Pecha Kucha: 2026 Season
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!
Talks begin at 7pm, Current Space Garden Bar opens at 6:30pm.
2026 Dates:
- April 30
- May 27
- June 25
More dates announced soon!
April 30th Speakers
- Bao Nguyen
- Bilal Khan
- Dharna Noor
- Heather Graham
- JB Aris
- Jenn Figg
- Mary Opasik
- Matthew Anderschat
May 27th Speakers
- Julie Shapiro
- Tommy Doyle
- and more!
June 25th Speakers
- Justin Beitzel
- Kristin Zeminski
- Sarah Fouts
- Sarah Magida
- and more!
Bios:
Bao Nguyen is a performance and visual artist based in Baltimore and raised in Vietnam. They improvise through movement, action, voice and words to unravel a range of emotions. Recently, they recited Cardi B’s “WAP”, rolled in a blanket while being naked, ate soil, scolded the audience and asked for their keys. Bao messes up the context of DIY and institutional spaces they perform in to uncover collective intimacy, openness and vulnerability.
Bilal Khan is a Pakistani expat residing in Baltimore since 2022. Having fallen in love with the Charm City, Bilal loves exploring its different neighborhoods, festivals, and activities. He spends most of his time reading, writing and cooking. He also works as a public health professional focused on improving access to vaccines.
Dharna Noor is a fossil fuels and climate reporter at Guardian US.
Dr. Heather Graham is an organic geochemist with a profound curiosity about the natural world, the history of life, the vast connections between biological and abiotic systems, and what evolution can tell us about our future. Dr Graham designs life detection tools and techniques at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center but their original training was in paleoecology, using chemistry to understand ecosystems of the distant past.
JB Aris is a writer, musician, performance artist, sorceress, and teacher living in Baltimore, Maryland. They are the author of Tea Leaves, the co-host of Proxima Arcanum, the vocalist of Moth Broth, the instructor of numerous college writing courses, and the self-proclaimed Baba Yaga of the Bathhouse.
Dr. Jenn Figg and Matthew McCormack are collaborative, interdisciplinary artist-researchers investigating light energy and universal geometries. Our backgrounds are rooted in the material and craft methodologies of textiles and glass. While we identify our creative heritage with the feminist fibers movement of the 1960’s and the American Studio Glass movement respectively, we draw directly from a myriad of sources beyond the arts field. Science and engineering are foundational; for example, imagery from deep space informs our visual choices. Dr. Figg holds a BFA in Textiles from the Rhode Island School of Design, an MFA from the University of California, and a Ph.D. in Media, Art and Text from the Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a Professor of Art at Towson University. McCormack holds an BFA from Ohio State University and an MFA from Towson University.
Dr. Figg is also a 2026 Baker Artist Awards Finalist with work currently on view in the gallery.
Mary Deacon Opasik is a Baltimore-based artist who has devoted the last three decades to creating assemblage art from found and repurposed objects. She received her BFA, cum laude, in 1988 from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, Maryland.
Mary Opasik is also a 2026 Baker Artist Awards Finalist with work currently on view in the gallery.
Matthew Anderschat is a photographer from Silver Spring, Maryland currently based in Baltimore. His current work explores identity and culture in the Caucasus region.
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Interesting in sharing at a future event? Please email [email protected] 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. Rain or shine.
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Accessibility and Getting Here: https://www.currentspace.com/contact
-----
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.
Current Space is an artist-run gallery, studio, outdoor performance space, and garden bar; nourishing an ongoing dialogue between artists, activists, performers, designers, curators, and thinkers. Operating since November 2004, we are committed to showcasing, developing, and broadening the reach of artists locally and internationally.
Thank You
Programs at Current Space are made possible in part by supporting members like you, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, and William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Portfolios at BakerArtist.org.
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!
Talks begin at 7pm, Current Space Garden Bar opens at 6:30pm.
2026 Dates:
- April 30
- May 27
- June 25
More dates announced soon!
April 30th Speakers
- Bao Nguyen
- Bilal Khan
- Dharna Noor
- Heather Graham
- JB Aris
- Jenn Figg
- Mary Opasik
- Matthew Anderschat
May 27th Speakers
- Julie Shapiro
- Tommy Doyle
- and more!
June 25th Speakers
- Justin Beitzel
- Kristin Zeminski
- Sarah Fouts
- Sarah Magida
- and more!
Bios:
Bao Nguyen is a performance and visual artist based in Baltimore and raised in Vietnam. They improvise through movement, action, voice and words to unravel a range of emotions. Recently, they recited Cardi B’s “WAP”, rolled in a blanket while being naked, ate soil, scolded the audience and asked for their keys. Bao messes up the context of DIY and institutional spaces they perform in to uncover collective intimacy, openness and vulnerability.
Bilal Khan is a Pakistani expat residing in Baltimore since 2022. Having fallen in love with the Charm City, Bilal loves exploring its different neighborhoods, festivals, and activities. He spends most of his time reading, writing and cooking. He also works as a public health professional focused on improving access to vaccines.
Dharna Noor is a fossil fuels and climate reporter at Guardian US.
Dr. Heather Graham is an organic geochemist with a profound curiosity about the natural world, the history of life, the vast connections between biological and abiotic systems, and what evolution can tell us about our future. Dr Graham designs life detection tools and techniques at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center but their original training was in paleoecology, using chemistry to understand ecosystems of the distant past.
JB Aris is a writer, musician, performance artist, sorceress, and teacher living in Baltimore, Maryland. They are the author of Tea Leaves, the co-host of Proxima Arcanum, the vocalist of Moth Broth, the instructor of numerous college writing courses, and the self-proclaimed Baba Yaga of the Bathhouse.
Dr. Jenn Figg and Matthew McCormack are collaborative, interdisciplinary artist-researchers investigating light energy and universal geometries. Our backgrounds are rooted in the material and craft methodologies of textiles and glass. While we identify our creative heritage with the feminist fibers movement of the 1960’s and the American Studio Glass movement respectively, we draw directly from a myriad of sources beyond the arts field. Science and engineering are foundational; for example, imagery from deep space informs our visual choices. Dr. Figg holds a BFA in Textiles from the Rhode Island School of Design, an MFA from the University of California, and a Ph.D. in Media, Art and Text from the Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a Professor of Art at Towson University. McCormack holds an BFA from Ohio State University and an MFA from Towson University.
Dr. Figg is also a 2026 Baker Artist Awards Finalist with work currently on view in the gallery.
Mary Deacon Opasik is a Baltimore-based artist who has devoted the last three decades to creating assemblage art from found and repurposed objects. She received her BFA, cum laude, in 1988 from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, Maryland.
Mary Opasik is also a 2026 Baker Artist Awards Finalist with work currently on view in the gallery.
Matthew Anderschat is a photographer from Silver Spring, Maryland currently based in Baltimore. His current work explores identity and culture in the Caucasus region.
-------
Interesting in sharing at a future event? Please email [email protected] 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).
------
This outdoor event will be held in our rear courtyard. Enter through the alley at 421 Tyson Street. Rain or shine.
------
Accessibility and Getting Here: https://www.currentspace.com/contact
-----
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.
Current Space is an artist-run gallery, studio, outdoor performance space, and garden bar; nourishing an ongoing dialogue between artists, activists, performers, designers, curators, and thinkers. Operating since November 2004, we are committed to showcasing, developing, and broadening the reach of artists locally and internationally.
Thank You
Programs at Current Space are made possible in part by supporting members like you, the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, and William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, creator of the Baker Artist Portfolios at BakerArtist.org.
