Rachel Borgman

There’s really nothing like young art. Be it raw and edgy, or crisp and clean, fresh art offered by fledgling artists, especially when the work is good, holds the promise of potential; the possibility of even better things to come. Jasper takes notice of new artists on the Columbia arts scene and strives to be […]

Service is the New Muse

By Michaela Pilar Brown There is a singular kind of magic that occurs when you witness someone being transformed by an experience with your art. It is a singular moment when you understand that you as an artist have the power to invoke meaningful change in the life of another. For most artists, choosing art […]

NiA – Columbia’s Nomadic Theatre Troupe

By August Krickel Performance venues and physical space are big issues for theatres in Columbia. “Theatre” usually implies, first, the building itself, whether historic facilities like Town Theatre and USC’s Longstreet Theatre and Drayton Hall, or recent constructions like the current spaces used by Workshop, Trustus, and Chapin Community Theatres. Not so much for The […]

Journy Wilkes-Davis – Telling Stories through Dance

By Bonnie Boiter-Jolley Twenty-three year-old Journy Wilkes-Davis comes from a tight knit, supportive family of seven. The Columbia City Ballet dancer says that though his parents have always been “extremely supportive” of his dance career, they are also his biggest critics – something he is grateful for. It is no surprise that this combination of […]

The Lush World of Tish Lowe

By August Krickel A stroll through the Italianate Arcade Mall is a trip back in time.  Take the stairs to the second level on the Washington Street side, turn left, peek into the first studio space, and your journey to an earlier era is complete. Rich oil paintings of dusky Latin beauties adorn the walls, […]

Choral Arts in Columbia and Beyond

By Evelyn Morales Choral singing has come a long way from the days of Ancient Greek repertory and the Gregorian chant. Columbia itself has a rich history of vocal arts, which is exemplified in the works of the Arpad Darazs Singers, the Sandlapper Singers, and the Palmetto Mastersingers, among several other choral groups in the […]

Eileen Blyth and Object Lessons

By Kristine Hartvigsen The police officer took the report with poker-faced professionalism, but Eileen Blyth suspected there might be a few snickers back at the precinct. She had arrived at the artist’s Elmwood Park home responding to a reported robbery. The thieves did not break into Blyth’s house to steal heirloom jewels, but they did […]

Thomas Crouch is un Artista di Molti Mondi

By Cynthia Boiter Huddled in a dark pub on an approaching autumn day, Thomas Crouch could just as easily be prowling the cobbled streets of Italy like so many of his artistic influences. With an outer persona that conveys dissent, Crouch has the inner animus of a philosopher. Part Jeremy Bentham, part Jacques Derrida, Crouch […]

Art + Sports = Drè

By Kristine Hartvigsen Like the robust center on a college football team, Drè Lopez can be an intimidating fellow. His bearded, no-nonsense game face belies the thoughtful fine artist at the center of Columbia’s Piensa Art Company, which specializes in distinctive, nonconventional forms of illustration, graphic design, and writing services with a youth-culture bent. Over […]

Lee Ann Kornegay: The Beat Goes On

By Kristine Hartvigsen Try to focus your lens on Lee Ann Kornegay, and you better be able to capture a moving target. One moment the Columbia producer and award-winning documentarian is reading research and sipping wine on her front porch; the next she is hundreds of miles away wailing on a djembe at a mountain-top […]