Olivia Pool – Creator & Publisher of Art Mag

Many, many moons ago, Olivia appeared on a tiny dot of land in the middle of the Indian Ocean called the Seychelles Islands. She was also lucky enough to have studied in France several times. She now calls a fantastically crooked old house in downtown Charleston her home. She is the creator and publisher of Art Mag, a print and online publication focused on telling the world how fantastic Charleston’s creative community is. She also runs another company called Art Pimp Consultants that specializes in business coaching, event planning, PR and marketing. Think of it as business therapy for artists. Because having only two business endeavors seems boring, she also has a side gig as the director of the Charleston branch of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School. She is completely obsessed with circuses and elephants and never leaves home without her emergency clown nose. This Libra-sun, Leo-moon, Sagittarius-rising female loves long walks on the beach, decaf lattes, and her toy poodle, Mika Snuggles.

Signe Pike – Author

Signe Pike is a travel writer and author of Faery Tale: One Woman’s Search for Enchantment in a Modern World. The memoir received glowing reviews from Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Adventure Magazine, and Charleston magazine, among others. Pike has been featured on National Public Radio’s “To the Best of Our Knowledge” along with Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, and A.S. Byatt. She lives in Charleston, where she is at work on her next exploration into things unseen.

Sarah O’Kelley – Glass Onion

Life just doesn’t get any better than a tomato sandwich on white bread with plenty of Duke’s mayonnaise, according to Sarah. Her dark secret happens to be that during her childhood in Georgia she actually knew nothing but Hellman’s. Yet, somehow she still managed to find a career in food. A winding path via kitchens and keyboards landed her jobs with Emeril and various publications in New Orleans and Charleston. This and her gift for gab enables her to talk entirely too much about all food topics. So, she will be happy to explain every nuance of the Glass Onion to any willing person but don’t get her started on mayonnaise.

Hirona Matsuda – Artist

Using found objects Hirona Matsuda constructs miniature installations and contraptions.  Her materials range from discarded fishing rods to preserved bumble bees, and her towering library of objects provide her with a never-ending source of inspiration.  Visiting her studio can be overwhelming, but most are instantly drawn into the oddly familiar but alternate world that exists there.

Matsuda’s impulse to collect the remnants of our lives overlaps with her interest in studying the past.  Her background in Anthropology is definitely noticeable in the excavation and cataloguing that is a predominant part of her process.  Her love of all things small and old, though, might have started at birth.

Since graduating from the College of Charleston in 2007, Matsuda has shown locally at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park, the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art, Redux Contemporary Art Center, and various other private galleries.  She is currently represented by Michael Mitchell Gallery on King St. and will be having her premier show there, with local painter Lisa Shimko at the end of this month.

Pecha Kucha 13 will be held on Wednesday, March 14th.

This is the first Pecha Kucha that will have all-female speakers. We’ve heard after past PKN’s that the ladies are often underrepresented as speakers. Well, not this time. March 14th is ladies night.

Speakers Include:

1. April Magill – Sustainable Materials Architect
2. Rebekah Jacob – RJK Gallery
3. Deborah Kaufman – Sustainability Institute
4. Signe Pike — Author
5. Hirona Matsuda – Visual Artist
6. Jenny Badman – Writer
7. Olivia Pool – Publisher, Art Mag
8. Sarah O’Kelley – Glass Onion

Tickets will go on sale next Wednesday, March 7th.

Location to be announced.

Follow us on Twitter @pkchs or Facebook to keep up with the latest information on all things Pecha Kucha and Parliament.

What do you get when you combine graffiti art, ballet and an orchestra? Something new called: Fascinations.

Presented by EnCore Arts, a non-profit collaborative group formed by the Robert Ivey Ballet, the Youth Orchestra of the Lowcountry and the Charleston Art Outdoor Initiative, Fascinations is a full length multi-disciplinary art performance that will combine 7 choreographed dances, in front of 7 street inspired art pieces, all inspired by 7 classical and neo-classical scores.

The live performance will take place at the Sotille Theater Friday, March 2nd (Black-Tie Gala) and Saturday, March 3rd (Premiere Show).

For more information and tickets, visit the Event Website.

Fascinated.

Hey Charleston. There is a cool event heading our way! A girl (Kyle Durrie) and her  truck, aka Moveable Type, will be bringing a 1982 Chevy step van with a built-in, fully functioning letterpress print shop to Sideshow Press on Feb. 9. Parliamentarians and PKN presenters Sideshow Press have invited us to all come on out for hot type, boiled p-nuts and tall tales of life on the road.

For more information on a Moveable Type check out the website here.

Thanks to everyone who made it to Pecha Kucha 12 last night. We had a great time and hope you did as well.

Thank you to the speakers, the sponsors and the volunteers.

And now, the recap according to Twitter.

Pecha Kucha 12 is TODAY and will be held at The American Theater.

The American Theater is located at 446 King Street. Doors will open at 6pm. Speakers to begin at 7pm.

Concessions:

• CASH ONLY. There is an ATM available on-site
• Popcorn, Soda, Water: $2
• Beer from Westbrook Brewery, 12oz: $4

After Party! Head across the street after the show to:

Need to find an extra special gift for that hard-to-shop-for person? There will be special stocking stuffers and holiday pricing on Parliament schwag. T’is the season.

We couldn’t pull of this Pecha Kucha Night without the help of our awesomely creative, talented and generous sponsors. Big up’s to you all!