VISUAL ARTS EDITOR

Kara M. Gunter was born and raised in Lexington, SC.  She was a shy, idealistic child, and spent most of her adolescence day-dreaming and making art, and had no real concern for the prosaic matters of “real” life.  She still doesn’t.  When it was time to apply to university, deadlines were fast approaching when a friend happened to have a single, wrinkled application to one university in her backpack.  Because of Kara’s lack of concern for all things that happen in a nebulous future, she filled out that solitary application and was accepted.  Luckily, the school happened to be Winthrop University in Rock Hill.  She graduated with a BFA in jewelry and metal-working in 2000, having studied with some of the most skillful artists in the southeast.  In 2006, Kara decided it was time to get serious about art-making, and continued her education at the University of SC where she earned her MFA in sculpture.  She works as an artist, teaches classes at the USC, and has just begun writing for Jasper Magazine.  Kara finds the experience of writing for Jasper very gratifying as it allows her to explore Columbia’s rich art community in more depth.  Kara’s mother is very proud that she is finally putting her competent writing skills to good use.  Kara is in the midst of planning a summer wedding to her fiancé, composer Thomas J. Dempster.  Her lucky number is sometimes 8, but always 13.