PechaKucha 46

PechaKucha, Japanese for “chit chat,” is a presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total) keeping presentation concise, fast-paced, and powerful. Charleston Music Hall is proud to be the official venue and producer of PechaKucha Charleston. The Music Hall, with help from our collaborators Charleston Arts Festival and artist liaison Terry Fox, hopes to focus on developing a strong, interesting, and diverse presenter line up from an array of different artistic, creative, and entrepreneurial disciplines and encourage collaboration, communication, and support in Charleston’s creative community.

AsiahMae, stylized A$iahMae, (they/she) is a Black, non-binary Southern poet, humorist and cultural curator with roots in Georgia, South and North Carolina. A multi-hyphenated artist, their background spans across film, curation, production, performance and language arts. Their work is an attempt to document the duality of the internal exploration and external expression of spirit, love, ritual and Black Southern connection to land and sea. A$iahmae is a Watering Hole Fellow and has been featured in The Gibbes Museum of Art, OneWord Poetry Festival, The Charleston Literary Festival, and most recently in This is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, curated by Kwame Alexander. They are currently serving as the Second Poet Laureate of Charleston, SC.

Clyde Moser is a Charleston-based educator, director, and performer. He graduated from the College of Charleston with a Master’s in Teaching Performing Arts. Clyde was honored by the Kennedy Center with the KCACTF Distinguished Director and Performance awards for his work on the CofC production of Violet. He has performed in many shows around Charleston.

Clyde is also a board member of The Void Theater Company and the Communications and Advocacy Board Member for the South Carolina Chapter of the International Thespian Society. He is currently the Theatre Director at Wando High School.

His theater credits include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Prom, Wild Party, The Full Monty, Once on this Island, Addams Family, RENT, A Chorus Line, and the New York Summer Play Festival. Clyde is a Social Justice Advocate for Black and LGBTQ+ visibility and equality.

Raised in the Philippines and on Long Island, Domenico Ruggerio is a transformative leader and social justice educator. Domenico is the executive director of We Are Family, the oldest nonprofit in SC providing life-saving and life-affirming programs for LGBTQ+ youth. They earned a master’s degree in humanistic/multicultural education at SUNY New Paltz, and a B.A. in sociology and anthropology at Colgate University. Prior to joining We Are Family, they served as the director of education, advocacy, and systems transformation at Teach For America South Carolina.

Previously, they held administrative positions in higher education that supported and empowered students of color and LGBTQ+ students and communities. They ran the Bonner Program at the College of Charleston— an access to education leadership program that centers service learning and civic engagement in larger social justice contexts. Domenico also directed the ALANA (African American/Black, Latinx, Asian/Asian American and Native American) Cultural Center and LGBTQ Center at Vassar College, was an academic advisor at Bard College, and was the assistant director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Oberlin College in Ohio.

Domenico is one of the co-founders and facilitators of the Transformative Teaching Collective, a predominantly female, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC-owned cooperative that provides social justice education and consultation to non-profit organizations, university faculty and student groups, government organizations, k-12 teachers, volunteer groups, and faith-based organizations. They are also formally certified in social justice mediation from the Social Justice Mediation Institute, UMass Amherst, and has skills in multipartial mediation, facilitation, and conflict resolution.

In their free time, Domenico serves on the boards of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston City Paper, and is an active member and vice president of the Charleston Blockade Rugby Club— the state’s first queer and inclusive sports team. In 2023, they were awarded the LGBT+ Icon Award by the Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, a Forty Under 40 honoree by the Charleston Regional Business Journal, and a Jefferson Award by Multiplying Good South Carolina.

Fotios Pantazis (“Foti”), the son of newly arrived immigrants from Greece who spoke no English prior to entering school, grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Worcester, MA.

He earned his BS and an MBA in Boston and New York. He has held a variety of positions both within the telecommunications industry and as an outside consultant, and has deep knowledge and expertise in the areas of Customer Relationship Management, Customer Insight, Project Management, New Product Development, Large Team Management, and Process Reengineering.

After 20 + years in the corporate world, Foti completely changed careers and became a Medical Exercise Specialist/Orthopedic Exercise Specialist, helping older clients to successfully navigate their next decades through rehabilitative, physical therapy, and strength and conditioning protocols.

He and his partner, Lee Bell, recently retired and moved to Charleston from Palm Beach. He is fluent in Greek and Spanish, he currently studies tai chi, and still maintains a small but dedicated client base both in his home gym and online.

He currently serves as the head of the Advisory Board of We Are Family.

Bandleader and multi-faceted guitarist, Grace McNally, crosses genres and cultures with her arrangements, original music and interpretations of jazz standards and folk songs.

As featured on TEDx, her concerts have been described as captivating and imaginative, as audiences journey through the rich cultural landscapes of West Africa and the Americas.

When she is not writing or performing, McNally is station manager for WOHM Radio 96.3FM and has a weekly radio show called Travel Notes that uses music as a medium to explore ways in which we are all connected.

Chef Graham Calabria is an innovative visionary who defies convention and embraces the transformative potential of food to foster unity across cultures. Drawing inspiration from his Appalachian roots, he upholds a philosophy of minimal waste and reverence for the departed, recognizing that everything we consume carries the life force that sustains us.

I have been creating art for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Tacoma WA, where I spent a lot of rainy days drawing, watching cartoons, reading comics and playing video games. My early creativity was heavily influenced by skate and punk culture, which eventually got me very involved with the local Hip Hop community. All of these influences can still be seen in my work today. After having lived for periods of time in FL, NYC & LA, I am currently based out of Charleston, SC. My time spent in the major cities of the USA opened my eyes to tons of new visual worlds and helped shape me into the artist I am today. I continue to push myself as a painter combining all my past experiences & design skills to form new work every day.

Lissa Frenkel is the President &CEO of the Charleston Gaillard Center, a leading performing arts center in the Southeast and anchoring cultural institution in the heart of Charleston, SC. Since she was appointed in 2021, she has transformed the organization into a destination for dynamic performances, robust education programs, and thoughtful community initiatives that create connection and promote essential cultural and civic dialogue. Under her leadership, the Gaillard commissions, produces and presents ambitious, multidisciplinary artists and performances that reflect the city’s diversity and push artistic boundaries, particularly around telling underrecognized stories of Southern artists and activists of color. Frenkel has strengthened the Gaillard’s commitment to world-class and risk-taking dance performances, commissioned several regional premieres, deepened engagement with local artists and the community, and enhanced access to the arts locally and across the state.

Previously, Frenkel served as managing director of the Park Avenue Armory, a premier cultural
institution producing and commissioning unconventional works in the performing and visual arts in
Manhattan and the Lincoln Center Development Project.

Originally from Boston, Frenkel earned her undergraduate degree in art history from Emory University and her master’s degree in urban planning from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

A native of Houston, Texas, Michael grew up striving to be a professional golfer but became interested in cooking while working at a golf club in high school. Instead of pursuing a golf career, Michael received a scholarship to attend an American Culinary Federation Apprenticeship hosted through North Carolina’s famed Pinehurst Resort. Upon graduation, he moved to New York City where he worked at Thomas Keller’s, Bouchon and shortly after landed as a sous chef at Mario Batali’s, Babbo at the young age of 21. After four years at the renowned restaurant, Michael was made the executive chef of Eataly’s Manzo, the Italian food mecca’s fine-dining restaurant.

In 2012, as the Chef and Owner he opened Perla, a modern Italian restaurant located in Greenwich Village, which received many accolades including: Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America, New York Times Two Stars, and Time Out New York Best Italian Restaurant. In addition to Perla, Michael later took over the kitchens at the seafood focused Jeffrey’s Grocery, and Montmartre, a contemporary French bistro. Michael was named a “New York Rising Star” by StarChefs.com, Zagat 30 Under 30, James Beard 3 time “Rising Star Chef” semifinalist and was selected to be part of the Williams Sonoma’s Chefs’ Collective.

In the summer of 2015 Michael and his wife Caitlin moved with their two children Julian and Marley to Charleston, South Carolina. They then opened the first restaurant of their group, Le Farfalle, followed by da Toscano in NYC, Porchetta Shop & the newest addition Fugazzi at Revelry Brewing in Charleston. In Michael‘s free time he loves relaxing with his family and dogs, lifting weights, playing golf and coaching his son’s basketball team.