The Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement invited a creative Conrad Grebel University College resident to contribute to 2019’s five-year anniversary celebrations. Maya Morton Ninomiya used her skill of visual recording to create artwork on two occasions. She created a detailed piece while Centre for Peace Advancement Director Paul Heidebrecht spoke at the Donor Dinner and a second piece at the Centre’s main anniversary event to record memories and new ideas.
Visual recording may be understood as a kind of artistic note-taking. The artist organizes ideas with icons and graphics, often using a variety of fonts to bring attention to key points. “I have always loved visual art and I make an effort to bring creativity into my everyday life as much as possible,” Maya explained. Visual recording caught her eye as the perfect medium for her creativity. “Once I found visual recording, I knew it was my thing. I love organizing and conceptualizing ideas, working large scale, and collaborating with others so it was a perfect fit for me.”
While the artistic process can be nerve-wracking with an audience, Maya noted, “as I do more live work, it gets easier. I gain confidence in my abilities and build up a visual icon ‘library’ in my mind.” She enjoys the interactive aspect of a live event as it invites conversation with those in attendance.“People will come to me afterwards and mention how they thought it was interesting that I used a certain image to illustrate a specific concept.”
Sometimes inspiration for a piece flows naturally from the speech topic. In the instance of the visual recording Maya created at the Centre for Peace Advancement’s Donor Dinner, “Paul Heidebrecht, whose talk I was illustrating, included really great imagery in the speech already, so was able to build off of that.” She used the Kindred Credit Union colour scheme to draw the components of the piece together with a common theme.
Contributing to the Centre’s celebrations is just one of the ways Maya participates in the Grebel Community. The first-year Health Studies student is an active attendee at Grebel apartment movie nights, intramurals, and Peace Society events. One of her favourite Grebel involvements has been co-leading the Environment Committee as an environment rep for the Larger Leadership Team. “We had an amazing time leading conversations with residents on environmental issues and brainstorming different initiatives and events to be involved in around Grebel and in the larger community.” Maya has also created artwork for the Grebel community. She shared an animated reflection of her involvement at Grebel during the College’s recent virtual banquet.
Maya has appreciated this opportunity to contribute to, and learn more about, the Centre for Peace Advancement’s work locally and globally. She has noted the importance of a space for like-minded individuals to work within a peacebuilding community. “It allows fellow peacebuilders to engage with one another and inspire each other as they develop innovative ideas alongside each other.”