How I Go Columbia: if ART Gallery’s Wim Roefs

Originally from the Netherlands, Wim Roefs came to Columbia in 1989 to study journalism at the University of South Carolina and has since immersed himself in the Columbia arts culture.

When he is not at if ART Gallery on Lincoln Street, which he opened in 2006, he is putting together programming and curating exhibitions at 701 Whaley in the nonprofit visual art center, 701 Center for Contemporary Art, for which he serves as board chair.

Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, the 701 CCA presents Columbia Open Studios, the free, self-led, driving tour of local artists’ working studios. Sixty-four artists will participate in this year’s tour.

EAT

I don’t eat out much, but when I do, it includes some of the restaurants near where I live in Old Shandon such as Harambe Ethiopian Restaurant on Harden Street and Il Giorgione’s and Mediterranean Tea Room on Devine. My one experience at Tallulah on Devine was good, too. I really like Rosewood Market’s food, Terra across the river, Bourbon and Good Life Cafe on Main Street and in theVista, Motor Supply, Gervais & Vine and M Vista.

DRINK

I am not much of a fancy cocktail or mixed-drink kind of guy, although when confronted with them I’ll partake happily. I gravitate more toward good beers, wine and liquor. I’ve always liked Hunter-Gatherer’s beer and have had some nice River Rat beers. I very much like Bourbon’s selection of bourbons and other whiskeys and the whole set up and vibe of the place.

PLAY

This coming weekend, I’ll be playing all over Columbia and Lexington and Richland counties during 701 Center for Contemporary Art’s Columbia Open Studios tour. I really look forward to poking around in the studios of some of my favorite artists in the Midlands and hopefully discover some new ones. Then there’s English and sometimes German football – of the soccer variety – Saturday and Sunday mornings on TV. I also love to read.

SEE

What I see mostly involves visual arts, but I have had a bunch of great experiences at the University of South Carolina’s Center for Performance Experiment, which is at the USC parking lot section of Devine Street behind the Thirsty Fellow. As for art, I obviously see every exhibition at 701 Center for Contemporary Art, where I am the board chair, and at my own gallery, if ART Gallery. USC’s McMaster Gallery typically mounts very nice exhibitions, and the State Museum has had very nice exhibitions over the years. I love the Columbia Museum’s Medieval and Renaissance collection and can’t wait for them to have more space to show their modern and contemporary collection. Just outside Columbia, the Sumter County Gallery of Art does some of the most adventurous programming in the state.

LISTEN

Most concerts that I go to are experimental music or improv jazz. We are lucky in Columbia that promoter Ross Taylor brings the cream of the crop in improv jazz to Columbia ... at my own gallery and 701 CCA. I also love the USC music department’s Southern Exposure series and try to catch concerts by some of the department’s superb pianists, including Philip Bush, Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers. There’s a lot of talent at that department. I am also looking forward to the next concert of Columbia’s Vista Ensemble, recently formed by Patrick Hawkins. They play small-ensemble classical music on period instruments.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 10:39 AM with the headline "How I Go Columbia: if ART Gallery’s Wim Roefs."