Creative Mornings Charleston chooses this month's CM theme, Preserve

Every month a Creative Mornings chapter around the world gets to choose a theme, one that’s used at every one of the 202 international chapters, and interpreted however the teams see fit. Creative Mornings Charleston finally got the call to choose the theme — and illustrate it, using local artist Chris Nickels — and this month’s big topic is: Preserve.

Chosen by former CMCHS leader, Ivan Lima, Preserve seems to be a fitting topic for this city, one that’s ever-growing and constantly working on ways to preserve its history. (Each member of the CMCHS crew is a volunteer; Lima, who is moving to the West coast, passes the ‘host’ torch to CMCHS community partnership liaison Cristy Armstrong.)

Lima says, “We chose the theme preserve to represent Charleston. It has a lot to do with our city, but also our times. It’s a preserved city with beautifully cultivated streets and architecture, with purists and craftsmen going back to old traditional methods of doing things. Things that took time and were high quality.”

Creative Mornings traditionally utilizes a local artist from the community in which the monthly theme is chosen. Working with local illustrator Nickels, then, was a no-brainer.

CM headquarters chatted with Nickels about his work earlier this week, asking him about how this month’s theme relates to his art and life. Nickels said: “I lived on the coast for the last 10 years and got to see the best and the worst ways that we interact with nature — so much of our trash ends up in the waterways and ocean. It has huge consequences for the different natural environments that we all want to be able to enjoy. A big hobby of mine is kayaking. I’m definitely encouraged to be more environmentally conscious because I want to preserve the environment I get to experience on my kayak.”

This month’s speaker has yet to be announced; that info, along with the location of this month’s talk will come in the next week or so. The talk will take place on Fri. May 24 at 8 a.m. You’ll be able to sign up for free tickets at Mon. May 20 at 10 a.m.

Until then, get excited about a thriving locally based and totally free morning lecture series that is still going strong after four years.