Cindi Boiter is a six-time winner of the SC Fiction Project, winner of the Piccolo Fiction Project, the Porter Fleming Award for fiction, the 2014 recipient of the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Governor’s Award for the Arts, and the 2018 recipient of the Lucy Hampton Bostick Award. She is the founder and editor of Jasper Magazine, The Limelight volumes I and II, A Sense of the Midlands, Art from the Ashes, and Marked by the Water, Setting the Supper Table and editor and founder of the literary magazine Fall Lines – a literary convergence, author of Buttered Biscuits, and literary author of Red Social. Cindi is the executive director of The Jasper Project and is married to Dr. Bob Jolley, with whom she founded Muddy Ford Press in 2011.

Wade Sellers in an independent filmmaker and producer based in Columbia, SC. He is a four time Emmy nominee whose production company, Coal Powered Filmworks, focuses on producing documentary and independent film projects. His work has been seen on cable and PBS stations nationwide and independent theaters and festivals throughout the United States and Europe. He began work in independent film as a cinematographer and in the late 1990’s he followed this work to New York City, where he began establishing a strong resume of work with independent film and corporate clients. After returning to the south he turned his focus to producing and directing and founded Coal Powered Filmworks; producing work for local, regional and national clients. His work been recognized with Addys, Tellys and numerous other awards.

Kristin Cobb is the executive director for Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College. Kristin came from the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County in Camden where she served as the executive director for 10 years cultivating a vibrant community arts organization. She is a graduate of the UofSC and has also worked in television and radio before her arts management career, having worked at WOLO, now ABC-COLUMBIA. She brings her love of the arts to the Jasper Project board of directors and is excited about what the future holds for Columbia and beyond. Kristin lives in Camden with her two children. Kristin was recently named for the second year in a row, to the Free Times Top 50 Power List in the Midlands. Kristin is the vice president of the Jasper Project board of directors.

Christina Xan is a poet, playwright, photographer, and adjunct professor of English. She started as an intern with Jasper in 2018 before joining the board this past summer. She graduated with her MA in English from the University of South Carolina, where she is now pursuing her PhD with a focus in Southern Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her work has been published by Snow Island Review and Z House Publishing, and her play “Glass” was turned into a short film that toured regional festivals in 2017. She currently runs the Tiny Gallery Series at Jasper and was recently the Assistant Director for the Supper Table.

Emily is from Irmo, SC, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina in May 2022 with her Bachelor's in Studio Art and English. While in school, she was a member of Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional music fraternity for women and worked as a server and bartender at several restaurants in the Vista. She started as an intern with the Jasper Project the January prior, writing articles for our music column. She currently works at the Koger Center for the Arts as a marketing and administrative assistant who also helps run and curate their gallery spaces. The gallery spaces include the brand-new Hallway Gallery that was created as a partnership between Koger and Jasper. Her personal artistic endeavors include freelance illustration and cosplaying her favorite characters from anime and pop culture.

Al Black has two poetry collections; I Only Left For Tea, 2014 Muddy Ford Press; Man With Two Shadows, 2018, Muddy Ford Press. He co-edited Hand in Hand, Poets Respond to Race 2017, Muddy Ford Press, and he publishes in anthologies and journals, hosts arts events, co-founded Poets Respond to Race Initiative and was the Jasper Project’s Literary Artist of the Year in 2017. Al produces hundreds of open mic and artist share events each year via his long-running projects Mind Gravy Poetry and more. Al will be working closely on Fall Lines and other literary projects. He is married to sociology professor Carol Black.

Kwasi Brown, born in Philadelphia and raised in Columbia, SC, is the owner of Black Nerd Mafia. Armed with a bachelor's degree in computer science, Kwasi envisioned BNM as a haven for those who celebrate intellect and creativity. What began as a humble Facebook group seeking like-minded individuals has blossomed into a company dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black and other underrepresented artists. Black Nerd Mafia provides a platform for these talents to shine in the heart of downtown Columbia, where opportunities can be scarce. Through their YouTube show "Chess Table Talks," artists engage in candid interviews, while BNM offers invaluable services in social media management and content creation. Guided by the mantra "if it's dope, we do it," Black Nerd Mafia continues to champion creativity and diversity in the arts.

Libby Campbell-Turner has worked in theatre (regional, professional, community) for a number of years. She is currently a litigation paralegal with a law firm here in Columbia. (She was forced to seek out "normal" employment once she aged out of ingenue and district attorney roles.) She has also worked in television and film. In fact, she just received a royalty check for her work in Robbie Benson's "Modern Love". That 3 cents will go a long way toward paying off her credit card debt. (Libby also loves shoes.) Libby works with the Jasper Project as its Theatre Editor. Columbia has an extraordinary wealth of artistic talent, and Libby is excited to make Soda City citizens aware of the gifts this city possesses.

Born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Kimber is a freelance graphic designer who spent the majority of her career in the wide format printing industry. She networked and served the Columbia area and built many relationships in the business community as a graphic designer and wide format consultant.

Kimber is an artist and a local musician who enjoys immersing herself among the many talented creatives in Columbia and surrounding areas. In her freetime, she creates art with acrylics and mixed media and exhibits around town with her mother, Pat “Trish” Gillam and daughter, Skylar, otherwise known as Swirly Girl Arts.

Loli Molina Muñoz is a Spanish teacher who lives Lexington, SC. She has recentlly earned a Phd in Modern Languages with a focus on Feminist Science Fiction written by Women. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in different Spanish and American publications. In 2019, she published an essay on Gender and Sex Identity in Feminist Science Fiction as part of an anthology called Infiltradas. This anthology was awarded as Best Non-Fiction Anthology by the Spanish Science Fiction Society in 2020 (Ignotus Awards). Her passions are poetry, science fiction, women studies, and food.

Bekah is originally from Charleston and now lives in Columbia, SC with her husband, Adam Corbett, and their two dogs. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Studio Art from the University of South Carolina and performs with Adam in the local band, Husband. She is a senior UX designer/developer and accessibility expert at user experience strategy firm truematter, and frequently speaks, writes, and teaches about web accessibility, UX and interface design, user research, and user experience strategy.

Keith Tolen is a lifelong native of South Carolina who grew up in Batesburg. He attended SC State University and received a Bachelors in art education. He then earned a masters in education from Francis Marion University. He taught art at Camden Middle School for 30 years, retiring in 2017. Tolen has worked creating designs in photography, drawing, and painting for the past forty years and continues to do so.

Jon Tuttle is Professor of English, Director of University Honors, and Writer-in-Residence at Francis Marion University. He is the author of THE TRUSTUS COLLECTION (Muddy Ford Press, 2019) a gathering of six of his plays that premiered at Trustus Theatre, where he was Playwright-in-Residence for over twenty years. He has received the South Carolina Theatre Association’s Founders Award, a Porter Fleming Award, and fellowships from the South Carolina Academy of Authors and Florence Regional Arts Alliance, on whose boards he has also served. In 2020, he received a South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities. Jon lives in Florence with his wife Cheryl and is the proud father of two award-winning South Carolina educators, Staci and Jill, and one doctoral candidate in Music, Josh.