Peter Durand (b. 1969), a white African living in Nashvegas.
I have a monkey mind. It swings from the rafters.
Fortunately, it takes this primate interesting places. I was born in Kenya, grew up in Tennessee; educated in St. Louis; lived and studied abroad in Paris and Poland; came of age in Chicago; developed a family and career in Pittsburgh; and now live and work in Nashville.
Most of my journeys take me on the road of creativity, collaboration, innovation, visual learning and “strategery”.
Art & Design
Blogging is thinking to me, so I post early and often, bookmark obsessively using del.icio.us, and have started a bad Twitter habit. Most thoughts find themselves here:
Alphachimp Studio WeBlog- an eclectic thread of design-oriented posts with sustainability and visual eye-candy sprinkled in.
The Center for Graphic Facilitation – this tracks the space between information graphics and graphic facilitation. The site includes an interactive map of the world where practitioners can hang there shingle as professional graphic recorders and facilitators.
Durand Gallery - my artwork (mostly paintings), as well as a portal to some of the other talented people in my family.
Current Work
I have several affiliations, both professional and extramural, but all solidly planted in the visualization of ideas, specifically:
Alphachimp Studio Inc. – An information graphics and facilitation firm, co-owned with my wife, Diane. We founded the studio in 1998 in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, moved to Pittsburgh after 9/11 for five great years living in the Mexican War Streets, and now live on Nashville’s West End. My wife is busy with two little girls, and I am just the ghost in the machine: the company is really run by out fantastic virtual assistants, Launa and Becky. The talent lies with the other graphic facilitators who serve our clients around the US, Europe and Asia.
Vanderbilt Center for Better Health (VCBH), Since 1996, I have worked in collaborative strategy design environments. From 2007-2010, I served as assistant director of the Innovation Center at VCBH, a facility designed for the facilitation of large groups, using the MG Taylor DesignShop methodology. VCBH is technically part of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Biomedical Informatics, which I describe as the talented tech geeks of the medical world. They do cool work and think beyond the next election cycle, thinking deeply about technical and carbon-based systems (people working with people) that support care and, most important, better health. They really are trying to push the stone up mountain on health care. Follow VCBH on Twitter.
Pop!Tech - This is my tribe. Somehow, Andrew Zolli, the chief curator, found me in 2004 and added me to his collection of colorful doodlebugs and caterpillars. This yearly gathering in Camden, Maine brings scientists together with retailers, designers, dancers, journalists, pandemic researchers, ethnographers, political activists and I get to occupy the opera sky box and paint during the three day show. see artwork >>
http://linkedin.com/in/peterdurand
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alphachimpstudio/
http://twitter.com/peterdurand
Please note: The views expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any former, current or future clients or employers of mine, including Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Medical Center.