YOU can help produce the Staged Reading of Chad Henderson's New Play LET IT GROW!

Are you the kind of person who always wants to know more about the art you experience?

  • Why did the playwright make their characters the way they did?

  • What was the director trying to accomplish by having an actor move across stage, turn their back to the audience, or break into dance?

  • How did an actor make me feel the way they did simply by turning their head?

If you have a passion for knowing more, understanding process, inspiration, and impetus, and seeing how a virgin play goes from page to stage, you are a good candidate for becoming a Jasper Project Play Right Series Community Producer.

As a Play Right Series Community Producer you will be a part of an elite team of art supporters who invest a modest amount of money in the production of our 2024 Play Right Series winning play — Chad Henderson’s LET IT GROW — to the staged reading phase of development.

If you are interested in becoming a community producer or sponsor email playrightseries@jasperproject.org



How does this work?

On select Sunday afternoons this summer you are invited to join with the cast, crew, and fellow Community Producers of Let It Grow, by Chad Henderson for an enlightening and entertaining session that pulls back the curtains of theatre development and illuminates how a stageplay goes from page to stage. Your first session (July 21st) will offer you a private viewing of the first step in a play production, the Table Reading – the first time the cast of Let It Grow will read their parts together.

Subsequent sessions will focus on essential ingredients in the production of a successful staged reading, such as the stage manager’s job; props, lighting, blocking, and sound; unique insights from the director; how the actors prepare for their parts; playwright perceptions from this year and past projects; and an invitation to the dress rehearsal. In addition to your invitation to gather with the cast and crew every Sunday in July, each session will also feature exciting snacks and beverages. And many more surprises each week!

Finally, you’ll take your reserved, best-in-the-house seats to a ticketed staged reading of Chad Henderson’s Let It Grow on Saturday September 14th at Harbison Theatre.

But there’s more.

Your name will be included as a Community Producer on programs, posters, press releases, and other promotional materials as well as in the perfect bound book, Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, published by Muddy Ford Press and registered with the Library of Congress, and you will take home your own copies of Let It Grow as a souvenir of your experience.

What is expected of Community Producers?

We hope you can make it to every exciting Sunday afternoon meeting, but we understand if you have to miss some. Each session will last from 90 – 120 minutes.

The financial commitment for a Community Producer is a minimum of $250 per person, but other sponsorships are also available and appreciated.

Our hope is that you will be so enlightened and inspired by this experience that you will become a diplomat of live theatre, fresh playwrights, and the Jasper Project and encourage your friends and colleagues to participate in live theatre themselves!




Play Right Series Levels of Engagement

Community Producer

$250.00

Invitation to attend all four PRS CP sessions on Sunday afternoons, July 21, August 4, August 18, and September 2024; reserved seats for you and up to 2 additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14th at Harbison Theatre; your name in the published (by Muddy Ford Press) version of the play, as well as in the program, and all promotional materials; a copy of the book, and a Jasper Project gift bag valued at more than $100

Actor Sponsor

$500.00

This level sponsors one actor and supports the Play Right Series. Your generosity will be recorded with distinction above that of  Community Producers in the published play as well as in all other promotional materials and you will receive all the benefits of 2024’s roster of Community Producers, two copies of Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, and an invitation for you and up to 4 additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14, 2024

Playright Sponsor

$1,000.00

This level sponsors the funding of the playwright and supports the Play Right Series. Your generosity will be recorded with distinction above that of Actor Sponsors in the published play as well as in all other promotional materials and you will receive all the benefits of 2024’s roster of Community Producers, six copies of Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, and an invitation for you and up to six additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14, 2024

Director Sponsor

$2,500.00

This level sponsors the director and supports the Play Right Series. Your generosity will be recorded with distinction above that of the Playwright Sponsor in the published play as well as in all other promotional materials and you will receive all the benefits of 2024’s roster of Community Producers, eight copies of Let It Grow by Chad Henderson, and an invitation for you and up to eight additional guests to attend the premier staged reading of Let It Grow on September 14, 2024

If you are interested in becoming a community producer or sponsor email playrightseries@jasperproject.org



2023 - 2024 Community Producer & Sponsor

Schedule of Events

 

Sunday July 21 – Introductions & Table Reading of Let It Grow

Join the Jasper Project and your cadre of Community Producers and Sponsors for our introductory session and the opportunity to be the first audience members ever to witness the Table Reading of Let It Grow. Snacks and adult beverages will be served at this and all sessions!

Sunday August 4 – The Art of Theatre Interactive Experience

Join Play Right Series director, Jon Tuttle for an informative opportunity to participate in and learn more about the playwrighting and rehearsal process. Also, drinks and snacks!

Sunday August 18 – Sneak Peek at Rehearsal of Let It Grow!

Join Jon and all your fellow Community Producers and Sponsors as we become flies on the wall at an early rehearsal of Let It Grow. We love this opportunity because it offers attendees an insiders’ glimpse of the evolution of a play. You’ll also be able to ask questions of the actors and director about their unique and individual growth as artists. And, of course, drinks and snacks!

Sunday September 8 – Cast & Community Producer Informal Dinner Party

New this year! After meeting with our Play Right Series Committee and Chad Henderson, our winning playwright, we surmised that one of the best possible ways to learn about the creative process is by gathering around a table for a meal and experiencing the kind of discourse only a dinner party can provide. It won’t be fancy, but we promise it will be an evening you won’t forget!

Saturday September 14 – Staged Reading of Let It Grow at Harbison Theatre at 7:30 pm

Take your reserved seat for this premier performance, enjoy the Stage Reading and Panel Presentation featuring previous Jasper Project Play Right Series winning playwrights, then join us all for a casual after party (cash bar) at the British Bulldog Pub.

And please join us before the staged reading at 6:30 for the opening reception of award-winning artist Nate Puza’s visual art exhibition at the Jasper Gallery Space at Harbison Theatre. Puza is a South Carolina based artist, designer, and illustrator with over a decade of experience working with some of the biggest bands and brands in the world, including Jason Isbell, the Avett Brothers, Chris Stapleton, Phish, and more. Internationally known for his meticulous attention to detail and high level of craftmanship, Puza created the new design for the Columbia, SC flag. When not creating art for your favorite band, Nate can be found playing music with friends, being outside, wrenching on his motorcycle, mowing the lawn, or drinking a beer on the back porch.

EXCLUSIVE JASPER INTERVIEW: OLGA YUKHNO & NEW PUBLIC ART -- CHERISHED

“I wanted to create a piece that symbolizes love, care, and inclusion.”

-Olga Yukhno

Cherished by Olga Yukhno

At the Jasper Project, we were excited to chat with our spring 2023 cover artist, Olga Yukhno, about her newest piece of public art, Cherished. Read on to learn more about the process of creating this beautiful piece of art, then visit Cherished at its new home in Chapin, SC.

JASPER: What is the material content for Cherished?

YUKHNO: The base of my newest public art piece Cherished is made out of concrete. Then the forms were decorated with a combination of ceramic pieces that I made, mirrors and a selection of old china pieces, mostly from old plates. The plates were donated to St. Francis Thrift Shop but couldn’t be sold due to chips or imperfections. I was excited by the idea of once cherished items finding a new life through art.

 

JASPER: Can you talk about the process of creating Cherished?

YUKHNO: Every step pf this process was fairly new for me which created a lot of additional excitement. First, I made a template that I later used to create a life-size maquette to make sure I liked the overall look. Once I made all the changes based on this initial experience, I created the final template that was used to cut the mold pieces out of thick plywood. Then the molds were assembled and helped determine the best placement for the actual piece.

The next step was to pour the base which was quite challenging as it took more concrete than we had anticipated. Once the base slab cured several days later, we started filling the vertical molds with concrete. We had to do it in small sections to avoid putting too much pressure on the molds. Finding just the right moment before the previous layer of poured concrete got too hard was key. After a few days of curing, the forms were ready to be mosaiced. Meanwhile, I spent several days in my home studio preparing the mosaic bits, breaking plates, cutting mirrors, and developing the design so I wouldn’t have to do it on site.

Every element of the design was carefully marked and transported to the site. It took me several 10-hour workdays to install all the mosaic pieces. Once this process was complete, the art piece was ready for the final step- grouting.

Cherished by Olga Yukhno in progress

JASPER: What was the inspiration for this piece?

YUKHNO: When I first moved to the United States, I had the unique honor to get connected with St. Francis, and the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the thrift store for over 4 years. The volunteers I met while working there created such a safe and welcoming environment and were always the most supportive and encouraging people. They helped me understand the culture, and I could always tell how much they cared. I have remained close with many of them even now, 15 years later. This has created a very special place in my heart for the thrift store, and the people who are involved with it, and I wanted to have the opportunity to give back through my art to the community who gave me so much.

I wanted to create a piece that symbolizes love, care, and inclusion. The Thrift Shop serves people of all walks of life, backgrounds, and needs. I wanted my piece to say “Welcome” to them and “Thank You” to the volunteers who work so hard to help others.

 

JASPER: How long did the process of creating the piece take?

YUKHNO: I first came up with this idea in August 2023, and it took about a year to make it happen which is a very quick turn-around when it comes to public art. I started collecting all the materials in January, and it took about 5 months to get enough for the piece. The onsite construction of Cherished lasted another month.

 

“…it reflects a deep belief that I hold- that art should be where we live our daily lives. So having it in a place that serves a very diverse population is significant for me.”

JASPER: Where is it located?

YUKHNO: Cherished is located in front of St. Francis Community Thrift Shop (114 Courtland Rd) in Chapin.

Its location is very important for me because it reflects a deep belief that I hold- that art should be where we live our daily lives. So having it in a place that serves a very diverse population is significant for me.

 

JASPER: Did you receive funding for this work – from whom?

YUKHNO: This project is supported by the SC Arts Commission through their Emerging Artist Grant. Public Art is a new artistic discipline for me, and this grant gave me an opportunity to improve my skills, get additional mentorship and professional support.

 

JASPER: What other pieces of public art have you created?

YUKHNO: Public Art is a very exciting new artistic path for me. I have already created several pieces including Spirit of the Lake that is located in Chapin, In Bloom that was displayed in public spaces in both North and South Carolina, The Rainbow Boat again in Chapin for their Sail Into Chapin event. I also participated in the Vista Power Boxes project.

 

JASPER: Please tell us about any other pieces of public art you have in the works or hope to create soon.

YUKHNO: Currently, I’m working with the Columbia Peace Committee to create a new sculptural installation, Persimmon Peace Pole, to promote the idea of peace which is particularly crucial right now. It will be a seven-foot tall sculptural mosaiced piece that will have hand sculpted floral elements and tiles.

On a separate note, Cherished is not the only project that has come to fruition recently. I have been working on a special series of multi-media artwork dedicated to dementia for several years now. And, finally, I have an amazing opportunity to share it with the public. I’m participating in a two-person exhibition featuring the work of late Harry Hansen and my new pieces at the Jones-Carter Gallery in Lake City, SC. I love this Gallery and the opportunity to show my work there is a dream come true!

This exhibition, Bridges to Personhood, opens on June 21 and will be on view through August 17.

 

 

Marion Mason and Ginny Merritt at Jasper's Sidewalk Gallery

The Jasper Project has been delighted to include the work of two former visual arts educators, Marion Mason and Ginny Merritt, as well as that of Lucy Bailey and Judy Sellers in out Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian Building on Washington and Sumter Streets in Downtown Columbia this spring.

About his work, Marion Mason says, “I am a visual artist who taught high school Art for
forty-two years. I earned the Bachelor of Arts Degree in studio art (sculpture concentration) from the University of South Carolina, and the Master of Fine Arts Degree (in sculpture) from the University of Georgia. In addition, I earned the Master of Education
(adult & community education) from Carolina. I began my 42 year HS Art teaching career as the artist-in-residence, and on-site coordinator, at the former Richland District One Artistically Talented and Gifted (ARTAG) High School Program. Currently I teach various visual arts courses and serve as the Fine Arts Department Head at White Knoll High School.
Since retiring from teaching in January, 2019, I am now a full-time professional artist again, and exhibit and sell my sculpture, pendants and earrings. Over the years I have shown and won awards at many local, state, regional, and national competitive and invitational exhibits.”

 

 According to Ginny Merett, “My collage work shows the deconstruction of beauty and an escape from reality inspired by stylish women in my life and around the world. I am nostalgic about family gatherings, women’s fashion in the early 1900’s and by personalities I meet day to day. My focus is on taking parts and pieces from current-day media to create present moments, social commentary, and new personalities. My art has been shown in solo and group exhibits at 701 Whaley Hallway: community art gallery, Stormwater Studio, ArtFields, Koger Center for the Arts, the Jasper Project, USC’s McMaster Gallery, SC State Library and Fair, and other local venues like Sound Bites Eatery, Trustus Theater, She Festival, Cottontown Art Crawl and Melrose Art in the Yard. Her work is published in the Jasper Project’s Jasper Magazine Spring 2019 and Fall 2022 editions, and in Sheltered: SC Artists Respond During the 2020 Pandemic; and in Bullets and Band-Aids, Vol. 3.”

 

Welcoming Judy Sellers as one of our Featured Artists at the Meridian Sidewalk Gallery

At the Jasper Project, we’re delighted to welcome Judy Sellers as one of our featured artists at Jasper’s Sidewalk Gallery space at the Meridian Building, viewable 24/7 along Washington and Sumter Streets.

About her work as an artist Sellers says, “I grew up in Iowa and moved to Texas in sixth grade. After a year at Austin College, I worked as a keypunch operator at the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and graduated in education from USC in 1969. After
retirement from 30+ years as an elementary school teacher and librariam, I delved into reading, gardening, bridge, and my artistic journey.

While I initially dabbled in painting, my focus on improving as an artist came later. I've marveled at art in museums around the world, finding inspiration in the expression of great artists. My artistic journey has had its ups and downs, as drawing doesn't come naturally to me. Yet, I persist, always seeking originality and growth.

I've had the privilege of studying with professional artists like Shanna Kunz, Cynthia Rosen, and Julie Steenhuis, gaining respect for their unique perspectives. While I draw inspiration from various artists, I remain true to my own path. I continue to love and learn about art in all its forms.

Additional artists featured in Jasper’s Sidewalk Gallery at the Meridian include Devon Corley, Tennyson Corley, and Lucy Bailey!

Al Black's Poetry of the People Features Jonesy Stark

This week's Poet of the People is Jonesy Stark. I met Jonesy about 12 years ago at an open mic; he blew me away. Some poets are good with delivery or good with their word craft; Jonesy is great with both. Often, I'm left in awe of  the relationships he sees in words. Jonesy quietly gives back to young people in need of  support an amentor. A hidden gem in South Carolina's poetry scene, I am honored to know him.

-Al Black

'Father, husband, educator and advocate of turtles. The tragic end results of Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive poet.' He is a dude with dreads. Oft mistaken for a poet. Olympic gold medalist robot dancer. PHD in Yamology.

_____


Cardinal Sin

Chapter one First verse

“Thou shall not come for the black woman.”

Whether you be other or brother

Must be out your cotdamn mind

To fix your lips to spit some foolishness

And assume I’m finna let it slide

I’m beyond done with you Quasimodos masquerading as Shaka Zulus

You who fetishize the motherland yet detest her daughters

Are unworthy of association with either

In order to be the king

You must lay your life down for the queen

But rather than stand tall

Y'all quick to hotep two step

Dance around accountability

Content to sit on sideline as she unnaturally shifts her spine

Criticize as she throws out her back to pick up your slack

Denounce her for doing for self what you wouldn’t provide her

As if she’d wish to wear the weight of a nation

Defend its borders

Administrate its affairs

All the while making it seem effortless in heels with slayed hair

To be black and to be woman

Is to know no compassion

It is to forever be measured and always found lacking

It is the expectation to be more than a woman

While being treated like less than a lady

It is to walk through a world of pointing fingers

Rarely encountering a helping hand

Because it takes less effort to punch down

Than it does to lift up

It is to intimately know the sting of a slap

While yearning for a caring caress

It is giving the blessing of life to sons who will curse you

It is being crucified and exposed before the world

By the man who was supposed to protect you

It is enduring it all

And still fighting for they who fight against you __

House

I started writing poetry because I wanted a girl to like me
And a decade and a half later
I can sincerely say not much has changed
Guess Hov said it best
“You are who you are when you got here”
Hol’ up
You are who you are when you got hair
Them short and curlies
Folk, I’ve surely yet to meet an adult
We all adolescents imitatin’ what we was taught
Trying’ to live out gimmicks and images we bought
I mean practice makes perfect
And I’ve perfected the practice of actin’
As if I actually have a clue
When in reality I’m equally as lost as my son askin’ how to
See he’s thoroughly convinced I have infinite access to the answers
That his author father
Is the Merlin to his Arthur
When really I’m no mystic
Somethin’ far more simplistic
Just older
And not necessarily wiser
Gifted
With opportunity to make more messes
But how can I confess his faith is fully misplaced
Shake the foundations of his sense of security
I can’t
So I continue to adorn my red and blue suit
To battle monsters in closets and boogeymen beneath bedframes
Doing my damndest to deceive both he and me
To defy my kryptonite
The gnawing that comes from the knowing
Knowing that despite my desire
The “S” on my chest can’t shield him from life
Eventually I’ll have to rack my brain
Tryin’ in vain to explain
Why Lex Luthor is often the victor
Why I raised him like a Kent
In a world corrupt and bent
Taught him to walk straight 
In a slanted land where the bad guy wins
On that day the facade will falter
His reality irreparably altered
As his eyes realize my mystique
Is merely a smoke and mirror mirage
My omnipotence
Certainly less than advertised
My omniscience, nonexistent
Simply a paltry parlor trick
That moment will be awkward
But it will leave us both better
Liberated I free to give what little know how I’ve acquired
To transmit my ideas clear
Unfettered by paternalistic pretense
And he to transmit my middling musings
Into something actually advantageous
Reconstruct my copper cognitions and leaden logos
Into glimmering golden gnosis
Perhaps through his process
Successfully plot his path to the fabled land of adulthood

___

Venomous Virility

“Y’all niggas’ gay!!!”
This was my induction
Into the fraternal order of black masculinity
You see apparently
Six year old me
Had transgressed the border between
Showin’ love for the homey
And havin’ homo tendencies
Cuz real niggas give daps, not hugs
And mosdef don’t smile
While engaged in a man to man embrace
Vulnerability was solely for sissies
And unbecoming of a brother
Tears were for queers
Emotions kept tightly wrapped under covers
These cardinal rules came to reign
Occupied cavity in chest
Freshly emptied of innocent heart
Anger only acceptable outward expression
Of inward issues
Fists replacing tongues
As practiced tools of communication
Because there’s nothing a broken jaw can’t transmit
As impactfully as an eloquent, impassioned plea
Or so we were miseducated to believe
Because every muted word
Every tear unshed
Was a link in chains weighing down our souls
Denial of half our nature
Naturally made us semi-realized beings
Being constantly at war with ourselves
Being strong at too high cost
Of mental and emotional health
Denyin’ self wealth
Of integral life experience
Because boys don’t cry
We crawl through life with faded vision
And I say crawl because men
See, we don’t run
Unless forced to confront
Foe intangible yet can painfully touch
One we can’t vanquish via violence
Neither kick nor punch
I once witnessed my father lose that fight
In a moment of brokenness bend knee
Allow hurt heart through eyes to speak
Tears stain cheek
Once he’d gathered himself
And once more donned his armor of pride
He apologized
I don’t know which was worse
The fact that he felt the need to
Or that I both understood and realized
That in that moment he’d rather have died
Than of himself reveal that side
Losing control was a sin inconsiderable
Father, son bonding
Belonging to ball parks and bar stools
Never bedrooms…
Sorrow shown silent
Only at burial grounds
This’ the mis-molded mess this world’s made us
Sensitive spirits shackled within testosterone walled prisons
Accented with homophobic bars
Boys playing at being men
Barely brave enough to question
Who made up
These malicious mores of manhood?
These Guantanamo Bay ways of approved gender displays?
Who galvanized this jihad against genuine self-expression?
I know not
But I know this
I’m staging a coup
I’m no longer content too
Goose step to cadence of callous rhythm
Ho-hum humdrum pattern stern and militaristic
Monotone,
Mirthless
I will dance daringly to an ostentatious orchestra
Melodic flourishes fully seasoned with life’s many flavors
All while wearing colorful dream coats
Tailored to transmit its infinite textures
No more austere armor
I’m casting aside my sword
Picking up a pen and building bridges with my words
I’m splintering shaft of my spear
And exchanging it for a paintbrush
With aim of illustrating a better world for my son
One where he can sing, dance, laugh, and cry
With equal pride
One where the weapons of war are ideas
And border skirmishes serve to break down
Those between self and others
Oh what a world it’ll be

____

Inhuman

I didn’t want you to walk away 
But I didn’t know how to ask you to stay
I’ve never been one 
For one on ones
Too easily tongue tied when eye to eye
So on this stage I set free the secrets of this page
Prayin’ these words land not
Upon ears deafened by my silence
Victimized by my non-verbal violence
Tuned out by my inability to tune in
I am
More machine than man
Mechanically marching from moment to moment
Merely reacting to previously programmed prompts
Physically present but lacking sincere presence
In essence
I am empty inside
Hollow
Homunculi passing for person
Human in form
All the while lacking the essential qualities
A marvel of masterful magecraft
Cleverly crafted to casually deceive
Mirage of a man

...

Cola Rep Dance Company Performs SAME PALM for Columbia Audiences Before Traveling to NY for International Performance at the DUMBO Dance Festival

If you’re tired of the same old fairytale ballet performances where the spirit of the dancer is subsumed by the restraints of only one person’s imagination, come out to CMFA next Friday and Saturday nights as Columbia Repertory Dance Company presents Same Palm, their first concert of the summer season.

“The title Same Palm comes from our constant investigation of holding pain and joy in the same palm, and how these diverse emotions must coexist for us to get through this life, especially the sometimes-brutal parts,” says Stephanie Wilkins, CRDC co-founder and artistic director.  

Company dancers include Joshua Alexander, Erin Bailey, Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, Shannon Chapman (understudy), Ashlee Daniels, Cecily Davis, Emily Jordan, Carrie Preus, Megan Saylors, Jalen Scriven, Jack Thompson, Olivia Timmerman, and Stephanie Wilkins.

“This show we are also celebrating the launch of the Cola Rep Young Choreographer Initiative with the premier of our apprentice Jalen Scriven’s Changes, adds Bonnie Boiter-Jolley, CRDC co-founder and managing director. “Scriven, an Alumni of Columbia City Jazz Conservatory and a student at University of Southern California, worked with the company to create the piece which he says references ‘holding a mirror to yourself.’ It’s impressive to work with a young artist who possesses the capacity to communicate what he wants clearly but is also so open to collaboration. It’s inspiring and makes me hopeful for the future of dance.” 

In addition to Wilkins’ choreography, the company is excited to welcome works from other major SC choreographers including Erin Bailey Angela Gallo, and Terrance Henderson. “Terrance’s piece is a beautiful blend of ritual and contemporary dance that truly honors both his culture and ancestors,” Wilkins says. “Erin and Ashlee‘s duet is a perfect example of what brings them the most happiness, which is moving in and out of the floor and over and under and on top of each other with lovely contact partnering. Angela’s piece is, as usual, set to a very interesting score and the movement in it embodies her very essence, I see her in all of the dancers and the choreography. Erin’s Kinect is athletic and powerful, but also sinuous … I know the work of these three choreographers and what I love about them is that their pieces are genuine and true to themselves, but they also try to break open their own personal stories and use their creativity to challenge themselves, their dancers, and the viewer.”

Columbia Repertory Dance Company was founded in 2019 by Bonnie Boiter-Jolley and Stephanie Wilkins as a professional company that would resolve the age-old Columbia problem of already established dance companies only offering contracts to their dancers for six or fewer months per year. This impacted the dancers, who still had to stay in shape, (professional dancers must take class from 5 – 7 days per week to stay fit), and also had to pay for their living expenses, by offering them paying dance gigs, artistic stimulation, and the opportunity to stay in shape without going broke. It impacted dance audiences by providing new, original, and innovative contemporary ballet performances from their favorite Columbia-based dance artists, with choreography by a large variety of some of Columbia’s top choreographers.

Sadly, in response to the founding of Columbia Repertory Dance Company, which became a non-profit 501c3 in 2022, South Carolina Ballet, which has recently changed its name again from Columbia City Ballet, began illegally forbidding its dancers from participating in any off-season, off-contract performances with other local companies such as Columbia Repertory Dance Company or Ann Brodie’s Carolina Ballet.

But this didn’t hold Columbia Repertory Dance Company back. The Company has grown to include two unique dance concerts per summer, as well as additional local performances such as Live on Lincoln, and traveling to New York to be honored as the only South Carolina dance company featured (2023 and 2024) in the DUMBO Dance Festival.

A dance festival celebrating it’s 23rd year in Brooklyn, NY, DUMBO Dance Festival stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass with the festival’s official description stating, “2024 DDF features 50 contemporary dance troupes combining over 400 artists who will present solo, chamber, and full-scale works. Dancers from across the United States, and internationally from Switzerland, Germany, Colombia, Mexico, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea will join New York’s active dance community to offer the full range of new directions in dance in the 21st century.” 

The festival takes place over four days in June and highlights dance companies making significant artistic contributions to the dance world. Cola Rep Dance Co is the only company from North or South Carolina invited to perform. 

“We are honored and excited to have the opportunity for the second year in a row to act as ambassadors for South Carolina dance by taking members of our company to perform on stage with the other wonderful groups selected. We see it as an important way of remaining part of the global conversation on the evolution of the art form,” says Boiter-Jolley. 

Same Palm will be performed at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday nights, June 21st and 22nd, at Columbia Music Festival Association at 914 Pulaski Street in Columbia’s historic Congaree Vista. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.  

While you’re reserving your seats for Same Palm, mark your calendars for August 17th and 18th when Columbia Rep Dance Company performs their second concert of the summer, How to Fall Down, at the Koger Center for the Arts. How to Fall Down features the work of choreographers Dale Lam, Jennifer Deckert, and Simone Cuttino, as well as in-house choreography by Wilkins. Tickets will be available soon. 

 

Sean Madden’s Intimately Familiar Landscapes at Sound Bites Eatery

Sean Madden

is the Jasper Project’s Featured Artist for June at

Sound Bites Eatery

Sean Madden is a multimedia artist who captures landscapes and portraits of Columbia in such a way that makes the images both familiar and fresh at the same time.  

Both Madden’s parents were artists, so creating was never foreign to him. His mother was an accomplished oil painter, and his father was a master carpenter, scratch painter, and sculptor. Though art came naturally, it was music that first captured Madden’s interest. 

“The influence of my parents came full circle in the early 2000s when I began working for a piano and antique restoration company,” Madden says. “And my knowledge of wood carving and ability to work an artist's brush proved invaluable.”

However, it was after the loss of his mother in 2019 that Madden was moved to “return to [his] roots” and begin painting once more. This time, it stuck, and he now finds it hard to pull himself from whatever surface he’s sketching on during any free time. 

Madden’s inspirations come from all around him, from the world he traverses each day. Though he began capturing these scenes with oil, he embraces all mediums, including gouache, acrylic, watercolor, graphite, and ink. 

“My main goal, when I sit down behind the easel, is to find some way of bridging reality with nostalgic fantasy,” he explains. “I tend to be drawn towards images centering around water and the play of light and shadow.”  

Madden has had his work displayed in venues around Columbia and Myrtle Beach, has found success as a part-time commission artist, and is proud to have works in fourteen states and two countries. 

His work for this show features landscapes both familiar and yet intimately personal. The common image of the Lake Murray Dam is interrupted by a buzzard that swooped down only feet from Madden on a visit. Two eerie beach scenes display the view from a quiet walk he and his wife took after Hurricane Ian struck the hotel at which they were vacationing. 

Madden’s work is available to view at Sound Bites Eatery (1425 Sumter St.) until the end of June. Sound Bites is open from 10am–3pm on weekdays and 11am–3pm on weekends. Purchases can be made through scanning QR codes on the paintings’ labels.

 

 

Jasper's Tiny Gallery Artist for June is Trish Gilliam

Trish Gillam is a multimedia artist and a lifelong resident of South Carolina, where she paints both individually and as part of Swirly Girl Arts—a painter duo consisting of her and her daughter Kimber Carpenter. (Full disclosure—Kimber Carpenter is a member of the Jasper Project board of directors.) 

After graduating in 1966 from University High School, Gillam studied business administration and eventually settled into a career in real estate and massage therapy. It was after retiring in 2016 that she decided to plunge into the art world. 

When it comes to art, she is completely self-taught and includes Jackson Pollock, Wassily Kandinsky, and Helen Frankenthaler among her influences. Particularly, three of her local peers—Alicia Leeke, Lee A. Monts, and K. Wayne Thornley—further influence her aesthetic.  

Gillam paints with a variety of mediums, including acrylic and ink, and finds inspiration in “the beautiful colors and dynamic shapes of nature—I spend many hours in my garden, walking in the woods behind my home, and enjoying time on the coast of South Carolina. These experiences have brought much joy and happiness to me, and it is my desire to capture them in my work,” she says.  

Gillam refers to her work as “free style,” which has an organic, unique flow. In her studio, she paints while listening to music, often dancing as she creates. It is this openness, joy, and freedom that she hopes to share with others through her art. 

She has shown her work—solo and through Swirly Girl Arts—across the Midlands, including locations such as the Robert Mills House, Cottontown Art Crawl, Art in the Yard, Rob Shaw Gallery, Musician’s Supply, NoMa Warehouse, The Artist’s Coop, Pitter-Patter Pottery, Artistic Aspiration, The Aloft Hotel, and The Land Banks Loft Historic Building. 

For this show, Gillam has put together a showcase of her various styles and talents. Patrons can see collaged girls with sassy expressions, textured landscapes, and whimsical homes—all with an array of bright colors and styles. 

Trish Gillam’s work will be up on Jasper’s virtual Tiny Gallery until the end of June.

Al Black's Poetry of the People Featuring Larry Rhu!

This week's Poet of the People is Larry Rhu. I think I first met Larry when Curtis Derrick hosted a poetry workshop and Tim Conroy introduced us. Larry and I cohost Simple Gifts and I cherish sitting in his backyard garden to discuss literature and Boston Celtic basketball. He is a generous and humble friend and I am honored to be in his orbit.

Lawrence Rhu is the Todd Professor of the Italian Renaissance, emeritus, at the University of South Carolina. He has published books and essays about the American and European Renaissances and edited Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. His poems have appeared in Poetry, North Dakota Quarterly, Innisfree Poetry Journal, The Poetry Society of South Carolina Yearbook, Pinesong, Fall Lines, One, Main Street Rag, Conversations: The Journal of Cavellian Studies, Jogos Florais, Forma de Vida, and other journals. They have won awards from the Poetry Society of South Carolina and the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society of New Orleans. 


Instead of a Letter

 

Ever since your scary diagnosis, Jerry,

your Kawasaki Ninja’s helping us

document nostalgia’s hits or misses:

 

Fats Domino at El Casino Ballroom

in downtown Tucson, Oracle Union Church

beyond the Catalinas. Grandfather Ford—

 

an old Ford, he’d say, but still serviceable—

supplied its pulpit with clear messages

he shared implicitly (or I divined)

 

between approach shots on the practice range

when he taught me to golf during junior high

and we began our easy-going exchanges.

 

Nothing oracular about that town

except the name and my experience

of friendship with a kindred soul whose calling

 

required some explanation of its quiet

moments, like golf, when others take their turn. 

Chemo and radiation are still shrinking

 

your tumor while our sunset dialogues

help reconstruct our common histories

with anecdotes and our imaginations

 

in FaceTime calls from two time zones away.

Bits and pieces patched together come

to represent whatever meant the world

 

to me and you, my father’s other son

in spirit and my mother’s other student.

Grammar and medicine, their offerings,

 

helped you avoid English X at U of A

and then through medical school at UNM.

Transcendental brother, Anglo caballero,                              

 

biker, physician, my dear friend, your Ninja

and horses call to mind a life of travel:

happy trails, lonesome roads, and our reunions                    

 

in Rio Hondo, New Orleans, Missoula,

Boston, Prescott—even Italy,

when I was teaching high school there in Rome.

 

In just three months you’ve biked eight thousand miles

in perfect weather on backroads and blue

highways, inspired by sunlight and fresh air.

 

Has anyone lived long enough to be

“almost a native,” as some born elsewhere

used to say after many years in Tucson?

 

May we not homestead in creation, staking

our claims, not taking what’s given for granted,

settling in some ever nearer region?


 

Benefits of Doubt

 

For D. T. S.

 

No inference made, no implication either—

I did not infer what you did not imply,

but thanks. I appreciate your concern.

 

Ghosts haunt words with shades of meaning

difficult to dispel. Slips and lapses

make us marvel at the secret life

 

of language in conversation with itself.

Perfect strangers intrude upon the best

intentions, foiling our plans. Still, we’re thrilled

 

to entertain felicities unaware.

It all depends upon our being being

attuned. So, drop your guard. Speak your mind.

 

Learn what you mean in sync with those awaiting

news of you and yours. I’ll listen up. Online

or off, count on my friendship as a reader.

Arborist

 

Two trees or maybe three I knew for sure:

the fig and sycamore…but now I can’t

 

recall the third. The Church of Rome inspired

my confidence about the first—fig leaves

 

cover places Michelangelo

and Donatello felt the shepherd boy

 

need not blush to leave exposed. A protest

rallied us to save the sycamores

 

along the Charles River by Mem Drive.

But I knew cacti of my desert boyhood

 

well before hope of a better school stole me

away from home to greener climes with all

 

four seasons, ice and snow, and trees Thoreau

once learned by heart alone. The orchard keeper,

 

my beloved, leads me now through arboretums

around the world. Unlike Walden’s chronicler,

 

even in dark woods, we wander as a pair.

Released from rigors of the father tongue,

 

which he so harped upon, the fallen world’s

transformed into a commonwealth we share.


 

Memento

 

No reason for the trip but Sunday free

we headed toward the North Shore on Route 1

— itself a brilliant stretch of salesmanship

where concrete cattle graze invitingly

on green cement before a steakhouse door,

one of many bright commercial fancies

up and down the strip.

 

We toured the infamous Witch House in Salem

where pre-trial interviews were held before

witchcraft and wizardry scared slaughter out.

There must be reasons why the Lord would fail them.

Soon, a host of innocents told why.

Our high school guide recited all the facts

and ushered us about.

 

Then, on to Marblehead where several hills

are strewn with brayed slate gravestones by a pond

the locals fish on weekends when they’re free.

Hourglasses, death’s heads, cross-bones are the frills

that trim the verses written for the dead.

We paused and read their prayers so quaintly rhymed

and lost to history.

 

May her virtues take her where they should

graven on the slate of Mary by her John

invoked the angels she’d soon bide among

To such as she I’m sure that death is good.

We moved from stone to stone like other tourists

till evening took the light and brought a chill

that made us move along.

 

Going back on the same route we came by

we passed a dinosaur at a putt-putt course,

a lowering hazard on the thirteenth hole.

The traffic slowed. A siren gave a sigh

and blinked upon a wreck beside the road.

Three bodies, under cover, lined the pavement.

The cars slowed to a roll.


 

Streetcar through Parnassus

 

Don’t you think somebody ought to pray for them? - How six-year-old Ruby Bridges explained her prayers for protesters against school desegregation

 

From Lee Circle to the Garden District

nine muses cross the tracks,

divinities of total recall

once upon a time.

From history to astronomy

along St. Charles Avenue

the streetcar bumps and grinds

from Clio to Urania, the goddess

Milton summoned puritanically 

insisting on a Christian meaning

for her pagan name. No such

precise distinction here obtains.

That culture clash sounds academic,

the harmonizing rhetoric antique.

The Heavenly Muse now names

some lapsed Presbyterian

daughter of faded Memory. 

           

Yet, in the roundabout, Lee’s empty place

on the Olympian column top

prompts Clio to review her latest draft

—its epic or tragic plot—

with Calliope and Melpomene.

That vacancy makes room

for hope to change the shape of time

imposed by powers that be—

or were and wished to stay.

           

Cycling between the Odd Fellows’ Rest

and the Archdiocesan Cemetery,

beyond the neutral ground,

I turn toward Metairie and soon discern,

from beneath the Interstate,

a marble soldier

ready to read the roll of casualties,

the toll his counterparts memorialize

on a thousand small-town New England greens.                   

           

                                                         

Whatever local muse prompts song,

as I recall, no run of Boston streets

bears gaudy classical names

if you don’t count the Marathon.

There’s no Mardi Gras with krewes,

like Bacchus or Endymion

or Comus’s raucous gang

routed in that Puritan’s court masque.

Yet who’s to say they won’t be coming back?

Here or there, in Cambridge or Fenway Park,

or on the banquette where first graders once

braved mobs with Federal Marshals,

walking to school and hoping

against hope for a fresh start.

 

SC Writers Association 2024 STORYFEST Early Bird Registration Ends June15th

2024 STORYFEST EARLY BIRD PRICING ENDS JUNE 15

Early bird registration for SCWA’s 2024 Storyfest, set for Sept. 27 through 29 in Columbia, ends June 15.

Fees for the full three-day conference are $250 for members and $325 for nonmembers; those fees will increase by $30 on June 16, so register now and save! Student registration for the full conference is $140. A one-day ticket for Saturday-only sessions is available for $195. Masterclasses, manuscript critiques and query pitches are available for additional charges as add-ons to your registration.

Storyfest, SCWA’s biggest event of the year, will be held at The DoubleTree by Hilton in Columbia, with the added advantage of having the hotel and conference under one roof – and the rooms are less expensive this year, too!

In addition to amazing authors, editors, agents and screenwriters from outside of our state, some of South Carolina’s most prominent writers will be there to make this conference successful. We will have three pre-conference masterclasses and craft classes as well as the invaluable Queryfest, Slushfest, Speed Pitch Session and a “Publishing World Today” panel, which provides cutting-edge self-publishing assistance. Four keynote speakers will provide valuable insights, including information on artificial intelligence and how it will impact the writing world, and Storyfest has 20 other breakout and other presentations – something for every genre. A Saturday cocktail hour, open mic, exhibits, book signings and more also will be included.

We will highlight our keynote speakers and presenters in The Quill between now and September. We featured Lynn Cullen and Grady Hendrix in the May issue; see 2024 Storyfest Faculty bios on all of our fabulous speakers. Here are two more keynoters:

TIFFANY YATES MARTIN

Tiffany Yates Martin has spent nearly 30 years as an editor in the publishing industry, working with major publishers and New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling and award-winning authors as well as indie and newer writers. She is the founder of FoxPrint Editorial and author of Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing. She is a regular contributor to writers' outlets like Writer's Digest, Jane Friedman and Writer Unboxed, and a frequent presenter and keynote speaker for writers' organizations around the country. Under her pen name, Phoebe Fox, she is the author of six novels. Visit her at www.foxprinteditorial.com.

She will offer a masterclass, “Mastering the Holy Trinity of Story: Character, Stakes and Plot;” deliver a keynote, “The Happy, Harsh Truths of a Writing Career;” and present breakout sessions. We are thrilled to have her for 2024 Storyfest.

ALAN ROTH

Alan Roth graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey with degrees in history and English literature, then attended graduate school at Emerson College in Boston, where he received an MFA in creative writing. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves as an adjunct professor of screenwriting at Fairleigh Dickinson’s School of the Arts. He is a winner of the coveted Nicholl Fellowship Academy Award for best original screenplay (Jersey City Story) and works with producers on developing projects for both film and TV.

He will present a keynote, “AI and Current Trends in Writing,” and a breakout session on “Book to Screen.” We are so pleased to have him as part of 2024 Storyfest.

REGISTER FOR 2024 STORYFEST

MORE ABOUT 2024 STORYFEST

The hotel room rate is $169 (plus tax & fees) for one king or two queen beds. For the SCWA discounted rate, reserve at the DoubleTree by Hilton Columbia; book by Aug. 29 for the discount.

RESERVE YOUR ROOM FOR STORYFEST

If you are not a member of SCWA, join now to enjoy the member rate for Storyfest as well as other SCWA benefits. Membership is $75 annually; go to Join Us.

For more information email administrator@myscwa.org

News from Harbison Theatre -- Jazz with Chris Potter and the Art of Barbara Yongue

Saxophone Colossus: Chris Potter

Presented by SC Jazz Masterworks Ensemble
Saturday, June 15 | 7:30 PM 

SC Jazz Masterworks Ensemble is overjoyed to present one of the best Jazz Saxophonists of all time and Columbia native, Chris Potter. Since emerging on the scene as a sideman 30 years ago with Red Rodney, Chris has gone on to play with everybody from Pat Metheny to Steely Dan. Down Beat magazine called him “One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet” and Jazz Times identified him as “a figure of international renown.” Potter’s impressive discography includes 18 albums as a leader, as well as sideman appearances on more than 100 albums. 

Join The Jasper Project and Barbara Yongue as we celebrate the opening of her exhibition in the gallery space at Harbison Theatre.

At 6:30 PM, Barbara will be available to speak and give you the opportunity to enjoy her work prior to the opening curtain for Saxophone Colossus: Chris Potter presented by SC Jazz Masterworks Ensemble. During intermission, you’re invited to revisit the art. Her work will be available for purchase. Learn more about Barbara and her work below.

The exhibition is free and available for viewing from June through August 2024.

Barbara Alston Yongue, born in Memphis Tennessee and raised in Ohio, has studied and continues to study art for almost as long as she has been alive.  An art major in college she has continued her education with such well-known artists as Daniel Greene, Nelson Shanks, Janet Fish, Tony Ryder, Charlie Hunter.  She is a member of Oil Painters of America, Trenholm Art Guild and the art group known as About Face.  She enjoys Portraiture, Still Life painting and Plein Air.  

Awards Include:
2023 - Facilitator Plein air competition ARTFIELDS 
2022 - Facilitator Plein air ArtField 
2023 - Second place and peoples choice TAG … Still Hopes 
2022 - Peoples choice TAG …BEST MATTRESS
2019 - 1st place  Trenholm art guild spring show
2018 - 3rd place Trenholm art guild
2017 - 1st Place Pawleys Island Seaside Palette- Plein Air
2017 - People’s Choice award- Arts on the Ridge
2016 - 2017 – 9 time winner of the Columbia Museum of Art monthly challenge
2017 - Merit Award – Trenholm Art Guild
2016 - 2nd Place Pawleys Island Seaside Palette- Plein Air
2014 - Merit Award – Trenholm Art Guild
2013 - Painting Award - Garden of Dreams, Magnolia Gardens
2011 - Judy Faye Moyer award- Crooked Creek art League
2010 - Merit Award – Crooked Creek Art League
2009 - Best in Show- Crooked Creek Art League
2009 - Merit Award- Trenholm Art Guild
2008 - Special Award- Crooked Creek Art League
2008 - Merit Award – Trenholm Art Guild
2004 - Merit Award- Crooked Creek
2004 - Carolina Gallery Award – Crooked Creek
2001 - Merit Award- Crooked Creek
Champion 2 Times – Columbia Museum of Art – Face Off event
2nd Runner up – Artfields portrait competition
2015 Judge for Arts on the Ridge Ridgeway, SC
President - Fairfield County Arts Council  2018

Artist Statement:
I paint primarily from life because it is my belief that what is created by doing that gives a certain touch of LIFE that cannot be achieved any other way. Most of all … I try to paint Beauty.

Purchase your copy of Fall Lines volume X Today!

If you couldn’t make it to the reading and release celebration for Fall Lines volume X in May, you have two options for acquiring copies of the literary journal.

Swing by the main branch of Richland Library at 1431 Assembly Street in downtown Columbia, or visit the Jasper Project website to order copies to be delivered to your home via mail.

Click Here to

Order your copies today!

Poetry of the People with Al Black featuring Mary E. Martin

This week's Poet of the People is Mary E. Martin. I first met Mary in either Rock Hill or Charlotte at a poetry reading put on by Jonathan K. Rice. She has facilitated some of my readings in Rock Hill and has journeyed to Columbia to read for the Mind Gravy Poetry series. She is a elegant poet who writes from a gentle, graceful place. Rock Hill, South Carolina is blessed to have her in their midst.

-Al Black

Mary E. Martin is a poet, dancer, and teacher at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. She
grew up in the west and the south, preferring the rich landscape of the south. She explores a
fusion of text, movement, and music in community performance projects she has developed in the Carolinas. Her poetry has appeared in many journals, including The Kansas Quarterly, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Southern Poetry Review.

At the University Inn


As a student waitress
I served Denise Levertov
breakfast—she drank tea,
not coffee.


I almost spilled
my adoration, but her reverence
for the moment stopped me
from recalling the spell
her reading had cast--
only her poetry
breathed, her images
sacred, almost palpable
renderings of the inner
paradise we know exists.


I kept the check slip
she had signed,
taped on a wall
near my desk,
an artifact that lasted
as many years as it took
for me to realize
beauty’s minutiae
is just as sublime
as what we claim
breathtaking.

My Dog Looks Up at the Moon

Late night he pauses
on the deck, doesn’t howl
but quietly stares
at the bright curve above,
his big head, black and white
sixty-pound hunter body
more a still life, a whisper
between dog and moon,

he listening as the moon
tells him he is a being
who loves, a love
that can travel anywhere,
a dolphin splash love;
he wishes he could swim
to the moon, lick her
powdered white cheek, sleep
overnight in a velvet smooth
crater, dreaming an unknown
tenderness, then slip back
down just as I awaken;
mythically happy to see
him again, I kiss him
and feed him breakfast.

Folk song

I like to howl with my dogs
in our own backyard Olympus,
out-sounding the sirens
by blending our voices.


Without judgement or fear
I like to howl with my dogs;
we are neither dog nor human
out-sounding the sirens.


Crooning welcome tears
without judgement or fear
I stretch out my neck;
we are neither dog nor human.


I stand erect as they do
crooning welcome tears,
eyes toward the clouds
as I stretch out my neck.


A pack of screeching troubadours
out-sounding the sirens,
no better heaven than ours
than when I howl with my dogs.

Flint

I sit on my couch

waiting for a spark

of an image, just enough

to keep me writing

in my small house, on a quiet

street, Flint Street,

the only sharp edges

the barking dogs

in almost every house.

 

My words, the hard quartz tools

I rely on to shape the world,

are like the rough tools

tribes relied on to survive

in the wild brush and windowless caves.

 

I think of the steel that strikes

flint into fire, angry voices

of a small Midwestern town

shouting out their abuse,

the City of Flint forging

their words into a hard

refusal, to be more than

their namesake’s core,

to be the unshadowed

flame of the heart.          


El Paso
                   When I was young and shy


The dark brick scrubbing
our hands when we grazed the body
of homes on the army base
as we darted everywhere to find
a place to hide. We played at night
with flashlights, the fat tree trunks
our gathering place, the touch
of the bark friendly rough.


Later we lived in an off base adobe
cuddled all around by bushes,
bushes full of secret
spaces I quietly lingered in every day.


Walking to school I always hesitated
at the canal, loud water tumbling over itself,
the bridge with no rails the only connector
to the school. I swear I could see loose
animal bodies shoved through foaming
water, wet fur, and bared teeth.


Our father treated us with short trips
over the border in Juarez,
always stopping at the same restaurant;
we sipped orange sodas,
stared at the polished blue and white tiles,
while my father drank beer
or tequila; none of us
ever questioned why always
the same place, the same food.


The cruel misperception
of others, always a lack
of embrace-- the 1950’s shadow
pulled me to hide
and grow where I hid.


New Brookland Tavern Welcomes THE WOGGLES and the Release of Their New Album

New Brookland Tavern welcomes The Woggles with special guests, Brandy and the Butcher, to help celebrate the release of their new LP, Time Has Come on June 12th. According to musician and Jam Room director, Jay Matheson, “The Woggles have been one of the best garage rock bands in the US since the mid 90s and put on a stage show that is beyond compare.”

Check out their new single as well as their new LP in its entirety.

According to Matheson, the show will be a 2 band affair with Matheson’s own local Rock and Roll band Brandy and the Butcher opening.

Cover tickets to the show are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the show.

Doors are at 7:30 with music starting at 8:30.

See you there!

Read more about the Woggles from Jasper Magazine music editor Kevin Oliver here.

FREE ART & FUN at the KOGER CENTER FOR THE ARTS THIS SUMMER!

The Koger Center for the Arts is so much more than a ticketed venue featuring the best of both local and touring performing arts. In addition to being the home of the Jasper Project’s Nook Gallery space in the Second Tier Lobby, Koger boasts an impressive collection of rotating and permanent art and offers free performances on the Outside Stage directly in front of the building.

Recently, Koger hosted the multimedia arts troupe, Squonk, on the outside stage and the front lawn was filled with folks on blankets and in lawn chairs enjoying picnics and a free performance by the 30-year-old entertainment organization. And there’s more to come!

Read below for a quick look at some of the FREE ART offered by the Koger Center for the Arts this summer.

Jasper offers the work of new artists year-round (though we’re taking a breather while the Koger gets new carpet this summer), in our Nook Gallery space. Jasper shows run monthly with opening receptions on the First Thursday of every month in conjunction with the Vista Guild’s First Thursday celebrations.

In the Upstairs Gallery Space the Koger Center hosts exhibitions by local artists such as BEAT OF THE HEART through July 1st, featuring local artists Rodgers Boykins, Ryan McClendon, Jeffrey Miller, Keith Tolen and Fred Townsend

In addition to hosting the SOUTHEASTERN PIANA FESTIVAL, a ticketed event, the Koger will also host a FREE LUNCHTIME CONCERT at noon on Tuesday June 11th in the Grand Tier Lobby. (Check out Malik Greene’s visual art in the Nook while you’re up there!)

Make Music Day is a free celebration of music around the world on June 21st. Launched in 1982 in France, it is now held on the same day in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.

Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music Day is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician - young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion - pours onto streets, parks, plazas and porches to share their music with friends, neighbors and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public. Make Music Day Columbia is hosted in conjunction with Rice Music House and is funded through a grant given by the City of Columbia. 

This year's Make Music Day schedule includes: 

10 – 11:30am Petting Zoo & Ruckus Hour 

12 – 1pm Music Lessons with Columbia Arts Academy (Ukelele & Voice)

1-5pm Recitals (Rice Music House and Freeway Music)

5:30-6:30 Drum Circle 

Don’t want to leave the house? Check out the Center’s Virtual Tour of Columbia-based artist Philip Mullen’s work from the comfort of your own home.

Philip Mullen came to South Carolina in 1969 and is one of the most renowned artists in the state. His works have been hanging in the Koger Center for the Arts since 1990, filling the space with his pieces that examine light and air. Throughout his art displayed in the Koger Center, Mullen explores the juxtaposition of light and how light touches everything around it. He has been described as creating works with even distribution of thought-out technique and carefree fluidity. From the Whitney Museum to the San Francisco Museum of Art, Mullen’s pieces have showcased his abilities all across America and the Koger Center is proud to house a permanent exhibit.  

Philip Mullen Art at the Koger Center is located on all three levels throughout the building.

You may take a virtual tour here for FREE! 

~~~~~

Visit the Koger Center for the Arts’ website for more exciting info on both FREE and ticketed events coming up this summer!

Columbia's Black Wall Street Documentary Premiere as part of JUNETEENTH

Jasper loves new art, especially when it is aimed at correcting a misinterpreted or overlooked component of our cultural backstory.

In the press release below from the City of Columbia, read about the world premiere of the documentary Columbia’s Black Wall Street and the celebrations surrounding this project in honor of Juneteenth.

“The City of Columbia’s Office of Business Opportunities (OBO) is proud to announce the highly anticipated release of Did You Know? Columbia’s Black Wall Street, a powerful documentary that chronicles the rich history of a Historic Black Business District in Columbia, SC.

Amidst a city renowned for its vibrant culture and thriving business community, Columbia recognized an opportunity to celebrate and elevate the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Columbia, particularly during the challenges posed by the pandemic.

‘This project marks a significant moment for Columbia. The documentary not only captures the rich history and profound legacy of Columbia’s Historic Black Business District but also celebrates the resilience, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that define our community,’ said Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. ‘It is a testament to the strength and determination of those who paved the way, and I encourage everyone to join us in commemorating this vital part of our city’s heritage.’

In 2021, 7Sunday’s Deon Generette approached OBO with an ambitious idea – to create a film documenting the Historic Black Business District, often referred to as “Columbia’s Black Wall Street.” Mr. Generette, a native of Johnsonville, SC, is a University of South Carolina Bachelor of Theatre graduate, Iraqi War Veteran, and visionary in the art and entertainment space in Columbia, SC.

The documentary is narrated by Dr. Bobby Donaldson who leads the University of South Carolina’s Center of Civil Rights History and Research in Columbia, SC.  Dr. Donaldson lends a powerful and authoritative voice to the project. The film also features the late Elise Martin, who was 108 years old at the time of filming. Despite her passing before the film’s premiere, Elise Martin’s legacy, along with other black businesses thriving between the 1920s and 1930s, such as Leevy’s Funeral Home, Dr. Cooper Sr. Noble, DSS, Palmetto Seafood, DESA Inc, and others, are honored in this documentary.

The film’s premiere will take place at the 2024 Juneteenth Entrepreneur, Film, & TV Extravaganza. The Extravaganza will kick off with an Entrepreneurial Summit with celebrity guests on Tuesday, June 18th, at 10:00 A.M. at 1208 Washington Place in downtown Columbia.  The second day of the extravaganza will start with a special children’s matinee premiere of the SCETV Emmy-nominated “The Cool and The Strong” series, which features Coach Dawn Staley and Coach Shane Beamer, at the Historic (sic) Nickelodeon Theatre beginning at 12:00 P.M.  Later in the day, enjoy an Oscar Themed Premiere of the documentary at the Nickelodeon Theatre beginning at 5pm. The premiere will be followed by the Extravaganza celebration with catering from Jeffrey Lampkin’s Country Boy and Kitchen, R&B Recording Artist Raheem DeVaughn, Grammy Winning Artist Susan Carol, and nationally known 7Sunday Live Band at the Columbia Museum of Art!

We invite everyone to be a part of these events to continue the story and witness this compelling story of resilience, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that continues to shape our city.”

RICHLAND LIBRARY AWARDED NEA GRANT TO ENHANCE ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Jasper is delighted to share some good news about one of our frequent partners in the arts—Richland Library—and invite our followers to take advantage of this career and community-changing opportunity!

Richland Library is the recipient of a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts under the Grants for Arts Projects category. The funding will specifically support Richland Library’s Artist-in-Residence Program, furthering its mission to foster cultural and artistic exchange within the community.

“These projects exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and well-being, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and this funding at the local, state, and regional levels demonstrates the National Endowment for the Arts’ commitment to ensuring people across the country benefit.”

Since its inception in 2015, Richland Library’s Artist-in-Residence Program has aimed to connect the community with local working artists, providing a platform for creative and educational opportunities. The program is designed to support cultural and artistic exchange by giving artists, performers, and makers of all disciplines the freedom to work in their own studio space, share their artistic processes, and engage with the community through a variety of programs.

Richland Library is now accepting applications for the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 residency periods. Interested artists are encouraged to apply by June 6th, 2024. For more information about the Artist-in-Residence Program and application details, please visit https://www.richlandlibrary.com/services/become-artist-residence.

For questions or media interviews, please contact Tacara Young at 803-351-5616 or tyoung@richlandlibrary.com.

 

This week's Poetry of the People is a guest from NC - Andrew K. Clark

This week's Poet of the People is Andrew K. Clark.* I first got to know Andrew after a poetry reading in Hilton Head when I had dinner with him after his reading. He was living in Savannah with his wife, Casey, and preparing to relocate to the mountains of North Carolina where he grew up. He now resides and writes in the mountains outside Asheville. He is a prolific poet and author and is a delight to know.

-Al Black

Andrew K. Clark is a novelist & poet from the Western North Carolina mountains, where his people settled before The Revolutionary War. His poetry collection, Jesus in the Trailer, was published by Main Street Rag Press. His first novel, Where Dark Things Grow, is forthcoming from Cowboy Jamboree Press on 9/10/24. His work has appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, UCLA’s Out of Anonymity, Appalachian Review, Rappahannock Review, The Wrath Bearing Tree, and many others. He received his MFA from Converse College. Connect with him and read more of his work at andrewkclark.com. 

beautiful screaming

I tried to quit
I really
did
throw’d everything away
so many times
swore off the makeup
swore off them wigs
I’d go to bed
try to forget everything
squeeze my eyeballs
inside out
but seemed like
it called to me
from in the bin
called me
to put it back on
come stand in front of the mirror, boy
it was hardest when
the sun went out
***
first time I didn’t even
mean for it to happen
I got all made up
& I don’t know why but
I went outside
down there
by the pond
that old dirt road
you know the one
the lover’s lane
there was a car pulled
near the water
and I wanted
to see inside
catch me a peek
of what they was doing
only when I did

the girl seen me
she screamed
screamed so loud
it busted my ears
so loud she shook
the whole goddamned world
and the boy trying to jerk
up his pants
& I fell in love with her
right there
& the sounds she made
I ain’t never heard
nothing so beautiful
& she made me
beautiful too
& she seen me
like nobody ever seen me
& she saw how beautiful I was
& everything tingled everywhere
in the whole goddamned world
the whole world tingling up
its goddamned spine
and down between
its goddamned legs
& I went back the next night
& the night after that
seem like more cars come
down by the pond
like people wanted me to
just scare the living
shit out of them
like it turned
them on too
& I gave them what they wanted
& they gave me what I wanted
all that screaming
them tires spinning the dirt
***
them kids made up
hashtags for me

things like
#clownscare
& #clownopocalypse
& it went on like that for a long time
& I made all the papers
& it was beautiful
till
they caught me
& they put me back
in the home
& they chained me
under the box springs
pumped me so full
of all them drugs
& I love all them drugs
when I’m under
the box springs
pumped full
I can’t remember
who my first-grade teacher was
or where I learned to dress up
or who my daddy is
but I do remember
all that screaming
all that beautiful screaming
& how they seen me
really seen me
for the first time

equine | canine

the horses up
the mountain
went wild, forgotten
by their people
nobody come by
to even feed them
until
they forgot they
were horses
grew as feral
as jackals
fought off bears
killed off the coyote
stayed alive
even during winter
no grass on the ground
teeth grinding
down the trees
they fucked each
other constantly
foals rising from
the dark earth
each spring
they ate their brothers
whose legs fell lame
teeth rounding
sharpening canine
until
their eyes grew large
dark manes matted
no one could
approach them
no one could
pet them
but me

paper dolls

drought and famine and violence and
tinder enough to burn the world down,
and it’s only tuesday. but one thing you
understand is that you got to get right
with god. it don’t pay to wait. you ‘re
on the last verse of just as i am, without
one plea, sister gail keeps playing long
as there are sinners out there and you
better get up, fight your curled up
atrophied limbs, fight your jangled up
trifling, get down front to that altar and
make yourself low before the preacher.
you don’t have to do it, i know.
salvation is a choice. but if you don’t,
you should know a few things. one, the
devil has nightmares too. they wouldn’t
make sense to you because they’re
made up of all the beauty of gods green
spring bright fondling, the way vines
creep under doorways and rise to
choke the tallest thickest trees in the
woods out back. did you know there
are flowers with black spider eye
faces? god made those too. bottomless
night holes that fall for miles, sucking
you in by your eyeballs, pulling fibrous
orange slice chunks from your back,
bent and stretched and uglier than you
can imagine. two, you had no choice
but to do it. you might could’ve
become a preacher yourself, shopping
pinstripe suit catalogues, starching
your collars out in a dingy basement,
pull cord lightbulbs burning your scalp.
you might could’ve earned your keep
on the mission field or in a soup
kitchen but when mama took up that
knife and cut that man across his face
for the way he mocked her cooking,
you ain’t had no choice. three, scissors
and girly magazines in your hiding
place under the skirting of the trailer,
stretched out on the warm dirt, you

found magic powers. kaleidoscoping
girls every which way and that: take
this head and put it on that body, put
these legs under those hips, take her
tits and put them on that one there, and
this one, she should be a dancer, so
change her shoes. so much flesh, so
much sin and skin that you mix and
match in peach and black and orange
and cream - you’re nothing if not
wicked. four, when they found your
stash, pulling back the purple curtain,
they took all your lovers away, best
friends too; you had no choice. sister
gail finished the song, and the preacher
ain’t called for another verse, so thank
hallelujah for lighter fluid, kitchen
matches and sweet sulfur black and
blueness.

Pollination
(after Lindsey Alexander)


My beard is a honeycomb you lick when hungry.
On your way to the icebox,
on our daily hike through the woods,
you can’t help but stop and taste it.
Bright and untamed,
Zizzing like bees
in a white box;
your face stays sticky and
you keep licking your cheeks all day,
even during video calls.
Eventually, you send
a dozen mouths
to extract me,
drip by drop,
while you lie back
and wait to be fed.

*While Clark is not a SC poet, we are honored to share his work with you this week via Poetry of the People!