Ayame Sivertson's drawing will now become the Organizing Against Racism and Hate (OARH) regional logo

Prince George, BC – A young Prince George girl put her own twist on the 'hand heart' gesture made popular by country singer Taylor Swift and her interpretation will now promote a regional program charged with developing better responses to incidents of racism and hate crime in Prince George, Williams Lake, and 100 Mile House.

12-year-old Ayame Sivertson drew two hands forming a heart, through which the world is seen, and entered it into a local logo contested hosted by the Organizing Against Racism and Hate (OARH) project at the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society.

OARH Regional Coordinator, Ley Fraser, says the Spruceland Elementary School student's entry won the local portion of the contest last month and was just selected as the region's overall winner by members of the Williams Lake Youth Council.  The contest goal was to find a logo image that represents diversity and acceptance.

"Ayame's is really beautiful and beautifully drawn," says Fraser.  "I loved hearing Ayame's description of why she drew the logo and her reasons behind it."

The 12-year-old has been inspired by her grandmother, local artist Cat Sivertson, to draw "real things, something that I could see."  Ayame says she had seen similar images before of people shaking hands, but wanted to add her own take of what it means to cooperate.  She says her image means that "you can always cooperate with anyone in the world."

Fraser says Ayame's logo will represent the East North Regional network on all of its promotional materials and posters.  The project is funded by EmbraceBC and has been out at WinterFest, as well as a few events at UNBC.

"We're really hoping to engage the community more in the coming year and we love to see this kind of response (to the logo contest) to have the opportunity to highlight what individual people's thoughts and input can be," says Fraser.  She's encouraging city residents to contact the program if there's a particular issue they'd like to see addressed.  "Or if there's something you'd feel would be a great educational opportunity – that's really what helps us to create something that is tailored to our community."

Contact Fraser at the IMSS's offices at 250-562-2900.