Jasper Presents Acclaimed Artist Stephen Chesley for Third Thursday Art Night at The Nook - September 21st

Please join the Jasper Project as we welcome acclaimed visual artist Stephen Chesley to Jasper’s little corner of the Koger Center — The Nook — a rotating 2nd floor gallery space for featuring some of the best of the Midlands visual artists.

According to Chesley, “This exhibition is the result of ghost prints from direct painting in a variant style of Sumi Japanese ink drawings. The inclusion of an Asian aesthetic in the manner of Zen brush drills is to obtain emotional content through understanding abstraction of tone and form. The sheer thousands in volume of process has the intent of teaching one's understanding of autography and brushstroke. The yin-yang of black and white references balance of nature embellished with concepts of summary outline and simultaneous contrast set forth by Ogden Rood's 1879 color treatise notably embraced by George Seurat.”

Sumi-e, which means back ink painting, is typically described as art created in monochrome with the use of sumi ink and handmade paper.

Chesley goes on to say that, “Images in this exhibition are a unique hybrid of direct painting and printmaking. Elements of mysticism in these works emanate from ideas of forerunners Morris Graves, Paul Gauguin, Walter Anderson, and George Inness, who all sought to reveal the spirit world always before us.”

Chesley continues, “These figure ground pieces present and lyrical and poetic rendering of the gift of the sublime ordinary found in life and nature. All life, both animate and inanimate, is in consideration of treatises of physics including: Big Bang, singularity, and concepts of deep time. It is apparent that we share atoms with all things and that there is unfathomable structure and connection that is universal, timeless, and infinite. Human sentience is not the only sentience. As we look at landscapes, trees, animals, plants, waves, clouds, and stars, we look at ourselves.”

Stephen Chesley was born in Schenectady, New York in 1952. He exhibited a natural proclivity for drawing and art almost as soon as he could hold pastels and pencils, which were often Christmas gifts from his family. Growing up in Virginia Beach in the late 1950s, he was exposed to the Beat Generation of musicians, artists, and writers when it was still a seasonal seaside resort. Self-motivated, he continued with his drawing and small paintings along with exposure to local artists. Recognized in 1981 by the Columbia Museum of Art as an emerging talent, he went on to win top 100 in the first National Parks competition of 1987. He continues his creative journey with an art spirit in Columbia, SC.

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Chesley to The Nook and invite you to view his work throughout September and October, and to join us for a small reception Thursday, September 21st from 5:30 - 7 pm.

Join Us Under the Jasper Literary Arts Tent at Rosewood Art & Music Festival – October 7th

You’re invited to join the Jasper Project and some of your favorite local writers of poetry and prose under the Jasper Literary Arts Tent at the 2023 Rosewood Art & Music Festival on Saturday, October 7th from noon – 5 pm.*

You’ll get to hear some of your favorite Columbia-based writers read from a selection of their works, purchase their books, and then meet the authors and have your books signed.

*Authors will read during the first half of each hour and then sign and greet friends during the second half of each hour.

901 S Holly St, Columbia, SC 29205

 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Noon – 1 pm

Carla Damron

Jane Zenger

Sandra Johnson

 

1 – 2 pm

Evelyn Berry

Debbie Daniel

Susan Craig

 

2 - 3 pm

Terri McCord

Ann Chadwell Humphries

Robert (Bo) Petersen

 

3 – 4 pm

Jo Angela Edwins

Randy Spencer

Kristine Hartvigsen

4 – 5 pm

Al Black

Ed Madden

Cassie Premo Steele

For more information about the performing and visual artists you’ll see at the Rosewood Art & Music Festival, check out the festival website!

Amy Kuenzie at Sound Bites Eatery!

Amy Kuenzie is Jasper’s featured artist at Sound Bites Eatery this month!

A native South Carolinian currently based in Lexington, Kuenzie says her artistic inspiration is the beauty in everyday life and attributes this policy to “the result of living in the moment and seeking refuge from memories of trauma.”

Kuenzie’s favorite medium is acrylic and she uses special techniques such as bokeh (bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in out-of-focus parts of an image) and brush work to create depth and focus.

Kuenzie studied art for seven years in her youth but did not pursue further education after high school. After retiring, she began painting as a means of therapy for C-PTSD. Her work has been included in over a dozen shows including Piccolo Spoleto 2022 at City Gallery, in Charleston, SC.

According to Kuenzie, “Borrowing subjects from my life or nature, I use color and depth of field to draw the viewer in to see the emotion and personality of each piece.” She continues, “Painting has helped me heal from Complex-PTSD and to connect with my truest self. Through use of value and contrast, I expose and preserve a moment in time and provide the viewer a new perspective on the beauty all around us.”

Kuenzie’s Jasper-sponsored exhibit at Sound Bites will be on view throughout the month of September at 1425 Sumter Street in downtown Columbia, SC.

REVIEW: A New Realization of a Classic Work -- The Glass Menagerie at Workshop Theatre

Workshop Theatre opened its 56th Season with Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie on Friday, September 15th at Cottingham Theatre at Columbia College.  As this 78-year-old play is frequently included in high school literature curricula and regularly produced at community and professional theatres around the country, it is likely that many audience members have already had an experience with this play. It continues to relevantly examine escapism, unfulfilled desire, and familial responsibility in an old American South that is in conflict with modernity and advancement. Friday’s audience seemed to enjoy the production, leaning into the intended comedy of scripted moments, while also finding levity in moments that seemed absurd to contemporary audiences. For example: one of the biggest laughs came when a character decided to put a newspaper on top of a rug in order to “catch the drippings” of a candelabra that was being used to combat a blackout. The audience seemed to scream with their laughter: “Somebody call the Fire Marshal! This guy is nuts!”

          A quick recap of the story: The Wingfields live in St. Louis, Missouri. The patriarch has long since abandoned the family, leaving them to fend for themselves. The matriarch, Amanda Wingfield, is an overbearing mother hellbent on refining her modern children and pushing them towards the life she wishes for them. Tom, her son (and the narrator of the play), is the main bread-winner of the family – working a very unsatisfying job at a shoe factory. Amanda is constantly badgering him about pretty much everything. Laura, the daughter, is an incredibly timid young woman who spends most of her time indoors with her phonograph and her animal figurines made of glass (cue title of the play). Amanda obsesses about Laura’s future, and after learning that her daughter’s anxiety has kept her from her typing classes – she insists on Tom finding a gentleman caller for his sister. He says he will, and indeed this former high-school hero, Jim O’Connor, comes to the house for dinner. Go see this production if you are not aware of what happens next. 

          In the first scene of the play, Tom Wingfield, played by Lamont Gleaton, steps onto his “safe place” – the fire escape outside of his home. Here, he tells the audience that what follows is a “memory play,” and that “nothing is real.” Thus, Williams has explicitly told the audience to expect the unexpected, while also freeing a director and production team to dream outside the constraints of slice-of-life realism and engage in the magic, idealism, romanticism and, sometimes, regret that memory can conjure. Workshop’s production, under the direction of Bakari Lebby, intentionally exercised creative freedom with their production rendering a thoughtful dive into the memory-world of the play that truly made this a 21st Century production - with mixed results.

          Workshop’s The Glass Menagerie is performed by an ensemble comprised of Columbia-based actors Lamont Gleaton (Tom Wingfield), Katie Mixon (Amanda Wingfield), Carly Siegel (Laura Wingfield), and Marshall Spann (Jim O’Connor). Contemporary productions of Williams and Arthur Miller plays are being cast more frequently with Actors of Color in the past 20 years here in America – offsetting the decades long practice of casting only white actors to portray the families that these playwrights created. The multiracial casting of Workshop’s Menagerie invites the audience to engage in a different kind of discomfort when witnessing Amanda Wingfield’s talon-tight grip on the old Southern way of life. When insisting she clean the table after a meal in Scene II, Amanda uses a racial epithet to describe her domestic services to the family – something that creates a unique tension on stage and in the audience as a white mother says this to her non-white children. The casting also begs more questioning of Amanda’s southern-fried prejudices within the context of her relationship to her now-absent husband. These questions provide good fodder for post-show conversation, but do not overshadow the author’s original intent during the performance – which focuses more on universal and poetic themes.

          As Tom Wingfield, Lamont Gleaton was taxed with a large order to play an iconic character from the American canon. Having wowed audiences this time last year with his portrayal of Lola in Workshop’s Kinky Boots, this seems to be Gleaton’s first foray into non-musical theatre. He shines in scenes with other actors – letting his cool-heeled naturalism serve the play throughout. He particularly brought control to a scene where he returns home drunk from “going to the movies” – realistically exhibiting a man on a bender who is returning home to live a lie.  Gleaton does seem to struggle with inviting the audience into the poetic monologues that connect the scenes all evening. Gleaton might gain more command as the production continues if he realizes that this story is Tom’s to tell.

          Katie Mixon in the role of Amanda Wingfield was an audience favorite – she confidently commanded the stage as her character created most of the conflict in the play. Her portrayal was theatrical, outrageously comedic – and the audience rewarded it with laughter. However, this choice makes it seem that Amanda is not only in a different world in her head – it feels as if she is in a different play. Gone is the brutality and seething criticism that the character garners on the page, leaving the stakes low for Tom’s need for exodus and freedom, and completely eradicating the possible indications that Amanda’s narcissistic abuse exacerbates her daughter’s severe insecurity and anxiety. Still, when Mixon took her final bow – she was met with audience members who were inclined to stand to show their appreciation.

          As Laura Wingfield, Carly Siegel was one of the strongest performers in the production. Siegel emphasizes the affliction of Laura’s anxiety disorder – a condition that, as we understand it today, can be a crippling disability. Though the character is traditionally portrayed with a limp or costumed to wear a leg-brace, this Laura does not. In 2023, we can totally acquiesce to the concept that this character’s timidness and fragility (a trait she sees in her glass figurines) is a product of her own anxiety which is made more severe through her mother’s scrutiny. Seigel beautifully executed the moment in the play when her “gentleman caller” accidentally causes the destruction of one of her beloved glass animals. She grows in the moment right in front of the audience – controlling her response and avoiding a sure panic attack.

          Marshall Spann was a solid choice for the prized gentleman caller, Jim O’Connor, who finally enters the play in Act II. His charming portrayal of the character makes him a magnetic interest for Laura, while also welcoming allure from Amanda (and possibly Tom?). The scene in Act II in which Spann and Siegel are left alone on stage is very rewarding, with both actors creating a welcome tension between the possibilities of the future and their ultimate hopelessness.

          Director Bakari Lebby and the design team present a very thoughtful concept of this memory play – accepting Williams’ scripted invitation to be inventive in creating the world on stage. A painted portrait of the absent father changes over the course of the play, with each following iteration becoming more and more abstract. The Wingfield home is a foundational structure that is faced with reflective material – making the set a literal glass enclosure from which the characters cannot escape. The sound design proffers a delightful mix of period-appropriate jazz that is peppered with contemporary music – drawing modern connections to the story and giving the audience permission to see how moments in the story could feel like “here and now.” Most notably, the media used in the show is instrumental in this production’s presentation of memory. Film clips that were filmed and edited specifically for this production were featured throughout the performance, giving the audience glimpses into the minds of these characters. These inventive and well-produced clips were shown on two TV’s nestled in the on-stage structure.

          Ultimately these production design elements put a unique stamp on Workshop’s production of The Glass Menagerie. One can feel that these elements were intended for a larger presentation. Perhaps more specific lighting and projection mapping on the set could have elevated these elements to a more effective level for the audience. In the end, this production seems like a laboratory or workshop for a future production. Whether it was lack of resources or technical capabilities, this production suffers from a grander vision not being realized. This production should be seen and supported, because there is quite a bit of thought and inventiveness that went into it. The stylized concepts, though they could have been pushed much farther, do present Columbia with a new realization of this classic work. Tennessee Williams continues to prove that he was a skilled auditor of the human condition, and we can still see ourselves in these characters. The Glass Menagerie runs through September 24th at Cottingham Theatre at Columbia College, and you may book tickets at workshoptheatreofsc.com.

Poetry of the People: Jo Angela Edwins

My seventh Poet of the People is Jo Angela Edwins. What impresses me the most about Jo Angela is her humor and ability to find the divine in unexpected places. 

Jo Angela Edwins is the poet laureate of the Pee Dee region of South Carolina and a professor of English at Francis Marion University. Her collection A Dangerous Heaven appears in 2023 from Gnashing Teeth Publishing.

Parts of Speech

Verbs do the heavy lifting:
shoot, explode, weep, scream.

Adverbs tell us, mostly, how:
often, swiftly, wildly.

Adjectives describe:
fearful, mad, thunderous.

Conjunctions link:
armed and dangerous, dead or alive.

Articles define:
an ally, the enemy.

Prepositions direct:
over the wall, through the tunnel, across the killing field.

Interjections exclaim:
Stop! No! Help!

Nouns remind us
that earth is filled with places
where people turn persons
into things.

When Louis Armstrong Landed on the Moon

Quiz question: Who was the first person to set foot on the moon?
Student answer: Louis Armstrong
Picture his space helmet
specially equipped
to accommodate the trumpet.
He must have resembled
a Seussian cartoon:
that polished horn
sticking stiffly through the visor,
the aperture gasketed
tightly with polymers,
a protection against oxygen leaks,
for this man with elastic cheeks
needed all the air he could get
on that airless orb
to shatter silence across
the Sea of Tranquility.
His jaunty rendition
of “When the Saints Go Marching In”
bopped its best that day,
and those saints in their heaven
that hovered like a low ceiling
over his bobbing head
realized slowly
that their feet had gone to tapping
against narrow golden streets.
As he leapt from rock to rock
across that milky desert,
surely his heart skipped beats
in time to music. Back home,
Mission Control heard his gritty vibrato
crooning a capella
through the fuzz of the two-way
as he gazed backwards at the foggy earth:
I think to myself—
what a wonderful world.

(Originally published in Porcupine Literary, issue 2, Summer 2020)

The Lilies You Sent

were lovely for so many days,
and I cannot bring myself to throw them out.
They still offer sheen and a shadow of flair,
but the petals fall in a whoosh. Gravity
is brother to death, and all the green is blackening,
and the water that once held them firm goes brown,
and even a carpel comes tumbling down
here and there. I collect what falls,
dutiful steward to withered angel wings,
and my fingers stain with the glitter of each anther,
the pollen that would propagate what lived
had it not died for the sake of spreading kindness,
a better reason than most, I suppose, to die,
and for this killing that brightened my life, I thank you.

South Carolina's Own Sergio Hudson at Columbia Museum of Art!!! Get excited!

From our Friends at Columbia Museum of Art:

The Columbia Museum of Art is pleased to announce Sergio Hudson: Focused on the Fit, an exhibition showcasing the work of iconic fashion designer and Midlands native Sergio Hudson, on view Saturday, November 18, 2023, through Sunday, June 30, 2024. Organized by the CMA in partnership with Sergio Hudson Collections, LLC and community curator Megan Pinckney Rutherford, this exhibition showcases the remarkable moments of a designer who fell in love with fashion at 5 years old while living in Ridgeway, South Carolina, and has become one of the biggest names in the industry today.
 
“Many things are happening in my life that I could only dream of — this exhibition at the CMA is one of them,” says Hudson. “I feel very lucky, and I hope my story can inspire other young men in South Carolina to believe in themselves and follow their passion.”
 
Hudson will be at the CMA on November 18 for a special opening day program — tickets go on sale to museum members on Monday, October 16.
 
“As a lifelong lover of fashion, I am thrilled to be the community curator behind this exhibition showcasing the incredible work of my dear friend, Sergio Hudson, a successful Black fashion designer that was born and bred right here in the Midlands and is well on his way to becoming the next iconic American designer,” says Rutherford. “I am honored to get to share his story with a community that inspired and supported him, and also with the next generation that I’m sure will be inspired by his familiar beginnings.” 
 
Born and raised in Ridgeway, Hudson has always taken inspiration from the strong women in his life, particularly his mother, Sheldon Hudson, who introduced him to sewing. Since launching his first eponymous label in 2014, his fresh perspective on luxury American sportswear has taken the fashion world by storm. Hudson’s high-profile clients include Beyoncé, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Kamala Harris, Kendall Jenner, Issa Rae, Rachel Brosnahan, and Keke Palmer, a close friend whom he has called a muse.
 
Hudson’s philosophy is that fashion should be for everyone and include everyone. He designs to empower the wearer and often includes a nod to the ’90s of his youth. Focused on the Fit features eight signature garments from key moments in his revolutionary career alongside more than 20 sketches and drawings exploring his career from the early days winning Bravo’s Styled to Rock in 2013 up through the present day.
 
“Sergio is an example of what it means to ignite a passion and never let go of the dream. Focused on the Fit is not only a show about fashion, but also a story of how one makes their mark in the world,” says CMA Director of Art and Learning Jackie Adams. “We are so proud to present Sergio’s work right here in his home state, and we hope this show will inspire and educate visitors about a creative visionary driven to make a difference in how we choose to show up in the world through fashion.”
 
This exhibition is organized by the Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina, in partnership with Sergio Hudson Collections, LLC and Community Curator Megan Pinckney Rutherford.

About Megan Pinckney Rutherford
A Charleston native, Megan Pinckney left the Lowcountry to attend the University of South Carolina where she earned a degree in fashion merchandising. She began developing her social media skills during her reign as Miss South Carolina USA when she was tasked with managing the title’s account across several platforms. Since then, she’s developed Shades of Pinck, a lifestyle brand + online moniker that serves as a lady’s guide for styling yourself, your home + your travels. She believes in champagne for breakfast, that pink is a neutral, and that life is only what you make it! When Megan isn’t creating digital content for local + national brands, she’s supporting the arts community of South Carolina, encouraging her generation to become more involved in local politics, cheering on her beloved Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium, and spending time with her 2-year-old son, Teagan.

You're Invited to the 1st Launch Party & Reading of Ed Madden's new book of poetry -- Story of a City: poems occasional and otherwise - Saturday September 23rd, 6 pm, 1013 Duke Avenue

Please join Muddy Ford Press and friends and family of former Columbia city poet laureate Ed Madden for a launch party for his new book of poetry, Story of a City: poems occasional and otherwise, published by Muddy Ford Press.

Saturday, September 23rd

6 pm

1013 Duke Avenue

In addition to hearing Ed read from his new collection of poems written in his role as city poet laureate, Ed has invited some special guests to read as well.

And there will be cake!

Books are $20 and will be available for purchase at the event or, prior to the event at Amazon, Barnes & Noble dot com, Booktopia, and more.

Cover Artist is Steven Chesley.

1013 Duke Avenue is located up North Main Street by turning left on Arlington. Parking is available in the designated lot across the street.

Ed Madden is the author of five books and four chapbooks of poetry, most recently A pooka in Arkansas, which was selected for the Hilary Tham Capital Collection, and Ark, a book about his father’s last months in hospice care. He is a professor of English and the former director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches Irish literature, queer studies, and creative writing. Ed served as the poet laureate for the City of Columbia, SC, 2015-2022. He is recipient of an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship and artist residencies at the Hambidge Center in Georgia and the Instituto Sacatar in Itaparica, Brazil.

Jonathan Byrd at the ToL Coffeehouse October 28th

From our friends at the ToL Coffee House:

Jonathan Bryd has been one of the most the most dynamic performers we've drawn for the ToL Coffeehouse series. He writes with intense emotion, keen observation and a wry sense of humor. The musical range is astounding — from the "dark cowboy fairy tale" that is "May the River Run Dry" to the philosophicating whackiness of "Jimmy Says." And if you're really, really lucky you might hear his cover of Rob Vaarmeyer's song, "A Big Truck Brought It."

Jonathan Byrd is a preacher’s kid, Gulf War veteran, and award-winning songwriter with a near-cult following. With twenty plus years of touring and over a dozen albums, Byrd’s deceptively simple, working-class songs have become campfire standards and crowd favorites for artists like Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien. A Jonathan Byrd show will take audiences on a journey from hell-raising sing-alongs to heart-wrenching ballads and back across the backroads of his native North Carolina.

A lifelong collaborator and innovator, Jonathan Byrd’s latest project is Song Miners, a project to not only write and release new songs, but also to teach others how it’s done. Leading powerful online songwriting workshops and creating free songwriting education for social media, Byrd seems on a mission to fill the world with great songs — not least, his own. Not to be missed.

Here are the basics again: Jonathan Byrd performs Oct. 28 at the ToL Coffeehouse at the Tree of Life Congregation at 6719 N Trenholm Road, Columbia, SC 29206. Tickets are $27 online by Oct. 26 and $29 after online and at the door.

Jeffrey Miller’s Exploration of Life Through Humor, Audacity, Absurdity and Juxtaposition

I was once told by someone that they did not know if they liked my work because I wasn't doing what everybody else was doing. I have never before been so complimented— Jeffrey Miller

Jeffrey Miller’s work traces a handful of related themes, ideas, and images through a variety of mediums. He is an artist always exploring and keeping options open—and he is Jasper’s featured Tiny Gallery artist for the month of September. 

Miller grew up in small-town Campbellsville, Kentucky, a “typical child except for an oversized imagination and an unrelenting curiosity.” While he did not grow up around art, he often drew in the margins of his mom’s old textbooks—deterred from marking up the walls of his home instead. Of all things, though, it was an encyclopedia that began the blossoming of Miller’s identity as an artist. 

“One day my father drew a polar bear sketch that he copied from those encyclopedias; excited, I asked him to do it again but instead he gave me the pencil and told me to do it myself,” Miller recalls. “That was all the encouragement I needed. I was about 5 years old then, and I got my first real commission at the age of 12—I earned $100 for painting a logo for a truck driver on both doors of his truck.” 

From this moment, Miller went on to commit himself to art, receiving an art scholarship from Campbellsville University and finishing his art degree at Murray State University 

“At University I was introduced to and gained more knowledge about materials and art history; as far as process, though, it seems more I just learned the name to call what I was already doing,” Miller says. “The biggest and most influencing thing was the atmosphere and the presence of so many other people involved in the creative process…that I really miss!”

BLACK CAT BLUES

Since getting his degree, Miller has continued to grow and expand his horizons. One of his greatest fears is being trapped in a box. As he says, there are “too many possibilities to explore.” In his mind, work predicts medium, so the more mediums one is familiar with, the more the subject matter can spread its wings. 

“Being a good painter or good in whatever chosen medium is a technical evaluation—creativity is something more,” he says. “Besides which, good is a relative term so it literally tells you nothing about an art piece.” 

And art is something Miller is always doing. When asked what he does when not creating, he says that he sees everything he partakes in within his everyday life as some form of artmaking. In that vein, Miller does not have a specific theme he chases—in fact, he sees this as one of the limitations people place around artists and their work. 

In his mind, work predicts medium, so the more mediums one is familiar with, the more the subject matter can spread its wings. 

“People ask what I was thinking when I did this piece or that piece. The only answer is my thinking was absorbed in the piece I'm working on at the time. Anything else is an afterthought,” he says. “The work is complete when I've done my job as an artist and I'm on to the next canvas. The important thing is what [the viewer] brings to the piece, what do [they] think. A piece of art is not complete without the viewer, and each viewer will bring thoughts of their own.” 

If he could find a throughline in his piece, he would say it is all, in some way or another, a celebration of life in all its forms, regardless of the themes and emotions within. If art is in his every day, his art also shows the everyday.

VENUS OF THE BAYOU

“There is an ebb and flow, a push and pull, a transitoriness about life that must be reflected in one's art if that art is about life. The imagery, ideas, and concepts are a reflection of day-to-day life which I personally tend to express through humor, audacity, absurdity, and juxtaposition,” Miller says. “I was once told by someone that they did not know if they liked my work because I wasn't doing what everybody else was doing. I have never before been so complimented.” 

In this Tiny Gallery show, Miller shows off these juxtapositions of life in his newest medium: printmaking, of which he has had an introductory class and, so far, is “finding nothing about it that [he doesn’t] like.” Adjacently, he has started exploring digital art, and he has found himself particularly connected to a new digital image he made—the cover photo of this article.  

“[The piece] totally reflects the art that is me—the art just described to you in the above paragraphs. I usually work from a fleeting mental image in response to something I've seen, heard, or read,” he says. “The mental image may or may not come immediately but it always comes in the same way, like a light brush across the cheek or a fast, flashing image like from the old slide projectors. I turn to get a better look and it is gone. There are times when I only see it when the piece is done—I like it that way.”

THE FALCONER

Perhaps it is this mindset that has led to Miller winning a handful of art contests, including an advertising award from Doe Anderson Advertising Co., as well as serving as an educator for the Lexington Library Adult Education Program for four years.

 Today, he displays at various festivals and community sponsored events, and you can see—and purchase—his work 24/7 until the end of September at Jasper’s online gallery space. After the show, interested patrons can follow his journey on Facebook and Instagram @ Jeffrey Miller Artworks.

701 CCA Presents Fire & Flame with Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero

From our friends at 701 CCA —Fire & Flame:

Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero   

9/21/23   

6:30-8:30 

Fire and Flame: Elizabeth Brim and Shane Fero is an exhibition exploring the decades-long friendship and collaboration between two artists whose careers and acquaintance blossomed at the Penland School of Craft. Elizabeth Brim is a blacksmith, as well as a teacher, living in western North Carolina. She's best known for mastering the dichotomy of feminine imagery and ironwork. Shane Fero is a glassworker using flame to perfect his technique of 'lampworking' to envision intricate, delicate and ephemeral sculptures. Both are inspired by their environment and both's works are an allegory to their own human experience. 

Fire and Flame is a testament to this long nurtured friendship. Two individuals understanding the transformative power of fire and translating the process in iron and glass. Featuring signature works of their unique styles and collaborative works seamlessly joining their disparate materials, this exhibition ignites the understanding that all is possible through curiosity and dedication.

*Cash Bar and light refreshments served. 

Poetry of the People: Dale Bailes

My sixth Poet of the People is Dale Bailes. Dale is a long-time icon in the Columbia literary community and an encouraging mentor and friend to many. His poetry is expressive, and you feel his kindness throughout his work. Read his work and become his friend.

Bio: As a poet, Bailes helped design and participated in the Poets In The Schools
Program for the South Carolina Arts Commission. He edited seven anthologies of
student poetry for that program. His poems have appeared in journals and little magazines,
including SOUTH CAROLINA REVIEW, GREAT SPECKLED BIRD, and
CREATIVE CRAFTERS JOURNAL. The poems have been gathered in the
collection CHERRY STONES and in three chapbooks.

Recent publications include poems in Columbia lit mag FALL LINES and
Texas based AMERICAN WRITERS REVIEW.

Bailes holds an MFA in Professional Writing from the University of Southern
California, He has taught college writing and creative writing classes in such
diverse backdrops as state prisons, Navy aircraft carriers, community colleges,
and both USC east and USC west.

He continues his interest as an educator as a part-time Standardized Patient
at the University of South Carolina School of Nursing in Columbia.

____

VIGIL

First sunlight in tops

Of towering green trees.

How is there no music?

THE TRICK

Thinking of you in terms

of two-over-light was easier.

That way you shared

my morning rite and left me

to the idle pleasure

of my day. Now, having

seen you trundle from

a lonely man-filled bar

your shoulders slouched

against the weight of darkness

I know you more than I care 

to; know your crumpled

single bed and barren room

know why your ten-hour-day

is comfort to you.

Now instead of leaving me

to my own tight rare existence

you take me trembling with you

into your lonely night.

(from ST. ANDREWS REVIEW)

THE GENTLEMAN CALLER

No need to keep him waiting

fifteen anxious minutes; no stately

staircase has to frame her entrance.

Cordelia sits quite calmly at the table

saucered cup untouched and slowly colding

Her mind commands a sunny day, with horses

she smells the Spring and smiles

at mustached men. A storm can rage there

now, or suns go setting; white-haired

gallants still tip crisp hats and court her,

What matter if those days she lives

are twenty-five or fifty years divided?

This day alone will mean most to her heart

stout friend through all and keeper

of the great loves she has known.

Now he has come, the quietest caller

she has yet received. “Madame?” “oh yes.

I am quite ready. You are right on time.”

Cordelia, rising, bids a host of friends adieu.

Whispers gaily, “It was always you.”

(from MISSISSIPPI REVIEW)

THE JESTER

The Jester on your wall grins

at you. His hand has been, will be

poised to pluck the lute.

You pull yourself from sleep

or death, recall some sound

that scared you to the fading point

where sleep and death are one

and come or don’t come

as your left eye struggles open

and your right eye simply won’t .

He has waited while you slept

while you crept through

the other room of the dream

and out. He has grinned as

a black cat crossed the street

to avoid crossing your path,

as ladders crashed around you

that you wanted to walk under.

He will watch you tumble from

the bed, return from all that pain

awake, stumble to another room

to wet your trembling hands.

His hands will tense, prepare

to play the chord to match

the sound your pleading eyes

will make, as you watch the mirror

drop you and you shatter.

(from SANDLAPPER)

Harbison Theatre Kicks Off New Season with Jim Brickman

Harbison theatre kicks off it’s new season of diverse entertainment options with a concert by Jim Brickman on September 15th at 730 PM.

Best-selling solo pianist Jim Brickman has earned a name for himself with 21 number one albums, 32 Top 20 radio hits, and two Grammy nominations. His star-studded vocal collaborations have crossed genres to feature luminaries like Martina McBride, Donny Osmond, Kenny Rogers, Olivia Newton-John, Johnny Mathis, and Kenny Loggins. 

A true romantic by nature, Brickman tells stories through emotive ballads and sweet sounds. Harbison Theatre is the perfect intimate setting to enjoy his hit songs “Love of My Life,” “Valentine,” and “Angel Eyes.” Grab the ones you love and settle in for an uplifting evening that is sure to bring everyone together.  

*Student, senior (over age 60), or military personnel will receive a $5 discount on signature series shows at check out. Bundled discounts are available when you purchase tickets for three or more shows at a time. Please contact the Box Office at 803.407.5011 for more details. 

Tickets are $50 and are going FAST!

Get yours today!

Poetry of the People Featuring Adam Houle

My fifth Poet of the People is Adam Houle. Adam's voice is nuanced and immediately relatable; he is refreshingly unpretentious in communicating what he sees.

Bio: Adam Houle is the author of Stray (Lithic Press), a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. His poems have appeared in AGNI, Shenandoah, The Shore, and elsewhere. He co-edits 12 Mile Review with Robert Kendrick and is an assistant professor at Francis Marion University.

Hearing About the Wreck

Now I’m off the phone and pacing while my wife,

seven states away, waits in the smashed car

to relay the incident’s specifics to a bored cop

at the intersection of two wide and busy roads.

It’s a sunbaked Texas town where, I imagine,

the woman who t-boned her sizes up

the grill guard with her pea-patch husband,

both of whom are already scum of the earth,

idiot scum of the earth. Inattentive texting

while driving scum of the earth, who were posting

driving selfies or twitter polls seeking counsel

on which fast food value meal they should shovel

down their maws, chewing with their mouths open

in the living room of what I’m sure is the saddest

half a duplex in all the republic of Texas

while SVU airs and they rubberneck a gruesome case.

In another world, my wife is dead, her body

wrecked in the wreck, and that world chaffs too close

and though she’s fine, alive, shaken but fine fine fine

I’m crying and say aloud, I’d kill them both,

and in that moment, when just moments before

I debated alone paint shades for our kitchen

and asked the dogs what would be the ecological fallout

if a barred owl fell in love with a red-tailed hawk,

I’m pretty sure I mean it, which scares me

in the way it must scare the tv star

who tilts a conversion van off a crushed friend

or rushes back for an heirloom when the foundation beams

have already burst, flames rising from the floor

like geysers, the expected feats of fear and rage,

who realizes there’s another self

that sleeps and, when it wakes, is more terrifying

and courageous and, I see, more cruel, with a drill bit heart

that turns faster and with more bite the more it hurts.

Is he a necessary self? Sometimes, love is the right spring

babbling, bubbling over moss, feeding meadow reeds.

Sometimes, it’s an errant left turn and the sun burning

down the westbound lane fracturing light through a windshield’s

sheen of dead bugs. I sat there a long time,

I made a fist, I released a fist. I breathed.

A fist. I breathed. This fist. My heart’s modeled after it.

Open, it’s to hold or offer.

Closed, oh god of the plains, and I am your vicious club.

(First appeared in Baltimore Review, Winter 2019)

~~~

It’s an Empty-Headed Move I Love the Most

 I swear I’ll leave your ass in Tennessee

with the trumpet vines and BarcaLoungers

slumping under carports. Maybe at a BP

near the bottom of a hill, where a state road

curves that way and a sandy one cuts back.

Maybe there next week, I’ll leave your ass.

You can throw your hands up all you want,

cinematic like, dramatic, your rage so quick

to bloom you’ll smash your phone to bits

before you’ll call me. You can be happy

in the injustice of all that balance:

a thought forms and then rejects itself, lizards grow

by eating the gray skins they have outgrown.

The dog, Caesar said, is cat. The jelly jar is cracked

and that your one good glass. Alas, I guess,

is a thing you’d say. Cross a river. Then another

or the oxbow bend of the same. It doesn’t matter.

The world reaps what the world repeats.

It’s natural as nature to always feel afraid,

to keep playing, even when you’ve been outplayed.

(First appeared in Phoebe, 52.1)

In Service

Bless this moment before the hydraulic door

sighs open. Bless the tamped heel click

on the low knap carpet. Bless the medicine

cart its quiet wheels. Bless how it feels

to watch your face attenuate as the glass

levers inward. Bless its disappearance

and the hall that takes its place. Bless this:

mylar balloons taped to temporary name plates

along the corridor. Bless late comforts. Bless night

nurses ending another shift. Bless their laughter.  

(First appeared in Chattahoochee Review, Spring 2020)

Epitaph

the sky my mind

my heart an ocean

here’s an antidote

go find the poison

South Carolina Philharmonic Kicks Off their Chamber Crawl Tuesday September 5th at Bierkeller

The SC Philharmonic's popular Chamber Crawl series kicks off the 23|24 Season at Bierkeller Brewing Company! Join us for this delightful evening at Columbia's long-anticipated riverfront biergarten!

This Chamber Crawl boasts a woodwind trio featuring Ying Liao (cello), Joeseph Eller (clarinet) and Hassan Anderson (oboe).

 The feeling you will get when stepping into Bierkeller Columbia is one of true community, with a relaxing view of the water and fresh German beer and food. Their goal is to bring you a full, authentic Biergarten experience where you can settle in with family and friends and stay a while.

Seating is first-come first-served, and capacity is limited for the performance. This event is already looking rather popular, so we recommend booking today.

Tuesday September 5th

Doors at 6 pm

Click the button below to reserve your spot!

BUY TICKETS NOW

Indie Artist TiffanyJ Presents a Premiere Night of Music and Film during Suicide Prevention Month

TiffanyJ is thrilled to announce her highly anticipated Album Release & Film Premiere event for "Solbird Sessions Live." This extraordinary evening promises a fusion of live music, cinematic artistry, and a unique ALL DENIM AFFAIR experience, all set to take place at Spotlight Cinemas Capital 8. 

The event will be a celebration of music, creativity, and community, showcasing the culmination of TiffanyJ's musical journey through her third album which was recorded live in concert at South Carolina ETV in May. TiffanyJ, a Columbia native, musical artist, and inspirational personality, has hopes to encourage those, like herself, dealing with mental health challenges through the power of her melodic artist expressions. This project has been successfully crowdfunded. 

Event Highlights:

• Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023

• Time: 7pm

• Venue: Spotlight Cinemas Capital 8, 201 Columbia Mall Blvd Ste 211, Columbia, SC 29223

• Dress Code: ALL DENIM AFFAIR

• Tickets: Starting at $10

• Featuring:

• Pink Carpet: Capture the essence of guests arriving in their denim best.

• Live Music by Rod Foster & Company: Immerse yourself in live soulful, jazzy tunes that will set the perfect tone for the night.

• Feature Film Presentation: Experience the captivating transformation of a live concert on the big screen, featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes and documentary footage. Witness the concert's power unfold before your eyes.

• Album Merchandise: Exclusive album merchandise will be available for fans to take home a piece of the experience.

The event acknowledges support from the South Carolina Arts Commission and Every Black Girl, Inc. Solbird Entertainment invites music enthusiasts, cinema lovers, and all those seeking an extraordinary night of entertainment to join this exceptional celebration. 

Tickets are available at sslpremiere.eventbrite.com, and with limited seating, early reservation is recommended to ensure participation in this immersive musical and cinematic experience. The “Solbird Sessions Live” album will be released worldwide on all digital media outlets on Friday, September 15, 2023. 

Want to know more about TiffanyJ? Watch for Kevin Oliver’s feature story on her in the fall 2023 issue of Jasper Magazine!

About TiffanyJ: Indie Soul Artist TiffanyJ has one of the most unique and incomparable musical styles and sounds. Her powerful voice alone engages listeners both young and old. TiffanyJ is a singer and songwriter creating a soulful approach to melodic art that is guaranteed to uplift those who witness her gift.

Tickets & Subscriptions for USC Theatre & Dance Now Available

With offerings that range from classics (Raisin in the Sun) to family fun (Sideways Stories from Wayside School) to the kind of play you have to see if it is ever offered in your area (The Visit), and more, USC Theatre and Dance continues to raise the bar in arts entertainment in the Midlands. Add to that Dance performances that offer innovative choreography and the chance to see legendary Complexions Dance Company, and you’ve got a winning ticket — or better yet season ticket subscription!

Individual tickets and ticket subscriptions are now on sale at the University of South Carolina Department of Theatre and Dance website.

Don’t wait to Lock in Your Seat!

Vote for the Arts at USC with your ticket purchase!

And don’t miss

10 Minute Play Festival
Directed by Theatre Performance Faculty

Lab Theatre

Enjoy a fast-paced evening of laughter, heartbreak and everything in between as we present a collection of 10-minute plays, each directed by a different member of our theatre performance faculty.

Lab Theatre

Friday, Nov 3, 2023 at 8:00 PM (ET)

2023 State Fair Fine Art Competition Now Open for Submissions

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

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

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

New in 2023

All Entries in the Fine Art department will be required to submit a photo of their completed, prepared-to-show, piece during registration.  All entries in Fine Art must be entered through the online registration. No mail-in registrations will be accepted. 

You may register at any time during the registration period and your photograph may be submitted later, as long as it is submitted before the September 1st deadline. 

Fine Art Important 2023 Dates & Times

Open Entry Registration: July 1 – Sept. 1, 2023

Oversized Entry Artist Notification: Wednesday, Sept. 21

Delivery Days: 
(Cantey Building)

• Sunday, Sept 24 – 1:00 pm. to 6:00 pm

• Monday, Sept 25 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

• Tuesday, Sept 26 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

Release Days: 

• Monday, Oct. 23 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

• Tuesday, Oct. 24 – 9:30 am to 6:00 pm

• TWO DAYS ONLY

2023 Registration July 1st – September 1st

2023 Fine Art Guide

2023 General Rules and Regulations

Click Here to Enter Online

New Work from Lee Malerich at Stormwater Studios -- September Dates for Reception, Presentation, and Viewing

A Message from Visual Artist Lee Malerich:

I put down my textile work some time ago. My stories were told; my problems dealt with and tied in a knot.

But that was not the end of the artmaking.  An artist walks through life absorbing, digesting, responding, and commenting. We are trained to do this.

I moved a house from three miles away to its current location. I stripped it down to its bones and started it over. I used new tools, learned new processes, and found new materials. I was hooked.

My question was, could I make art with these new skills having neither criticism nor teacher? Could I make sculpture without knowing its cumulative history from the beginning? Could I even work in three dimensions? The experiment was that basic.

In the end, I found that I could and learned a lesson from my personal history. I will be present during all the following times:

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 14, 2023, 11- 8 PM with the reception, 5-8 PM

Artist Presentation:  Saturday, September 16, 3:00

Viewing Hours: Wednesday, September 13, 2023, 11-3 PM

                            Thursday, September 14, 2023, 11-8 PM

                             Friday, September 15, 2023, 11-3 PM

                             Saturday, September 16, 2023, 11-5 PM

                             Sunday, September 17, 2023, 11-3 PM

I will be showing my most recent work and bringing examples of intermediary work which will show how I got from there to here. It is not really a surprising evolution. 

Rob Shaw Gallery Reception to Feature Eclectic Private Collection and Award-Winning Photographer

On Friday, September 1, from 6 to 9 p.m., Rob Shaw Framing and Gallery will host a reception featuring the private art collection of Mary Beth Dawson-Gillis. The reception will also feature award-winning photographer Skip Willits, who will sign copies of his new book Come Walk with Me. Both Willits’s book and all works in the private collection will be for sale at the event. The gallery is at 324 State Street in West Columbia. 

The Dawson-Gillis collection features an eclectic mix of artwork ranging from Folk Gullah paintings to representational landscapes. Featuring more than 20 artists, it includes works by Charles DeSaussure, Kip McCullough, Amiri Farris, Saundra Erickson Wright, Marshall Foster, Michel McNinch and Cami Hutchinson.

Willits is a professional photographer specializing in maritime, nature, and urban scenes, with a special emphasis on lighthouses. His work appears in books and magazines as well as in lighthouse and wildlife posters. Willits has led tours and produced multimedia presentations for the Smithsonian Institution. 

Rob Shaw Framing and Gallery is a full-service frame shop and fine art gallery. Since opening the gallery in April of 2019, Shaw has showcased many talented South Carolina artists with diverse styles. 

The gallery hosts First Friday at Rob Shaw Gallery receptions every month except July and August.

ALBUM REVIEW: Decadence - Book of the Redeemed by Kevin Oliver

Decadence

Book Of The Redeemed

Self-released

There comes a time in the shelf life of a heavy rock band when the sum total of its experience and commitment adds up to a career defining moment, whether it’s that hit song that connects with a mass audience, or just an artistic statement that is so clearly above and beyond anything else they’ve done to that point. For Columbia’s Decadence, this new album Book of the Redeemed is the latter–an astounding, bracing listen that reveals more depth and meaning with every page that’s turned. 

The band has been a stalwart presence on the local and regional heavy music scene for a while, and this release was a long time coming–now we know why. Not only is the production and songwriting top notch, singer Scott McGrady’s lyrics are deeply personal. This had to be a difficult set of songs to write and record, not to mention let loose into the world for others to judge if they are worthy or not (They are.). 

Decadence straddles that line between commercial appeal and unapologetic, raw power better than most, and the production on the new songs showcases the intensity of the band’s sound, with stop-start arrangements that drop out completely, then blast back moments later with even more unrestrained fury. Drummer Ben Burris and bassist Ryan Wicker have played together long enough now they move and groove like a single unit, powering the monster riffs that cut through each tune. McGrady has a decent singing voice when the song calls for it, but most of these tracks require his most angst-laden, guttural near-screams. 

The content of the lyrics is as intense as the music, and McGrady has said online that there is an intentional running theme present, related to a friend who dealt with abandonment, pain, and anger, and moving on from that. “Abandonment” relates a story of being placed in foster care, inserting a line out of a childhood prayer to really drive home the innocence lost in the process:

Strangers tuck me in my bed

Shuffled through this castoff’s deck so

Now I lay me down to rest

Left alone through your abandonment

The most furious track is “Take Your Shot,” which addresses that person with a problem that won’t allow anyone to help, or even admit they need help in the first place. It’s like the band pours that frustration directly into the stacked guitar riffs of Dustin Welch, as McGrady sings: 

Tell me how to understand

Why you need to live this way

While I watch you take another shot at what this could have been

The somewhat title cut “Redemption” is the slowest, most melodic one of the bunch. McGrady channels Roger Daltrey of the Who, circa “Behind Blue Eyes,” as he sings the chorus in triumph: 

And now I see

A new dawn rising

I feel redemption

And I’ll leave

It all behind me

Won’t let it blind me

This is the sound of someone, or maybe some band, that’s gone through hell, come out the other side intact, now appreciating but not dwelling on the experience. Sounds a lot like they’ve been redeemed, doesn’t it? 

Decadence releases Book of the Redeemed officially this Saturday, with a release show at New Brookland Tavern that will also feature The Baldwin Massacre, Ozmyridis, and Sorrow Of Silence.