Lisa Glybchenko ’13 has made a lasting impact through her innovative peacebuilding project, Color Up Peace. Combining her passion for visual arts with a desire to support those affected by recent conflict, Color Up Peace is a platform that merges art and technology to promote peace. Her journey began in Crimea, where she was affected by the occupation of her homeland and began exploring her artistic passions. Later, her FLEX program experiences further shaped both her personal and professional path. Ten years after her return from the U.S., Lisa shares, “I don’t know if I would have started Color Up Peace if I had not been on FLEX and gained the skills I learned while in the U.S.”
Through Color Up Peace, Lisa hopes to challenge the violence-centered narratives popular in media, while empowering individuals to reflect on and share their own personal understandings of peace. She invites people from all over the world to submit photos of what peace represents to them. Lisa then turns these photos into coloring pages, digitally drawing each one by hand. Gathered into nine coloring books, these works invite those who engage with them to think about peace as they color and alter the images to express their own visions. The images are also at the core of Color Up Peace activities, which include international context-specific workshops and virtual exhibitions.
During her FLEX year, Lisa explored new ideas and was exposed to different cultures. In her host community, Lisa discovered an environment in which her artistic potential was encouraged, and it was there that she discovered the power of digital media to express her creativity and communicate important messages. She first learned to create digital art in a multimedia class at her U.S. high school in Colorado Springs, CO. “The multimedia teacher in my FLEX year was the first person who was vocally supportive of my art skills. I remember her running after me on the stairs telling me I should really sign up for the next level of the multimedia course for my second semester. That was a whole new experience for me compared to my art life before.” Prior to FLEX, Lisa explains, her artistic experience had been focused on physical media and she faced numerous artistic challenges including censorship from authority figures who discouraged her from creating art that challenged the status quo.
After returning to Ukraine, Lisa began her undergraduate studies at the American University in Bulgaria. While there, she became concerned at the lack of awareness and conversation among her peers about the political crisis in Ukraine. This inspired Lisa to create a self-designed major in “Identity and Peacebuilding,” using her talents in visual arts to raise awareness and spark meaningful conversations. Color Up Peace was born as part of her junior capstone project within this major.
As Color Up Peace has grown over the years, collaboration with other FLEX alumni has been essential. In 2023, Lisa worked with alumni on the Mental Health First Aid: Building Resilient Ukraine initiative, which was supported by a grant from the U.S. Embassy. The project offered training on mental health for FLEX alumni and provided support to a camp for children run by KRES, an NGO focused on organizing camps for Ukrainian children and teens impacted by war. Lisa also collaborated with alumnus Taras Tsesliv ’23 to bring Color Up Peace workshops to local communities in Ukraine where participants engaged in an art-making session and a discussion about peace values led by Lisa, further expanding the project’s reach.
The same year, Lisa had the opportunity to present her work through presentations at the FLEX 30th Anniversary celebration in Kyiv, where she was surprised to learn how far Color Up Peace had reached. “I learned a lot about my own project,” Lisa shares. “Turns out, an alumnus had learned about Color Up Peace while they were in an international school in Israel, but they didn’t know it was a Ukrainian project. Even though I worked with different organizations in Israel and Palestine, I had no idea it was being shared with others.”
One of the most recent milestones for Color Up Peace is an exhibition entitled Color Up Peace: Peacebuilding – Ukrainian Style, which was on display at America House Kyiv from September 24 to October 29., 2024. This exhibition combined digital artwork, hand-drawn pieces, and interactive elements that invited visitors to color in outlines of peace-related imagery from various parts of Ukraine. Lisa shares, “We decided to create a wall where people can color some of the outlines that I drew based on photos of peace/freedom from different parts of Ukraine: Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Bakhmut. I really liked this idea of making this something between a coloring book and graffiti, and the visitors really engaged with the wall.”
Looking to the future, Lisa is planning another exhibition for March 2025 in Klaipeda, Lithuania. The exhibition will engage both Lithuanians and the local Ukrainian community, especially students from an international university in the city. This upcoming event will be another opportunity to expand Color Up Peace’s impact and continue its mission of promoting peacebuilding and cross-cultural dialogue.
Through her work with Color Up Peace, Lisa Glybchenko has created a unique platform for peacebuilding that empowers individuals to share their visions of a peaceful future. Her ability to combine art, technology, and social engagement has inspired alumni and many others around the world. As the impact of Color Up Peace continues to grow, Lisa’s vision for a more peaceful world remains as powerful and relevant as ever.
Featured Alumna:
Yelyzaveta “Lisa” Glybchenko ’13 (Kyiv, Ukraine, placed by World Link in Colorado Springs, CO)
