Our Speakers for August:

John Park is a Copywriter and Designer. He is the founder and Creative Director of Arts and Sciences, a Charleston-based Marketing firm.

He began his career at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, writing ads for Vonage, Radio Shack and Ocean Spray. In 2007 he created Flo, Progressive’s spokeswoman, who was elected into the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame in 2011.

Previous clients include MINI, GMC, athenahealth, Greater Boston Food Bank, French’s Mustard, Fidelity, Lysol, the Town of Mount Pleasant and Parabola.

www.artsandsci.com Insta: artsandsc Twitter: @artsandsc FB: /artsandsci

When Marcus Amaker was 10, he wrote “When I grow up, I want to be a rock star like Prince.” Since then, his love of the purple one inspired him to pursue art, in all of its forms.

He’s a well-known graphic/web designer and videographer, producing award-winning work for many local nonprofits and organizations. He’s also the lead designer for the national music magazine, No Depression.

Earlier this year, Marcus was named Charleston, South Carolina’s first Poet Laureate, as appointed by Mayor John Tecklenburg. His seventh book, Mantra, is also an app, featuring audio, video and new poems. Marcus’ poems have been featured on PBS Newshour, the Huffington Post, several journals and poetry collections.

As a musician, he’s recorded more than 15 albums. Of those albums, his most famous song is “Big Butt,” written when he was 10 years old.

He is also the former editor of the Post and Courier’s Charleston Scene entertainment section.

But, most importantly, he still loves Prince (RIP) and is obsessed with Star Wars.

marcusamaker.com Insta: @charlestonpoet