His Name is Nicholas

Inspired by an accident ten years ago that left her brother with a life-changing intellectual disability, a young B.C. artist creates a book about inclusion. DDA chats with Invermere's Veronika Kitzul.

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

His Name is Nicholas

 

00:05

Welcome to DDA's Encouraging Abilities podcast. I'm your host, DDA Communications Manager, Evan Kelly. One of DDA's biggest missions is to create a community where everyone is included and where everyone belongs, regardless of ability. Sometimes that comes down to simply supporting and advocating for those who have the same mission. Today, we are talking with Veronica Kitzel, who lives in Invermere, B.C. Now, Veronica is an artist with a huge amount of talent.

 

00:33

especially working with charcoal as a medium. Now currently she works as a social media manager and artist by day and bartender by night. And while she is the messenger here, she isn't the story, her brother Nicholas is. When her brother was eight years old, he was in an accident in 2012 that changed the course of his life with an intellectual disability. We know that when someone has a disability, society makes it hard for them to be included. So...

 

01:00

Veronica wrote and illustrated a kids book to help foster a sense of inclusion in people at a young age. The book is called His Name is Nicholas is now available as a teacher's aid. Welcome to the show, Veronica. Thank you so much. So when did you get your start in the art world? Is this something you're currently pursuing as your your main profession?

 

01:26

I started drawing in a junior high and learned about art through high school and university, receiving a minor in fine arts with my science degree. Since graduating, I've been working part-time as an artist as more of a side business than a full-time profession. I hope to always find time for art in the future, but I also hope to go back to school for something healthcare related like dentistry or naturopathic medicine.

 

01:50

naturopathic medicine, that's interesting. Now so, Art, is this something that you use your voice with? Is this something that drives you to make a change in the world?

 

02:02

Oh, definitely. The beauty of being an artist means that you have the ability to reach a wider audience and communicate visually in ways that other people cannot. There's nothing wrong with doing art for fun or for the challenge. But when you focus on a subject or a message and get the chance to exhibit it, you can show people a perspective that they may have never considered before. So where do you draw a lot of your inspiration from?

 

02:28

It depends on the project. So when I want to develop my skills, I choose a subject that I find challenging. For example, water, reflections, and glass are difficult to capture. So I've taken inspiration from work as a bartender and drawn a couple processes in mixology. When I was in university and had free range to create whatever I wanted, I drew inspiration from healthcare, combining my scientific and artistic interests, as well as Nicholas. So for example, for a digital art class,

 

02:58

to give hope to people facing brain injuries in Canada. I also created an installation piece with drawings of Nicholas and his story. They were surrounded by a cover with the disability symbol cut out of it. And I did this because I felt like his wheelchair all people see when they first meet him. So I wanted people to physically go up and look through and look past that symbol to learn more about him, his story, his personality, et cetera.

 

03:28

I'd just say overall, I'd say healthcare, my brother, and moving to the mountains have been my biggest inspiration. So before we start talking about Nicholas and the book,