Being part of a community as tightly-knit as Taylor University’s often brings together a network of people that have a lot in common with each other.
Yet, even on a campus where people can have so many similarities, there is much diversity to be celebrated.
Birrama Creative is a Taylor group with a vision to do just that.
As president of the team, Morgan Smith, senior graphic art major, came into this year desiring to encourage her fellow creators to adopt an attitude of service to the Lord.
“My personal goal for this year was for us as creators to be doing what we do for God’s glory and for our good, and so ultimately looking back on the work that we made, being proud of it because it was for God’s glory and not for our own praise or anyone else’s praise,” Smith said.
Birrama is a team of creatives that creates content to market school-wide events.
Having been around for about a decade, Smith has seen the group grow in prominence in the years that she’s been a part of it.
“I don’t think that it’s really been (as) built up or well-known as much as it has been in the last four or five years,” she said.
The Birrama team is composed of photographers, videographers, designers and illustrators. They are sophomores through seniors who want to use their God-given talents to bring creativity to Taylor’s campus.
Their goal? To celebrate Taylor’s student body.
Smith is passionate about creating a space for her team to feel confident in sharing their art with each other.
There can be a lot of unspoken competition between artists, Smith said.
Stepping into leadership has been an opportunity for Smith to encourage the opposite.
“With Birrama, it’s just super refreshing to have an environment where we’re genuinely all there to celebrate each other and have fun and admire each other as friends and not competitors,” she said.
This year, Birrama is made up of a variety of majors. In the past, there have been members studying communication, computer science and even engineering.
It is not a requirement to be an art major to work with the team, Smith said.
Smith’s personal favorite project from this school year was designing the Ice Cream Social posters.
Birrama’s work doesn’t always stay within campus borders, however.
Last year, Smith and the team had the opportunity to design and paint a mural in downtown Upland.
“Being a part of the process and doing something collaborative with the whole Birrama team was super, super fun,” Smith said.
She enjoyed seeing the fruit of their labor be accomplished on such a large canvas.
The name, “Birrama,” denotes out-of-the-box-thinking, Smith said. Their slogan, “Surprise the ordinary,” motivates the team to operate from this perspective.
Currently, Birrama is preparing to advertise for Fabrica, a fashion show put on by Taylor’s Integration of Faith and Culture team.
Instead of using posters or flat materials, Birrama’s idea is to create visual intrigue by writing information about the event on thrifted clothes hung up throughout campus.
They’re also planning to put up an installation in front of the Calling and Career Office in the LaRita Boren Campus Center.
“It’s gonna be a huge project, and it’s coming very quickly, but I’m super excited for it,” Smith said.
Smith has been a part of Birrama since her sophomore year, but she heard about the group before she even applied to Taylor.
When Smith was a senior in high school, her friend — a Taylor student — was applying to be president of Student Activities Council (SAC) at the time.
“She knew that I was super creatively inclined and that I loved all things art, so she was like, ‘When you get to Taylor, you should totally apply for Birrama,’” Smith said.
Birrama and SAC are both considered subsets under Taylor Student Organization (TSO).
Stephen Austin, associate dean of student leadership and director of student programs, oversees all of TSO’s student programming, which shakes out to just about every student-led event on campus, Smith said.
“He has a huge role on campus,” Smith said. “And he also, on top of all of that, takes time to do numerous weekly meetings with us, helping us grow as leaders, as students, as people.”
As a senior, Smith is reminiscing on the growth she has experienced throughout her years with Birrama.
Being part of the team has taught her the difference between collaborative and independent work and that there’s a place for both, Smith said.
It also has given her a new passion.
“I, before Birrama, had no knowledge or even interest in graphic design, so I would say it’s completely changed my perspective in that direction, like now when I graduate, I want to do graphic design for a living, when that’s not even my major or something I’ve studied very much in school,” Smith said.
After graduation, Smith’s dream is to pursue creative directing for a shop or store in some capacity in California.
Ultimately, Birrama’s vision to celebrate the extraordinary while still bringing people together under art requires a special team dynamic.
This is where they thrive.
“The team is always there to help each other, and quick to answer when someone needs help,” Smith said. “And it’s like almost a buddy system in the art world and your own personal uplifter and challenger. It’s just, overall, very dependable and compassionate.”
