PechaKucha Night Knoxville

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PechaKucha Night Knoxville

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Come to learn about amazing things and people in Knoxville and be inspired by others.

PechaKucha Night is an event where creators, entrepreneurs, dreamers, travelers, makers, and doers share their stories using only 20 images for 20 seconds each! To be considered as a future PKN presenter, fill out the form at bit.ly/pknknoxville

To be considered as a designer for an event poster, fill out the form at https://tinyurl.com/ysmm7ay9

11/09/2026

Most of us have heard of human trafficking. Far fewer of us have a clear picture of what it actually looks like, especially here in East Tennessee.

Mary Adkins is the Director of Development at the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, an organization doing the difficult, deeply human work of supporting survivors and helping our communities understand what's happening right under our noses.

Through survivor services, education, and a regional hotline, the Coalition is confronting a reality that looks quite different from the sensationalized versions we see on television.

Mary will help us separate fact from fiction, understand how trafficking happens in our own region, and learn what we can do to help. It's a conversation worth having, even when the subject is uncomfortable.

Join us Thursday, November 12 at The Mill & Mine for PechaKucha Night Knoxville Vol. 61 and stories rooted in creativity, care, and imagining a better Knoxville.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

11/09/2026

There's a lot wrapped up in the question of whether, and when, to have children. Education, work, relationships, money, health. Not exactly a small decision.

Taylor Phipps grew up in rural East Tennessee, where her interest in women's rights, education, and reproductive healthcare took shape. Today, her work with A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee focuses on expanding access to birth control and helping people make informed decisions about their own futures.

Taylor will talk about what becomes possible when people have more control over if and when they become parents. It's a conversation about healthcare, certainly, but also about the freedom to make plans for your life and have a fair shot at following them.

Join us Thursday, November 12 at The Mill & Mine for PechaKucha Night Knoxville Vol. 61 and stories rooted in creativity, ambition, and imagining a better Knoxville.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

11/09/2026

What does Knoxville look like when you hand the camera to someone else?

Matthew DeBardelaben and Rebecca Ridner wanted to find out. So they gave 12 disposable cameras to 12 different people and let them loose on the city for a week.
There's something lovely about the whole idea. No filters, no checking the shot, no taking 47 versions of the same sunset. Just a handful of exposures and whatever happens to catch someone's eye.

They're bringing the results to PechaKucha, and we're especially curious to see the Knoxville that shows up in those photographs. The one we all live in, but don't see the same way.

Join us Thursday, November 12 at The Mill & Mine for PechaKucha Night Knoxville Vol. 61 and stories rooted in creativity, ambition, and imagining a better Knoxville.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

11/08/2026

Alan Lowe thought he'd make about 25 photographic poems. A nice little creative project. He now has nearly 600.

Alan has spent much of his career surrounded by history, from presidential libraries across the country to his current role leading the American Museum of Science and Energy and the Atomic History Campus in Oak Ridge. Somewhere along the way, he developed a rather consuming interest in combining his own photographs with poetry.

This experiment has now turned into a small mountain of images, words, and observations about everything from the ordinary to the cosmic.

He's bringing 20 of them to PechaKucha. As for whether this creative obsession has helped preserve his sanity or pushed him further from it, Alan says the jury is still out.

Join us Thursday, November 12 at The Mill & Mine for PechaKucha Night Knoxville Vol. 61 and stories rooted in creativity, ambition, and imagining a better Knoxville.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

11/07/2026

A fun recession. That's what Cordelia Norris and Sally Smith are calling it, and we regret to report that the diagnosis seems pretty accurate.

Somewhere between work, bills, family, and the never-ending list of things we're supposed to be doing, a lot of us have quietly stopped making time for the things we actually enjoy.

Cordelia and Sally, both working artists, started Sketch Club earlier this year to do something about that. It's a playful gathering place for emerging and established artists, including plenty who have spent years putting their creative ambitions on the back burner.

They're joining us to talk about why we keep talking ourselves out of making things, and what happens when we finally give ourselves permission to start again.
The laundry can wait. Probably. Maybe.

Join us Thursday, November 12 at The Mill & Mine for PechaKucha Night Knoxville Vol. 61 and stories rooted in creativity, ambition, and imagining a better Knoxville.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

11/07/2026

Making art is fun. Until it isn't. Until you're stuck, frustrated, second-guessing everything, or wondering why you ever thought this was a good idea. Knoxville artist Joshua Shorey has spent a lot of time thinking about that particular predicament.

Through his interdisciplinary art studio, BAPO, he's developed a way of mapping the creative process around three things: pleasure, competence, and growth. Understanding how they work together, and when you might need a little more of one and a little less of another, seems to be a trick he's found.

He'll be sharing his approach to keeping the creative process alive, even when it gets complicated. And for anyone who's ever stared at a half-finished project wondering what went wrong, this one might hit close to home.

Join us Thursday, November 12 at The Mill & Mine for PechaKucha Night Knoxville Vol. 61 and stories rooted in creativity, stewardship, and imagining a better Knoxville.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

11/07/2026

We're coming at ya this Thursday night! Your presenters are:

1.) Josh Shorey
2.) Cordelia Norris and Sally Smith
3.) Alan Lowe
4.) Matthew DeBardelaben and Rebecca Ridner
5.) Taylor Phipps
6.) Mary Adkins
7.) Geoffrey Cavalier
8.) Caroline King and Heather Zuchowski
9.) Jonah Pruitt

Join us at the Mill and Mine. Doors are at 6:30, presentations begin at 7:20.

08/05/2026

For Volume 60, Liz Lee brings her signature dreamlike style to the page, weaving together vivid color, natural forms, and layered symbolism that invites curiosity before a single story is told.

Inspired by her own journey through hardship and healing, Liz's work asks us to slow down, notice the details, and discover that there's often more beneath the surface than we first imagined.

Which feels like a pretty good way to describe a PechaKucha Night, too.

Join us Thursday at The Mill & Mine for an evening of stories and community.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

08/04/2026

Nature keeps excellent books. Matter moves. Energy changes. Nothing simply disappears.

For nearly two decades, Chris Burger has worked at the intersection of agriculture, community infrastructure, and emerging technology. His presentation asks what our economic systems might learn from the natural world—and what happens when debt, extraction, and ecological costs are pushed beyond the edges of the ledger.
Light stuff. Just the future of commerce and civilization.

Join us Thursday, August 6 at The Mill & Mine for an evening of stories that ask big questions about how we live, what we value, and what balance really means.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

08/03/2026

Running for office begins with a simple thought. Maybe I could do this.

After a recent campaign for Knoxville City Council, Frank Ramey came away with a closer look at how local government works, what it takes to put your name on the ballot, and why ordinary people should see themselves as part of the process. His presentation shares what he learned on the campaign trail—and why having an impact on your city may be more possible than you think.

Step one: apparently, a lot of yard signs.

Join us Thursday, August 6 at The Mill & Mine for an evening of stories about participation, possibility, and showing up for the place you call home.

The event is free to attend, though donations are appreciated. Doors are at 6:30 and presentations begin at 7:20.

Address

Knoxville, TN

Website

http://www.pechakucha.org/cities/knoxville

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