 2023 Cottontown Art Crawl is back!

Saturday March 11 10 am - 4 pm

FREE!

It’s one of the most exciting and—for artists—lucrative events of the season, and one of the best places to visit your favorite artists, as well as to find new favorites!

Cottontown Art Crawl (CAC) brings artists and entertainment to front porches and lawns in a historic downtown neighborhood. The fifth annual Crawl will welcome 140 artists to show and sell their original work.

Check out who you’ll find this year and where to find them below!

On 1200 Block of Anthony Avenue

  • David Dohan, Drawing; Mixed Media; Painting

  • Lori Ritter, Glass; Mixed Media

  • Cait Maloney, Drawing; Mix of traditional and digital media

  • Renee Frisbie, Photography

  • Bonnie Geiger, Handwoven Baskets

  • Debora Life, Ceramics; Mixed Media

  • Tammy Brown

On 1200 Block of Confederate Avenue

On 1300 Block of Confederate Avenue

On 1400 Block of Confederate Avenue

On 1200 Block of Franklin Street

On 1400 Block of Franklin Street

On 1200 Block of Geiger Avenue

On 1300 Block of Geiger Avenue

On 1400 Block of Geiger Avenue

On 2100 Block of Marion Street

On 2200 Block of Marion Street

On 2300 Block of Marion Street

On 2400 Block of Marion Street


On 2200 Block of Sumter Street

On 2300 Block of Sumter Street

On 2400 Block of Sumter Street

On 1200 Block of Summerville Avenue

On 1300 Block of Summerville Avenue

On 1400 Block of Summerville Avenue

On 1400 Block of Victoria Street

  • Brandon Manaa, Ceramics; Mixed Media; Painting; Sculpture

  • Lucas Sams, Ceramics; Drawing; Mixed Media; Painting; Sculpture

On 2100 Block of Wallace Street

  • Jordan Harsey, Drawing; Jewelry; Mixed Media; Painting; Sculpture; Wearables

  • Lissa Evans

  • Alex Ruskell, Painting

  • Melissa Smith, Mixed Media

On 2200 Block of Wallace Street

  • Candace Catoe, Jewelry

  • JP Lester, Woodworking

  • Sabine Compeyn, Fiber

  • Jeff Tempest, Mystical, magical and mundane

  • Susanne Sievers, Ceramics

  • Tiffany Walker, Jewelry; Mixed Media; Painting

  • Apryl Campbell

  • Noah Van Sciver

  • Lily Todd, Ceramics; Drawing; Jewelry; Painting; Flower Arrangements, Candle Holders

  • Clay Burnette, Jewelry; Wearables; Basketry - Pine Needle Baskets

  • Hearts, Arts, & Paws, Ceramics; Glass; Woodworking

  • Paul Moore

REVIEW: The Mad Ones at Trustus Theatre

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"

Jack Kerouac from his autobiographical novel On The Road

Not enough has been written about platonic girl love, especially for adults. But the reality is that platonic girl love—its power and gravity and the way it can encompass a person like a cocoon—has saved many a young woman’s life, both figuratively and literally. The musical The Mad Ones by Bree Loudermilk and Kait Kerrigan (2017), on the Trustus stage through March 18, gives this beautiful and complicated phenomenon the reverence it is due.

With a tiny cast of four Trustus stage virgins, including two current USC students, Lily Smith and Charlie Grant, The Mad Ones is the story of Samantha and Kelly, played by Smith and Elise Heffner, BFFs who are separated by an accidental death. Samantha must rely on her memories of the all-important platonic girl love relationship she had with Kelly to get her through her grief and on the road to adulthood and making the next life decisions.

The working metaphor throughout the musical is that Samantha is obsessed with Jack Kerouac’s autobiographical novel, On the Road, but despite her intelligence (Sam is valedictorian of their senior class), she repeatedly fails her driving test keeping her, in essence, off the road. The brilliance of this simple metaphor plays out beautifully in the construction of the play.

Lead characters Smith and Heffner are just so much, too.

Adorable, approachable, relatable, insightful, lovable young women, Smith is a cross between Mayim Bialik and Tina Fey and Heffner is that combination of cute and fun that leaves no wonder Smith’s character Samantha adores her so. Smith plays Sam as vulnerable, but capable of getting through this period of grief with the help of the three people who she knows has her back no matter what: her boyfriend Adam, played by Grant, her mom Beverly, played by Jessica Roth, and the memories of her dead friend, Kelly. And in no way is the character of Beverly to be overlooked. Her character is refreshingly written as a bright, caring, and self-fulfilled mother who wants nothing less for her own daughter. While many writers would have fallen into the old tarpit of depicting her as a pushy parent, Loudermilk and Kerrigan seem to recognize what is at stake here and present Beverly as assertive, yes, but justifiably so. Beverly behaves in ways that every mother should aspire to.  

To say the cast has vocal chops is an understatement. From Grant’s smooth dulcet crooning to Roth’s rich and powerful voice, the four vocalists take on the score bravely leaving nothing on the stage. The slight pitchiness and rare missed note were so real and genuinely offered that they almost felt scripted, as in, everyone misses a note now and then so of course these authentically imperfect characters will, as well. These young actors, as well as Roth, DO NOT HOLD BACK.

Clearly this kind of bravery in such young actors had to originate in the experienced pedigrees of their directors, Robin Gottlieb and Katie Leitner. In her playbill note, Heffner gives special thanks to Leitner as “the best teacher she ever had.” No doubt. Leitner is also the powerhouse musician and vocalist in the popular local band, Say Femme and between the two women, they have performed enough lead roles to intimidate these four initiates into paralysis. But it is evident how the directors empowered their cast with courage and the message of the script.

There were no weak links in this production. Kudos to Ginny Ives (stage manager), Ezra Pound (sound), Lorna Young (lighting), Liza Hunter (assistant stage manager), and Jim Hunter (scenic designer) for pulling off all the pieces of the behind-the-scenes puzzle that allow for a successful production. Also outstanding was music director Chris Cockrell and his band, and special thanks to the strings player whose melancholy tones were enough to elicit tears alone.

Yes, expect to respond to The Mad Ones with anything from misty eyes to ugly sobbing. But the tears you’ll shed are of the redeeming variety—the kind that wash away the pain and remind us that we grow from every obstacle we overcome.

Go see this beautiful musical and celebrate the talents of these young actors and the futures they have in store.

 

Colleen Critcher and the T.Rex as Consumer and Consumed

Colleen Critcher is a Florence, South Carolina based artist who finds inspiration in consumerism, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and all things kitschy and gauche. She describes herself as a “painter at heart,” her favorite being oil painting, though she’s worked with a variety of mediums. She also finds herself turning to printmaking often, a process that matches much of her work thematically in the way that it, according to Critcher, “mimics the industrial production model in a completely inefficient way.” 

Critcher has known she wanted to be an artist since she “learned that it could be a profession” in Kindergarten. She’s always felt called toward it, and always found herself admirably aware of its capabilities. “I’m also addicted to the basic alchemy aspect of art making,” she says. “Making something from nothing feels like magic to me.” 

And make something from nothing she does, over and over again. Critcher’s recent series, entitled Consumed, is a scathing commentary on the American consumerist obsession with excess and features a series of pieces in which the subjects literally consume multicolored plastic dinosaurs.

“I love the fact that decades after I collected them, the T.Rex remains a pop culture icon,” Critcher says. “People are still obsessed with this dinosaur who was once the “ultimate consumer. It’s a bizarre cultural phenomenon.”  

“Beyond the connection from childhood toys and popular culture, I’m also interested in the fact that Rex was once the apex predator. It’s a reminder that humans pretend their dominance is somehow guaranteed to be permanent. There is also a sad irony to the fact that the remnants of dinosaurs (as petroleum) are what we make plastic with, and plastic is slowly killing everything. Yikes.” 

There is something to be said for the deadly consumerist infatuation with plastic, especially considering Critcher’s idea that our induction into consumerism starts with childhood– “I think for most of us it starts with toys.” 

Relatedly, Consumed also includes several pieces with children as the subjects. What A Good Little Consumer and Pretty Please both feature the full body images of children, a girl and a boy respectively, with T.Rex masks on their heads, dressed in what appears to be play costumes. Something about the way the children stand, the way the little girl in What A Good Little Consumer cradles the T.Rex toy in her arms, feels eerie, more sinister perhaps. Is there something to be said here about consumerism eating us back? 

Critcher answers this question with more questions: “I’ve been making work about American consumer culture for a decade now and I’m constantly asking questions about our participation. Are we passively implicated in the process? Are we fully engaged with both feet in this complex system? Are we consuming the things or are they consuming us? What are the benefits and what are the negative effects of a culture built on the necessity to constantly buy more things? When I had children it made me recognize that they, we, become consumers almost immediately.” 

Another unique facet of Critcher’s work is its ability to be self-referential–she puts the literal image of herself into her paintings. Within Consumed, she can be seen chowing down on a purple dinosaur in Devouring Her T. Rex and a neon green one in Keeping Up With The Joneses (Suburban Mom). Perhaps this is a nod to her own participation in consumer culture, a reminder of its inescapable impact on all of our lives. It certainly adds to the uncanny aesthetic of the series.  

Critcher received her MFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Since then, her work has been shown at numerous galleries, including The Southern, Redux Contemporary Art Center, Kai Lin Art, Gutstein Gallery, and 701 Center for Contemporary Art, and she has taught several arts foundations courses at Coker University, Coastal Carolina University, and Francis Marion University.  

Critcher is the featured artist in the Jasper Project’s First Thursday Series at Sound Bites Eatery at 1425 Sumter Street. Join us on Thursday, March 2nd as we celebrate the opening reception for her work which will hang throughout the month of March.

 

For more information about Critcher and her projects, and to check out her delightfully bizarre series Consumed, visit her website, colleencritcher.com.

CALL FOR ARTS at Richland Library

Richland Library is seeking submissions for our Spring Pop Up Art Shows. The exhibition series will be held March through May 2023.

Pop-up Art Shows are intended to highlight the work of local BIPOC, LBGTQ+ or otherwise underserved artists and their unique personal ties to the specific communities where the libraries are located. They are looking for work that speaks to the community's roots, culture and citizenry.

Up to 2 artists will be selected to exhibit on each of the following dates: 

  • Saturday, March 11 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Richland Library Wheatley

  • Thursday, April 6 from 6 - 9 p.m. at Boyd Plaza *This will be a Special Exhibition in partnership with the First Thursday on Main event.

  • Saturday, May 20 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Richland Library Blythewood

The application deadlines are Wednesday, March 1 to exhibit at Richland Library Wheatley, First Thursday on Main and Saturday, April 15 to exhibit at Richland Library Blythewood.

If you're interested in sharing your work samples, please review the submission guidelines and complete the application by clicking here.

Conceived and co-organized by local visual artist Jeff Rivers, this project seeks to expand the social and economic participation of underserved artists and communities.

Learn more about Jeff by clicking here.

For questions, please contact Kimberlei Davis at 803-351-5616 or kdavis@richlandlibrary.com.

 

Jasper Welcomes Lori Starns Isom to the Gallery at Harbison Theatre Friday Night

Lori Isom - who also is an exceptional baker!

In the Jasper Project’s ongoing efforts to locate and make use of blank walls in the Midlands area as gallery spaces to exhibit local artists’ work, we are pleased to open another exhibit in the gallery space at Midlands Technical College’s Harbison Theatre. Lori Isom is an artist well known to the Jasper Project, having contributed a place-setting to the Supper Table in 2019 and having been featured in the 10th anniversary issue of Jasper Magazine. We are delighted to facilitate showing her work this month at Harbison Theatre.

We will celebrate Isom’s exhibit with a reception on Friday, February 24th with a reception at 6:30 prior to the concert by Patrick Davis and his Midnight Choir, and Isom will speak briefly at 7 pm. The artist’s work will be available for purchase and will remain on exhibit throughout the month of March.

It is fair to say that Lori Isom’s life as an artist, and all around creative, has been quite varied. Throughout her young life, while receiving a formal education, she also studied dance and acting in New York. She was fortunate to enjoy some success as a professional dancer, singer and actress in New York and Los Angeles. Over the last several years, she's had many interesting and fun entrepreneurial pursuits, including owning and operating her own baking business! While she is predominantly a self-taught artist, Lori majored in fashion illustration in high school, and later fine art and fashion design at Parsons School of Design.

Lori's love of portraiture and figurative art began early. She was captivated by the work of artists like Mary Cassatt, Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth, and John Singer Sargent because of their ability to capture emotion. Later in life, she found inspiration in artists like Mary Whyte, Dean Mitchell, Daniel Greene, Amy Sherald, and so many others. 

Through the years, Lori has done hundreds of individual and family portraits, as well as portraits of military personnel and heads of companies. She has also shared her passion and knowledge of by art coaxing the inner artist out of young children to senior citizens, through teaching. 

Lori's work has been featured in the pages of American Art Collector, newspaper articles and a variety of other publications. Her career has included solo and group exhibitions, and a one year residency for the City of North Charleston, during which she had the privilege to work on several community-focused projects. These included outdoor murals and special art projects, as well as workshops and demonstrations in the city's schools and community centers. 

At this point in her career, Lori is focused on reaching her most authentic artistic expression through deep personal exploration. She is driven to find her highest level of creativity by being open to trying new techniques and, most of all, trusting herself. 

"Since I have theater experience in my background, I relate to my subject(s) like actors on a stage. Telling a story and capturing emotion are what I aspire to do every time I go to the canvas. While working on a piece, I am thinking about how I can best reveal the person's story to my “audience” in this brief moment in their life. 

My deep desire as an artist is to present my subject in the most honest and sincere way.

Like any artist, I want the viewer to be moved in some way by the painting, and just see a pretty picture. I am stimulated by interesting composition, structure and use of color, however the emotion is really what drives me. "

Jasper is indebted to Kristin Cobb and the gracious folks at MTC’s Harbison Theatre for their hospitality and their willingness to work with us on our mission of making the work of Midlands’ area visual artists more accessible to the public and a more vital part of the culture they help create.

If you have an idea for a space that the Jasper Project might be able to capture as a potential gallery, contact JasperProjectColumbia@gmail.com.

You're Invited to the Launch of The Limelight Volume III by Cindi Boiter at the Art Bar, Thursday February 23rd

Please join the Jasper Crew Thursday night, February 23 from 6 to 8 at the Art Bar as we help executive director Cindi Boiter celebrate the launch of her newest collection of essays written by some of Columbia’s most interesting local artists about some of Columbia’s most interesting local artists.

The Limelight volume III: A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists is the third collection in this series Boiter has published from Muddy Ford Press. This volume features essays from Jon Tuttle and his son Josh, Cassie Premo Steele, Clair DeLune, Dale Bailes, Kristine Hartvigsen, David Axe, Claudia Smith Brinson, Jason Stokes, Ed Madden, Tim Conroy, Len Lawson, Chad Henderson, and Boiter herself. The subjects of the essays include Tom Beard, Al Black, Nappy Brown, Anastasia Chernoff, Thorne Compton, Clark Ellefson, William Price Fox, Phillip Gardner, Tyrone Geter, Terrance Henderson, Rob Kennedy, Jillian Owens, Leslie Pierce, Kathleen Robbins, Sharon Strange, and Kay Thigpen.

We’ll be gathering at 6 pm for a cocktail hour during which attendees can order drinks from the bar and visit with friends, purchase and sign books. Following that we will enjoy brief readings from the collection.

Admission is free and we’ll be gathering in the back of the bar. Books, including The Limelight Volume I and The Limelight Volume II will also be available for purchase at reduced rates.

The Art Bar is located at 1211 Park Street in Columbia, SC. Thanks to the Art Bar for hosting this event.