Hello Fellow Parliamentarians.

With a record 30-minute sell-out, the anticipation for Pecha Kucha 13 is building. Tomorrow night’s all-female speaker line-up will be one for the books. While there are no single tickets left, we do have 13 House of Commons Membership spots left for 2012. By purchasing a House of Commons Membership you will not only have a ticket for Pecha Kucha 13, but one for all of the remaining 2012 Pecha Kuchas.

This is the last chance to be a part of the 2012 House of Commons (and your way into Pecha Kucha 13). A House of Commons Membership is $50. For that you will get:

1. One (1) guaranteed ticket to every Pecha Kucha Night event this year – no more worrying about quick sell-outs (like PKN 12 or PKN 13)
2. Awesome Parliament Schwag
3. A few surprises through out the year, courtesy of the friendly folks of Parliament
4. That warm feeling from knowing that you’re giving just a little bit extra to help our volunteers put on the labor of love that is Pecha Kucha Night Charleston

To purchase click HERE.

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.

As if out of a reality show, comes The Perfect Pitch. The premise: Ten entrepreneurs pitch to judges to see if they have what it takes to get funding, a team of advisors and recognition. Five finalists move on to the final round and one entrepreneur will be selected as having the “Perfect Pitch”.

Thursday, November 10
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The American Theater
446 King St., Charleston
Advanced registration (by Nov. 9): $20 for Chamber members, $30 for non-members
Registration (after Nov. 9): $25 for Chamber members, $35 for non-members

Click to link to the ticket page.

YALLFest. RAISING LOWCOUNTRY LITERACY THROUGH GREAT YA LITERATURE.

YALLFest 2011 will bring twenty top young adult writers from all over the country to Charleston for two days of seminars and panels. Events will be held at the College of Charleston and Blue Bicycle Books on November 11-12th. 

All events during the day are free and open to the public, and the Festival will come to a close with the YA SmackDown, Saturday night.  An “all-star jam” with teams of thevisiting YA authors competing for Lowcountry glory in storytelling games. (This event will be ticketed — kid-friendly prices).

To see the complete schedule or to find out more about YALLFest visit the event website here.

I want to become a kick*ss artist.

What: 2nd Annual Professional Development Day for Visual Artists
When: Saturday Oct 15, 10am – 5pm
Instructor: Redux visiting artist Susan kae Grant
Cost: $30 early registration (before October 8), $40 late registration (after October 8). Ticket cost includes lunch provided by Poogan’s Porch.

This informational and inspiring workshop focuses on seven strategies that Grant believes are crucial for preparing yourself for a successful and satisfying career as an artist. To find out more information or to register visit Redux Studios website.

The Wall St. Journal reported on the recent Census study. While not showing completely up-beat results, much of which stemmed from the impact of the recession, what it did show was cities, like Charleston, SC were retaining and gaining well-educated residents.

In fact, Charleston, SC was ranked as the #1 metro area with the biggest growth in the percentage of adults with college degrees.  ”Of the largest 100 metropolitan areas, those with the highest percentage of college graduates in 2000 outpaced in education gains areas with lower percentages of college grads. For instance, the 10 cities with the highest share of their population holding a bachelor’s degree or higher saw that share jump by an average of 4.6 percentage points over the decade, while the bottom 10 saw their share grow 3.1 percentage points.”

This brain gain is in part to local contributions geared towards retaining and attracting this talent. One of which comes from a recruitment effort for raw computer scientist talent from the other 49 states to the Computing in the Arts program at the College of Charleston  and 84% of those in the program stay in South Carolina after graduation.

To read the full article, go to the WSJ.

Well, not exactly in that order. Soon enough the 2012 BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival® will be back in Charleston and all will be flocking to Marion Square and other designated locations to enjoy the feast that Charleston offers.

Each year there is an official poster and a call-for-entries is up and running for 2012. So up and run – entries are due this Friday, September 16th. The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize and the title of Official Poster Artist. The design will be featured on official Festival merchandise and showcased in storefronts across the Lowcountry. The official poster design will be unveiled at a later event in the fall.

“We’re looking for something fresh and that has never been done before,” said Zach Norris, Graphic Designer for the Festival. “2012 will be the seventh year of the Festival and elements of the lucky number seven would be fun to incorporate.”

Submitted designs will be judged by a panel represented by Charleston’s culinary and art communities. Applications are available at charlestonwineandfood.com and entries are free of charge. Or for more information and details go to the Poster Competition Facebook Page.

For inspiration, here is the 2011 winner.

The Charleston Regional Alliance for the Arts is hosting the 2nd annual “OPEN” Arts Expo. The event is free and open to the public on September 10th from noon – 5:30pm at Memminger Auditorium.

Featured activities inside include: building Charleston’s creative arts district with LEGOS; a family-fun-arts corner directed by Creative Spark Center for the Arts; a scheduled series of participatory art activities giving attendees a personal and intimate experience of the arts; a multi-media film screening of local performances, concerts and exhibits.

Beaufain Street will be closed off for the event, attendees will enjoy famous fare from the Charleston Food Truck Federation; local performances and street performers.

For more details, visit the event page here.

A recent article by The Atlantic titled, ”The Recession’s Surprise Survivor: The Arts,” points out what opportunities lie ahead for the creative community - even in a recession. Or more importantly because of it.

And it’s not just the arts in the traditional sense. Graphic designers and computer engineers are part of those opportunities. Cloud computing, social media, smart phone apps, all have designers and engineers behind them.

On a local level, the computer science department at the College of Charleston has been doing practice-oriented education since 1980, as it has a technical department embedded in a liberal arts experience. The College has offers a BA degree, Computing in the Arts, housed in Computer Science. This degree program infuses creativity, practice and business notions where creative human expression and design is embodied in new computational media forms.

Where usually the creative jobs are the ones cut first, this push for creative thinking and demand for it gives those in the creative industries a positive outlook for for holding a 9-5 (well, probably not 9-5 exactly but you get the point).