2020: Year in review
A terrifically incomplete list of the moments I appreciate from last year.
It goes without saying that things have been weird and challenging and a lot. I’m not sure we can measure the scale of loss and strain we are experiencing, and so many existing, underlying inequalities have continued to surface. As Joanna Macy writes, “We are in a space without a map.” At the same time, I find hope in the stories of care, attention, and grace, small and large. We’ve been called into a different kind of relationship with time, place, health, family, community, work, and our future on this planet.
I find that taking stock, by looking back over images, photos, drawings, and notes, can be a great way to reflect on the year, including memories and learning. I am not overly methodical in this practice but it seems relevant now to direct some attention to the road that has led us here… wherever “here” is.
I want to express sincere thanks to so many of you for your trust, your creative invitations, for the learning and connection. A *kajillion* cups of coffee, Zoom calls, dog walks and virtual hugs helped make this year bearable and actually quite beautiful — thank you.
January
I started the year working with Jessica Riehl and Kelvy Bird on an online introductory-level Visual Practice Workshop, Intro to Scribing. We were joined by participants from 10 countries, interested in learning the basics of visual practice, and we even had two extra special sessions with guest instructors Alfredo Carlo and Jayce Pei Yu Lee.
I also scribed a session on narrative analysis in the Mexican political context for Impacto Social Metropolitan Group — little did I know it would be one of just a handful of on-site events, in the same room with other humans, working on paper with actual markers this year!
February
In February, I had the opportunity to support a multi-day meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, and travel to Cloughjordan, Ireland, to take a Warm Data Lab Host training before coming home to Mexico on the last day of the month.
March
I taught an in-person workshop for a small group in my studio and supported a couple of on-site events early March, taking the day off on the 9th for a national day of action against gender-based violence in Mexico.
Having traveled through several major airports during the month of February, I got sick mid-March. Fortunately it did not last very long, just a few days. There was limited testing in Mexico at that time and somewhat mysteriously, I never got my results back. Lockdown started for me on March 13.
During the second half of the month, I joined an amazing team of folks led by Kelvy and Alfredo to help offer a series of six online modules teaching visual practice across all time zones. It was a beautiful experience to be part of, you can read more here and here.
April-May
Like others who were able to work from home, I was settling into a certain rhythm by this point. I co-hosted a series of People Need People sessions in Spanish for a group from Central America, and began scribing with multiple cohorts for a 6-month leadership development program at a large development bank (all remote). I also joined one of the lovely Moral Imaginations sessions convened and hosted by Phoebe Tickell.
I created some illustrations for a beautiful book written by a friend; scribed sessions on outcome-based finance in a pandemic (timelapse videos from this webinar series also here and here) and investment for ecosystem restoration in the state of Oaxaca, MX; and supported strategic planning processes for clients facing radically different conditions than they had expected just a few months before.
It seemed clear to me, and I heard from many colleagues and friends, that art was more essential than ever, and I was glad to feel I could contribute in some way during challenging times.
From April to July, Dialogos held a series of seven dialogues. You can see the full series of scribed images here.
June-July
From June to September, I worked with Ina Kukovič Borovnik and Nora Bateson to create unplanned artwork for the podcast, Unprecedented Possibilities from the Soil of Warm Data. Because, multiple description! Watch the video series here.
And I created a set of illustrations and edited the video for The Impossible Train Story, a striking and timely metaphor for the moment we were living (and in many ways, still are).
August-September
We hosted an online version of the Burren Leadership Retreat, with Martin Hayes and Pádraig Ó Tuama — who brought music and poetry into a virtual gathering with incredible warmth and skill — and fantastic sessions with Fateme Banishoeib, Barb Tint, and Brendan Dunford. Normally we would be together at the Burren College of Art at this time of year, surrounded by the landscape and sitting in a circle in the Gallery. We came together in a different way this time though, and I enjoyed connecting in with this global community, jumping between Zoom hosting, creating digital artwork, and even doing some slower, multi-day analogue scribing in my studio:
Together with a small team of amazing colleagues, we continued to support clients ongoing like GIZ, providing digital scribing for virtual events such as the 2020 Emissions Trading System (ETS) Academy, a four-week seminar for decision-makers from public and private sectors in Mexico, and a series of webinars on sustainable agriculture and biodiversity [video in Spanish].
I also scribed a panel discussion during NY Climate Week with award-winning environmental activist and founder of Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda, Martha “Pati” Ruiz Corzo, on “Regenerating Forests and Farmlands: Scaling Climate Policies and New Financing for High Biodiversity Areas.” Their work is incredible.
October-November
In October, I had the chance to teach a session on spontaneous drawing as part of the IFVP Online Learning Series for 2020, in Spanish! A recording is available to IFVP members. Special thanks to Kristine Neckelmann Abbott for the invitation.
I continued making art and working on personal projects as well! And had the chance to work with the lovely folks at More Starch, Spring Strategies, WWF Mexico, as well as scribe several sessions during a fascinating conference on System Innovation with the Rockwool Foundation in Denmark, at the invitation of fellow scribe and online event producer-facilitator extraordinaire, Mona Ebdrup.
To close out the year, I was part of an incredible team of scribes led by Stéphanie Heckman supporting the UNFCCC Climate Dialogues, and got to work with GAGGA for On The Right Mind.
All this to say… thank you. There is so much invisible help, underground work, sneaky generosity, and genuine creativity behind each and every one of these endeavours and it all deserves a moment of sincere attention and gratitude.
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