Join The Jasper Project and Wilma Ruth King as we celebrate the opening of her exhibition in the gallery space at Harbison Theatre.
Beginning at 6:30 PM, guests are invited to explore the exhibition and meet King before the curtain rises for Mike Super's "Three's A Charm." Artwork will be available for purchase. Learn more about King and her work below.
The exhibition is free and will remain on view through December 2026.
Wilma R. King
M.A. in JOURNALISM, Texas Southern University; B.A. in ART, University of South Carolina; Former Associate Professor at Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY), and Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY)
CERTIFICATES
Arts and Heritage Management; Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies; Managing Food and Beverage Companies; and International Leadership and Organizational Behavior – Università Bocconi; International Organizations Management – University of Geneva; The Changing Global Order – Universiteit Leiden; How to Change the World – Wesleyan University; Leadership in 21st Century Organizations (June 2017)– Copenhagen Business School
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
• Taught public relations, advertising design, and publication design for more than 30 years in American universities in Kentucky, Tennessee, New York, Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina.
• Lived in 11 states (including Alaska) and in two countries outside the USA.
• Collaborated on more than 13 papers and conference presentations in Italy, the United States, and Spain, and also collaborated on courses in Italy and in the States on ethics in fashion.
• In 2004, co-founded an organization called “Fashion for Good” to raise ethical awareness among fashion students, teachers, and professionals. Work done under the association’s umbrella was the only academic entry in the second edition of PRNews’ Guide to Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility in 2008, titled: “Readying the Fashion Industry for Ethics and Social Responsibility.”
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I am a contemplative contemporary painter. The context of my paintings is based on personal memories, and my style is described as a montage of times, places, and spaces. My goal as an artist is to give broader meaning to my personal experiences, build long-term relationships with communities, invite two-way communication, embody, expand, and present art and culture as significant and socially responsible. I seek to tell inspiring stories about the communities and cultures that were significantly changed, destroyed, or devastated, and to preserve the memories through my paintings.
I also share my love of art and my skills as an artist to positively affect others, particularly through portraits of children with special challenges or those in various stages of cancer, living out their dreams. In addition, some of the most important work I’ve done was commissioned to hang in private homes. Such works include a painting for a fellow parishioner who could no longer attend Eucharistic Adoration as she had done so for years, so wanted to create a prayer room in her home; a painting requested by a 9-year-old that represented his longing to hug his grandmother while she suffered with the shingles; and, a painting from my photographs of neighborhoods in Italy for a third generation Italian family who had never been there; a painting for a young woman who was able to purchase a house after living in a motel for two years, Portraits of children with special challenges or those in various stages of cancer living out their dreams. Of equal significance to me -- five of my paintings hung in the office of a mental health counselor, and another one in an office of a Ronald MacDonald’s House.
CURRENT, UPCOMING and RECENT EXHIBITS (2026)
The Jasper Project Solo Exhibit, Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, Irmo, SC, September 2026
10 works included in “Hope and Potential” (by invitation group exhibit) Central Carolina Technical College Exhibition, Sumter, SC, August through October 2026
Eight works included in The “Koger Center 2025 Project Winners’ Exhibition” (one of six artists), Honorable Mention, June through August 2026
Two works are included in The Poinsettia Reimagined: Art, Migration, and the Legacy of Joel Roberts Poinsett World Exhibition, curated by Jonathan Green. The exhibit was included in the opening and dedication of The Jonathan Green Maritime Museum - USC Beaufort, SC, on March 28, 2026, after showings in two Charleston, SC libraries, before traveling internationally, 2025 - 2028.
CROWNED BY THE ROOTS: Power of Hairitage (Juried) African American Group Art Exhibition (Featuring SC Artists) at Park Circle Community Building, North Charleston, SC, February 1 – 28, 2026
CONSTELLATION: An Exhibition of African American Artists at Gemini Arts Collective, Columbia, SC, February 6 – 27, 2026
Engage Art's Gallery and 2026 Art Competition (Juried), a faith-based international online art competition
“You are my inheritance (project's soft debut)” (Solo Exhibit), Lexington County Library, Main Branch, Lexington, SC, January 2-31, 2026
“Wish You Were Here” (Group Exhibit), Richland County Library, Main Branch, Columbia, SC, January 6 - February 20, 2026
A French Quarter Fete Gala. Contemporaries Columbia Museum of Art Silent Auction (03/07/2026)