Meghann Gunderman is about to go on the ride of her life. On this Friday, July 16, she and a group of 35 will embark on RIDETZ, a 10 day, 400 mile mountain biking trek, from the base of Mt Kilimanjaro across Tanzania to the Indian Ocean.

“This is a stunningly diverse adventure tracing the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro down the slave routes, into the ancient Usambara Mountains and finally to the coastal town of Pangani, the gateway to the ancient routes. This challenge will test the riders physical limits as well as give each rider a first hand experience of TFFT’s work and how education can directly benefit Tanzanian communities.”

The ride is a fundraising effort organized by The Foundation For Tomorrow (TFFT), a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides scholarships for African orphans to attend boarding school in their home countries. Money raised will pay for tuition, uniforms, books, housing and doctors’ appointments at boarding schools. Currently, the foundation sponsors 71 children as well as supporting eight orphanages.

Queen City Roots

Meghann grew up in Charlotte, an avid runner, and enjoyed the opportunities presented by quality education and travel. She studied International Relations and Human Geography (Development Studies) at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and spent three summers researching and working in an orphanage in northern Tanzania. While still in college, she raised tens of thousands of dollars to enhance the orphanage’s barest facilities, helping to deliver a range of essentials so often taken for granted in the developed world: a washing machine, a power generator and even a water filter, to provide something as simple as safe drinking water for the orphanage’s children and staff.

[callout]Education For Life

• Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned from AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. changethroughchildren.aed.org
• Young people who have completed primary education are less than half as likely to contract HIV as those missing an education. (OXFAM)
• Only half of Africa’s children will complete primary school and one in six will die before their fifth birthday. makepovertyhistory.org
• Universal primary education throughout the world would prevent 700,000 cases of HIV each year, almost 30% of all new infections in this age group. infoforhealth.org
• Providing universal primary education would cost just $10 billion a year. makepovertyhistory.org

[/callout]

In 2006 she turned her passion into a career, and founded TFFT. Today, she serves as the foundation’s executive director, and is a key liaison with many of the individual sponsors and potential donors. Other TFFT fundraising initiatives include annual gala events in Charlotte and New York City.

Corporate sponsors have provided funding and a variety of equipment to outfit the riders for their trip. A camera crew will accompany them on their journey, to document their travels and help share the experience, and the TFFT’s work, with the world.

You can follow the adventure on various social media channels:

Get updates from the staff in Africa, and the riders, on the RIDETZ Facebook page, and The Foundation for Tomorrow’s blog, Facebook page and website. You can also follow their Twitter updates at @RIDETZ and @TFFTAFRICA.

All photographs taken and provided graciously by Mitchell Kearney.

A little over a week ago, on September 25th, Petra’s Cabaret and Piano Bar hosted Charlotte’s first Pecha Kucha Night. Guests packed the main room, as fourteen presenters (or, in some cases, teams) did show and tell on the topic of their choosing. The presentations were diverse, intriguing, and inspiring, and so was the audience, who encouraged the presenters with their cheers, laughter, and comments, as they looked on attentively at the images presented on the big video screen, accompanied by narration from their creators.

Pecha Kucha (Japanese for the sound of conversations or “chit chat”) got its start in Tokyo in 2003, when the partners at Klein Dytham architecture were looking for an event to host in their club, Superdeluxe. What they came up with is a cross between show and tell, open mic night, and happy hour. They decided to implement a strict presentation format: 20 slides, for 20 seconds each, that would ensure presentations didn’t drag on, allowed time for many presenters to be lined up in a night, and most importantly, provided a challenging set of constraints for each presenter to interpret. Now, dozens of cities around the globe host Pecha Kucha nights, and the 20×20 format has been adopted by artists and corporate workers alike, seeking an antidote to the bullet-point blues.

To make the event a reality for Charlotte, members of the Point 8 Forum, Winthrop University, AIA Charlotte, and other interested volunteers tackled the task of getting the word out, locating a venue, and rounding up presenters and participants interested in seeing the event. The result was a stimulating and entertaining evening. About 140 people checked in at the door. Ideas were shared, beautiful images shown, prejudices challenged, talents spotlighted, drinks consumed, and new personal connections made — as Charlotte stepped in to the conversation of Pecha Kucha.

There are plans for at least 3 more Pecha Kucha Nights in Charlotte over the next 12 months, with the next one planned for sometime in December or January. Sign up for updates at point8.org, if you want to get the word on future events. One is also being held in Salisbury in October.

On Thursday, May 29, catalysts and sponsors of the Knight Creative Community Initiative gathered one last time in the boardroom at the Foundation for the Carolinas on North Tryon Street. We came to review the progress of the past year, hear updates from the remaining active teams, and discuss where we go from here.

Major updates

The big news of the day came from the International Corridor team. You can read more about this project here. They anticipate their project’s completion by the end of the year, with the installation of mosaic artwork on trash cans along several blocks of Central Avenue. Working with mosaic artist Amy Sanders, students at Garinger High School created their own works of mosaic art, upon which the final designs will be based. Students and organizers celebrated the completion of this collaborative portion of the project with an ice cream social at the high school. The KCCI team also presented two students with scholarships for summer sessions at the Light Factory.

Go green

The Green 100 team also gave an update on the status of their project, which has been handed off to a large local organization with the resources to see it through properly. Details are being kept fairly hush-hush for the time being, but we can tell you that an Arts & Sciences Council grant application has been submitted, and this organization is exploring the possibility of bringing this major auto-related green event to Charlotte in the next couple years.

And more

The remaining teams did not have news to report, but have made notable progress over the course of the year. The Blog team investigated ways in which local organizations are engaging with the community, and the ways that media organizations and individuals are reporting, aggregating, and accessing this information using new technologies. The Creativity Festival team partnered with local universities and other organizations to promote invention, innovation, and creativity competitions for both students and professionals in Charlotte. The e-Merging Arts team met early success with an art show in Morrison at South Park, which created many new connections and opportunities for all involved. And the Third Space team has investigated facilities and services for shared on-demand office space, in hopes of bringing coworking to Charlotte.

Is this the end?

Well… yes… and no. Knight Foundation funding and support of this project has run its course, and KCCI as we have known it has come to an end. The website, CharlotteIs.Us probably will not remain for long, and I’m not sure if I’ll continue to maintain the Facebook group in its current form, but the spirit and ideas that have brought us together will continue on. We’ve agreed that we’d like to stay in touch via some low-maintenance means and continue adding others to the network, so we’ve set up a Google group, which will allow us to communicate and connect as needed. We are all active in other parts of the Charlotte community, and we will strengthen all of our networks by adding the new connections we’ve made and will continue to make.

Come connect at the Charlotte Creative Catalysts Google Group.

FYI, here are a bunch of other ways you can get involved in the Charlotte cultural community (thanks to the Charlotte Chamber for many of these links!):

• ASC – Young Donors Society (ASC –YDS), Charlotte Leadership Training (CLT), Grants Panelist, Fund Drive Volunteer
• Charlotte Chamber of Commerce – Engage Charlotte
• Charlotte Symphony – Opus X
• Generation Engage – Charlotte
• Impact Fund for Emerging Philanthropists – Foundation For The Carolinas
• McColl Center for Visual Art – The Contemporaries
• Mint Museum – Young Affiliates of the Mint Museum
• North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center – Club Blume
• North Carolina Dance Theatre – Opening Night Insiders
• Opera Carolina – Bravo

What are you up to? Please post your own ideas/groups in the comments!

A ton of location-based data is now at your fingertips with EveryBlock, which has recently expanded its coverage to Charlotte. We are thrilled to see Charlotte added as EveryBlock’s 5th city, joining the ranks of such great cities as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The site allows you to access a variety of local news, including images, articles, police reports, restaurant and building permits, new library items, and more. The information can be filtered and displayed in a number of ways, including interactive map views.

According to their FAQ page:

EveryBlock is a new experiment in journalism, offering a Web “newspaper” for every city block in Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco — with more cities to come. Enter any address, neighborhood or ZIP code in those cities, and the site shows you recent public records, news articles and other Web content that’s geographically relevant to you. To our knowledge, it’s the most granular approach to local news ever attempted.

The site is pretty easy to figure out, and some helpful sample searches are offered to get you started, such as Restaurant inspections in University Park, Police calls in Barclay Downs, or Everything near 100 N. Tryon.

Go to the top-level page to change cities (they also cover, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia) or learn more about the project from the About EveryBlock page, FAQs, or their blog.

Come out to Area 15 today, Saturday, and check out the very first International Art Market event! Resident artists, neighbors, friends, and others will be out in force.

date: Saturday, June 14
time: 10am – 6pm

In case you don’t know, Area 15 is a warehouse space at 15th and North Davidson Streets. It is a creative and cultural crossroads, a housing studio space for artists, interior designers, and photographers, and an office space for the Junior Chamber of Commerce and various spiritual outreach groups. They even have five “resident” homeless artists for whom they provide space and materials.

I stopped by on my lunch break today and met Carlos Espin, the organizer of the Art Meetup and several other creative groups which regularly meet at the space. He was busy making arrangements for tomorrow’s big Art Market opening, but was generous enough to give me a quick tour. The many gallery, workshop, and lounge spaces throughout Area 15 were just amazing, and I won’t even attempt to get into it now, as I want to get the word out about today’s art market. But, you can be sure to expect more explorations into Area 15 in the future!

To give you a taste of the space, below is a video of a recent benefit held at Area 15, c/o local photographer Andy Ciordia. The Art Market will be taking place during the daytime, both indoors and out, so expect a bright and sunny vibe.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Looking for an excuse to take a walking tour of some of Charlotte’s premier attractions? Visit Charlotte is sponsoring a scavenger hunt that gives you the perfect opportunity, as well as a chance to win a grand prize package consisting of a one-night stay at the Crowne Plaza Charlotte, dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, and a family 4-pack entry to both Carowinds and NASCAR Speedpark if you correctly follow a series of clues to locations in Uptown Charlotte.

Date: May 16 – June 8, 2008

Pick up a map and clue list at a visitor center location, or download them as PDFs from the Visit Charlotte website. Just “head to each of the destinations to get a stamp, then return your map to the Visitor Info Center, and you’ll be entered to win.”

The clues seem pretty darn easy, and while I haven’t actually collected my stamps and entered, I’m pretty sure I know the locations referred to in each clue. I like the approach that Visit Charlotte has taken with this promotion, and this is just the sort of city-engaging activity that I hope to create via CLT Blog (and you can be sure our adventures will be many times more cryptic and diabolical).

So, get out there, walk Charlotte, and discover the treasures this city holds, hidden in plain sight.

Can you identify the eight buildings in the images above? All are within an easy walk of the center of Uptown Charlotte. The first person to name all eight in the comments wins a signed, limited-edition….. um, bragging rights, or maybe even one of the cool new CLT Blog T-shirts when we get them from the presses.

Flickr is a good resource to help you find the buildings’ names.

You can also look around here and you might see the full-size versions.

The beloved Emmy-winning Saturday morning cartoon series that taught millions of kids about grammar, civics, and science in the seventies is now a live show! Adapted for the stage by Theater BAM Chicago, Schoolhouse Rock Live is doing performances all around the country, and visits Charlotte in two days.

Date: April 18 – May 5

Check the schedule – shows are selling out. And if you don’t want to be overrun by the offspring of nostalgic Gen-X’ers, there is a special over-21-only show, complete with a pre-show party featuring Brixx Pizza, drinks, and free raffle entry for anyone in a 70′s costume.

From the official synopsis:

“Tom, a nerve-wracked school teacher nervous about his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV when various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set and show him how to win his students over with imagination and music, through such beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs as “Just A Bill,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” and “Conjunction Junction.”

If you don’t remember these tunes, listen to audio samples on the site (Realplayer required), or try a search on The Hype Machine (iTunes & Amazon results) or a Skreemr (DRM-free MP3 results).