Pecha Kucha nights in Charleston bring together the creative community to learn and showcase – they are so popular they often sell out weeks in advance. The next one is scheduled for October 9, 2012 in the College of Charleston’s Cistern Yard. Watch a video. This event will give arts management students at the College of Charleston the chance to experience the concept before they have to present their own in class.
Professor Jeanette Guinn says Pecha Kucha in an integral part of her course, Understanding Creativity. “The Pecha Kucha concept stretches students to be creative and expand their writing and public speaking skills,” she says. “You just can’t achieve that with a paper and a test.” This semester, student Pecha Kuchas will be presented as a marathon in three parts, on October 24, 31 and November 7, 2012 from 3:30 p.m. until 7:45 p.m, for a total of 66 in all.
“Pecha Kuchas are a concise, exciting, and visual way to pass along information,” says Molly Jarvis, a recent graduate from the Arts Management program. “They move away from students’ tendency to rely on text heavy slide presentations that can be disengaging for an audience.” Jarvis is now working as the Development Intern at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island and says, “Guinn’s creativity class and the Arts Management department have prepared me beyond my wildest dreams for my first ‘real world’ working experience.”
“Understanding our own creative process helps us to identify our strengths, weaknesses, inspirations, and fears,” says Laine Hester, a former student and program director for Sidewalk Chalk, an organization that helps Charleston County students find their artist voice and meet state English Language Arts standards. “All of these translate into how we function in our daily lives.”
Pecha Kucha, Japanese for the sound of conversation, is a mix of show-and-tell and open-mike night that has become a forum for ideas on design, architecture and other forms of creativity. Charleston is one of 135 cities across the nation to offer Pecha Kucha nights.
