Nerd Nite January: Wet Weather Wines

We describe Nerd Nite like the Discovery Channel (or like a Ted Talk, for those of you that don’t remember the Discovery Channel), but with beer. Three speakers will present for ~20 minutes each about their particular nerdery, while the audience drinks along. Learn. Eat. Drink. Be entertained. Topics and speakers for this month:

**When the Past is Present: Wet Plate Collodion Photography**
Learn about the amazing Victorian wet plate collodion process invented in 1851, what a tintype and ambrotype is, the basic steps of creating an image, and how Kary will be using this amazing form of image making to bring the past into the present at historical sites across the Dakotas in 2024.

*Kary Janousek: After modeling for a series of ambrotypes photographs in Bismarck, I fell in love with this beautiful technique. I studied the wet plate collodion process and took my first image in the Autumn of 2019. I live in Fargo North Dakota where I operate my natural light Victorian studio part-time and sell vintage and antique hats. I have had eight solo art exhibitions in the last four years of practice.*

**Fin-de-siècle Cabaret Culture in Paris: The Highs and the Lows**
This talk addresses the transformation of Paris in the late 19th century. From a medieval city with cramped streets lacking basic infrastructure such as modern plumbing, Paris became a modernized cosmopolitan spectacle, a city that offered pleasure and entertainment. We’ll examine some contemporary artworks depicting popular establishments that featured drink, music, dance as well as risqué encounters for well-heeled locals and international (male) tourists. Central to understanding these establishments are the people who worked there- from servers to performers—whose own lives were often fraught with economic and social challenges.

*Anna Sigrídur Arnar received her PhD with Honors in Art History from the University of Chicago. Her research has been supported by awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Robert Motherwell Book Award from the Dedalus Foundation in New York, among others. She has taught History of Art at MSUM for over twenty years. Later this summer, she will serve as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks.*

**I’m Fuzzy, Round, and Cool**
[Daryl submitted a picture as his teaser, which I can’t show here, but you can see it at our website: https://fargo.nerdnite.com/%5D

*Daryl Ritchison is the Director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN). He spends his time on research, public outreach, development, and enhancement of tools for NDAWN, a network of 193 weather stations in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. He is a well-known public speaker on various topics including short and long term weather forecasts, NDAWN usage, weather risk management, and climate.*

…and in case you didn’t notice, we have a new venue! We’ve partnered with the Cellar at Front Street Taproom to take our Nerd Nites to the next level. Mark your calendars for **Thursday January 25th, 7PM** (doors at 6:30) for some drinks, some laughs, and some door prizes. Grab your tickets in advance on [Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nerd-nite-january-wet-weather-wines-tickets-794986655487?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=), or bring a Hamilton to the door (same price either way- we eat the fees bc we love you. And bc we’re hungry).

See your glorious faces there.