THE JASPER PROJECT PARTNERS WITH THE SC PHILHARMONIC ON THE ART OF SYMPHONY

“Eyes closed, I listened to the piece and was surprised by the immediate imagery I experienced …” - Eileen Blyth

The Jasper Project is delighted to announce a collaborative project with the South Carolina Philharmonic – THE ART OF SYMPHONY.  

When Chad Henderson, marketing director for the South Carolina Philharmonic, first posited the idea for the Art of Symphony project to Jasper, they were immediately intrigued. As Henderson explained, the SC Philharmonic had scheduled an upcoming concert on April 27, 2024, at the Koger Center for the Arts, around which the SC Phil hoped to engage with local visual artists. The concert would feature: Karen Tanaka’s Rose Absolute, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op.33, and Shostakovich’s Symphony Number 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 and be conducted by Morihiko Nakahara featuring guest artist Sterling Elliott on cello. Henderson proposed that the music be divided into 14 singular sections and the Jasper Project invite and work with 14 of the Midlands’ finest visual artists, who would each respond to a unique piece of music artistically.

The newly created art will be projected on screens during the live performance of each of the 14 sections of music, as well as presented as an arts exhibition in Jasper’s Nook Gallery on the grand tier level of the Koger Center for the Arts.

The Art of Symphony Art Exhibition will open on Thursday evening, April 18, 2024, with a reception that is open to the public from 5:30 – 7 pm. The Art of Symphony Symphonic Convergence of Music & Visual Art will take place on Saturday, April 27th with the concert at 7:30 pm and a Meet the Artist Reception in the Nook Gallery at 6 pm. 

In keeping with the Jasper Project’s founding priority of cultivating multidisciplinary collaboration, Jasper will also publish a book of the featured art, entitled The Art of Symphony, which will be available for purchase at both events. 

The 14 visual artists participating in the project include Fred Townsend, Wilma King, Lori Isom- Starnes, Eileen Blyth, Stephen Chesley, Thomas Washington, K. Wayne Thornley, Alejandro Garcia-Lemos, Anthony Lewis, Lindsay Radford Wiggins, Michael Krajewski, Keith Tolen, Regina Langston, and Laura Garner Hine. Garcia-Lemos created an animated short in response to his designated section of music which will be shown on monitors in the Koger Center lobby before the concert, during intermission, and at The Art of Symphony Art Exhibition opening on April 18th. 

Eileen Blyth, who created Overheard Overhead in response to the first movement of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, said, “Eyes closed, I listened to the piece and was surprised by the immediate imagery I experienced. I was eye level before a roof top. Bird-like objects dipped and soared. Buildings stretched tall and then wide, up and down, back and forth. Objects moved in harmony. I saw the Maestro in my painting directing the symphony of shapes, lines, and color.”

Wilma King, who painted in response to the third movement of the Shostakovich said, “This project, much like a symphony itself, goes deep into the hearts, minds, talents, and expressions of myriad artists, culminating the various parts and facets into this paramount event.”

For more information visit JasperProject.org or SCPhilharmonic.com.

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

Lori Isom - who also is an exceptional baker!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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