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Christina Tapp, Teresa Henry, Jason Bentley & Madelin Woods, coordinators of the event stand at the Canopy Club where CU's first Pecha Kucha will be hosted. Not pictured: Maya Bruck, Anastasia Tumanova. photo by Wallo Villacorta

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Canopy Club »
Address: 708 S. Goodwin Ave. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 367-3140
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The number 217 just became much more than an area code for Champaign-Urbana.

The sister cities were the 217th to be recognized by Pecha Kucha, an international event that fosters networking and exposure for exceptionally talented artists. The Canopy Club will host CU’s first Pecha Kucha Night, as presented by the Champaign-Urbana Design Org. (CUDO), on Friday, Sept. 11.

Upon selection, each city is required to sign a “virtual handshake agreement” with Pecha Kucha headquarters in Tokyo (where the event was founded), agreeing to follow the format of their model. Selected cities also agree to host four events per year at minimum.

A Pecha Kucha Night hosts eight to 14 presenters, typically from creative fields such as art and design, photography and architecture. Each presenter is permitted 20 slides that he or she can then explain for 20 seconds each. That gives each presenter six minutes and 40 seconds total to get his or her message out.

“These presenters include people from all different creative backgrounds,” said Madelin Woods, Board Member of the CUDO. “Their presentations are generally about the things that they are most passionate about, instead of just a dry presentation of their portfolios.” CU’s Pecha Kucha Night will feature 13 total artists, with specialties ranging from quilting and knitting to confectionary and Mathematica-based art.

To create the roster, the members of the Pecha Kucha committee pooled their contacts, each suggesting people whose work they admired. One of the committee’s major goals was to keep the selection as diverse as possible.

“It’s almost like making a mix tape,” Woods said. “It’s good to find a lot of people who don’t know each other or interact in their normal settings, but you have to keep compatibility in mind.”

Being given such a unique opportunity to network and interact with one another has the featured artists getting excited.

“I became a board member of CUDO, and I am presenting at PK night for the same reason — I want community,” artist Miriam Martincic said. “There are so many creative and talented people in town that I don’t know. I look forward to meeting some of them, and perhaps seeing their presentations at the next event.”

Pecha Kucha is featured mostly in big cities around the world, making CU’s recognition a huge honor. If the first four events are wildly successful, CU can sign on for another year or can host more than four events per year.

“Since we’re such a small city in comparison, we’re going to stick to the minimum for the first time around and really push the quality,” Woods said. “But we’ve got a lot of ideas for different themes or venues should we decide to continue.”

Woods has hopes that after the first event people will have a better idea of what Pecha Kucha is and that the word will spread like wildfire. Word of mouth seems to be the best way to advertise at present, as the name “Pecha Kucha” does not lend much insight into what the event is about.

However, Pecha Kucha is not completely unknown in the CU area.

“[Pecha Kucha is] ‘all the rage’ in design circles, at least, in this hemisphere,” said CU local and Pecha Kucha presenter Andy Warfel. “[It’s] arguably the biggest thing since ironic limited-edition tee-shirts.”

CUDO board member Christina Tapp first encountered Pecha Kucha Night in Budapest during a design week, and after getting on board with CUDO, was adamant about bringing the event to Champaign-Urbana. Woods credits Tapp and Peter Exely, the organizer for Pecha Kucha in Chicago, with being the front runners of the project.

Everyone involved in organizing the Pecha Kucha Night has volunteered his or her time to get involved. Planning the event has brought together a wealth of diverse people for something the whole community can share and appreciate.

“We’ve been putting a lot of effort into making a huge impact, so Champaign-Urbana will be recognized internationally as one of the most bad-ass Pecha Kucha’s in the world,” Woods said.