Pecha Kucha is returning to Current Space on Wednesday, October 4th! The last one was so fun and interesting and we can't wait to hear what the presenters share this time.

Pecha Kucha is visual storytelling format where each presenter prepares and shares exactly 20 slides. The presentation is set to automatically advance every 20 seconds, ensuring a fun and fast-paced night of engaging talks. Get a glimpse into the past, current, and future musings of folks doing creative, inspiring, and unique work here in Baltimore!

Including:
- Bao Nguyen (Experimental vocalist and performance artist )
- Collin Schnitker (Shiny Boy Press)
- Elliot Keeley (Metalsmith/Artist)
- Liz Vayda (Owner and Founder of B.Willow)
- Paul Sodolak (Herbalist)
- Priya Hay-Chattopadhyay (Baltimore Abortion Fund)
- Shelley Halstead (Black Women Build)

Talks begin at 7, but the Current Space Garden Bar is open starting at 5, with happy hour from 5-7pm.

Bios –
Liz Vayda is the owner and founder B.Willow, a houseplant shop in Remington, in operation since 2017. She received a Bachelor's in Psychology from Earlham College in 2009, and a Master's in Environmental Science from JHU in 2013. Her mission is to provide meaningful, insightful, and beneficial ways of engaging with nature on a frequent basis. With a focus on Baltimore, she works to integrate nature into people’s homes, businesses, schools and organizations. She is especially interested in the conservation of plants in the wild, and regularly partners with the IUCN (International Union on the Conservation of Nature) and the CPC (Center for Plant Conservation) to better educate indoor plant enthusiasts about the illegal plant trade and other challenges facing plant conservation. Her shop is open Tuesday-Sunday. You can find more info about B.Willow at Bwillow.com or on Instagram at @bwillowbmo.

Shelley Halstead (Black Women Build):
Shelley has lived and worked all over the globe: From a commune in Belgium to an ashram in India to a science station in Antarctica. Shelley moved to Baltimore in 2015 after spending 20 years in Seattle, where she was a union carpenter for many years. While in the Pacific Northwest she also managed her own construction business and has bought and sold numerous houses, restoring each one. After attending law school as a William H. Gates Public Service Law Scholar at the University of Washington School of Law, Shelley decided to put her skills as a carpenter and her passion for economic justice together by using her degree and particular skillset to begin Black Women Build. Black Women Build has completed 10 houses since August 2019 and has 25 more in the pipeline to be completed in the next 18 months.

Elliot Keeley (metalsmith/ artist) is an artist and metalsmith from North Carolina living and working in Baltimore. He holds a BFA from Appalachian State University. From 2017-2019, he participated in the two year Core Fellowship at Penland School of Craft.
Elliot's work explores different processes, often incorporating ceramics, drawing, painting, and collage into his work, all while maintaining and specializing a practice in metal. He currently works to manage the Baltimore Jewelry Center, a non-profit jewelry educational space.

Priya Hay-Chattopadhyay (Baltimore Abortion Fund): Priya got their start in reproductive justice with Pro-Choice Maryland when testifying on a bill in 2018, and she’s worked in the movement ever since. Before receiving her B.A. in English and Certificate in Women’s and Queer Studies in 2020, Priya received the University of Maryland’s Mildred & Richard Loving Award for service to the university community. (Go Terps!) Their nonprofit communications career has crossed paths with REPRO Rising Virginia, ACLU Delaware, and the Baltimore Abortion Fund — where she's currently Communications Manager.Priya was born and raised by first-generation parents in Montgomery County and now lives in Baltimore. When she’s not advocating for reproductive and economic justice, you can find her crocheting blankets for friends and family.

Bao Nguyen (performance artist):
I am Bao Nguyen (they/them), a performance artist and experimental vocalist born in Quy Nhon, Vietnam and based in Baltimore. I have been developing site-specific, participatory performances in natural locations and sacred spaces, incorporating audience participation, conversation, singing and movement. My recent performances include The Center for Questioning and Questioning and Questioning? (one-on-one performances staged in Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, Norfolk, CT and Jones Falls trail, Baltimore) and Sentient Sediment ( small group performances at St Mark Lutheran Church). I hope to share some key insights from my practice of creating transformative performances that emplace the audience's life concerns into landscapes and metaphors of natural elements. As someone who grew up Catholic and is currently practicing Zen Buddhism, I am passionate about designing spiritually moving experiences that are untamed by religious language and approachable to people from different walks of life. My work can be found here: baonguyenstudio.com

Paul Sodolak is a plant worker and tarot reader nearing ten years in devotion to the plants of the Piedmont lands of the Piscataway peoples in Baltimore, MD. They completed the Community Herbalism program at the Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine in 2020 and have apprenticed for multiple years with herbalists in Baltimore and DC. Paul's practice springs forth from the premise that abundance surrounds us, and that the ancestors, especially our plant kin, have much to teach us. They offer plant spirit sessions and tarot readings online and in person at their studio inside Fruit Camp in Remington. You can find out more at nineofcups.net or on instagram @nineofcupsherbs.

Collin Schnitker is a Baltimore based artist & owner/operator of Shiny Boy Press, a local independent record label / arts collective / production company. Collin’s work through Shiny Boy Press focuses on helping other artists with their projects with the goal of cataloging, curating & preserving DIY efforts as well as bridging the gaps between the vast arts communities in Baltimore & beyond.

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This is our second Pecha Kucha, but we hope to continue with many more starting again in the spring when the Current Space Garden Bar reopens.

Interesting in sharing at a future event? Please email currentspace@gmail.com with the subject line "Pecha Kucha Proposal" – include a short description of what you'd like to talk about and a link to your website (if relevant).

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This outdoor event will be held in our rear courtyard. Enter through the alley at 421 Tyson Street.

Accessibility and Parking Info: currentspace.com/contact

No outside drinks please. Outside food welcome.
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Consider becoming a sustaining member of Current Space – membership starts at just $5/month! Supporters ($10/month) get half price advance tickets and Benefactors ($25/month) get free advance tickets.

Since 2004, we've been putting on exhibitions, music shows, performance events, fashion shows, art markets, poetry readings, lectures, workshops, and more. Supporting members help make this possible and truly help us continue operating!

This program is made possible in part by supporting members like you; the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization; the generous contributions of The Maryland State Arts Council; and the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.