Editorial- Issue 2

Dear Friends,  On behalf of the Jasper Family, let me take this opportunity to officially say, Thank You!  I don’t think any of us were prepared for the kind of welcome and support the Columbia arts community has given us as we’ve launched our new publication, Jasper – The Word on Columbia Arts. You’ve been exceptionally generous with your praise, wisdom, and advice. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t have someone offer a suggestion or... Read More

Editorial- Issue 3

Dear Friends, Endings and beginnings of everything, especially years, are a time for looking back and forward, realizing regrets and taking pride, learning lessons and patting one’s self on the back, being sad and being optimistic. At Jasper, we asked a group of artists and arts lovers what kind of New Year’s resolutions and wishes they would make for the Greater Columbia Arts Community, particularly if money was no object. As it turns out, money,... Read More

Editorial- Issue 1

Dear Friends,  Building a local arts magazine from the ground up must be something akin to building a guest house. You know what you want it to look like, and you hold dear the message you want to convey to your friends – you are welcome here, the door is always open, we want you to feel as if this is a place where you can come to be nurtured, to enjoy yourself, to reflect and grow.  But it would take a fool to try to undertake either endeavor... Read More

Editorial- Issue 5

Dear Friends, Spring is always a busy time, particularly for the arts in Columbia. There’s Indie Grits, Open Studios, Artista Vista, Color the Arts, and Runaway Runway. The South Carolina Arts Commission, the Contemporaries of the Columbia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Art itself all have their annual galas. Various exhibitions are opening and closing, the local theatres all have runs of plays, many that they’ve been saving especially for this... Read More

Editorial- Issue 4

Dear Friends, When our design editor Heyward Sims came up with the idea of making the cover of our first annual Women’s Issue pink, I was hesitant at first. I’m not much of a pink person. In fact, I haven’t worn the color much since I was pregnant and trying to will the universe to give me daughters – which, by the way, it did. I was hesitant because, like all of us, I’ve been mercilessly exposed to the social construction that pink is for... Read More