Our Grum Project Visiting Artist series returned to campus on April 15–16, as artist and playwright Sarah Kraning came to Williston Northampton to conduct workshops with middle schoolers and host a question-and-answer sessions with art students.
Kraning has come to prominence as an artist with synesthesia, which means she sees colors when she hears certain sounds. She uses sensory ability to create brilliant works of art, and she’s also written a play based around a character with synesthesia. That play, titled Soundscapes, is how Kraning came on the radar of Theater Director Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who has taught the play at Williston, asked if Kraning would come to school and teach more about her play—and that brought her here.
“This is the first time I’ve worked with a school on Soundscapes, specifically,” Kraning said after one of her workshops. “That was really special to me. You hope that people will take the script and they’ll make some connections with their personal life—but it’s cool to be able to see it in person.”
The eighth graders in the Middle School are performing Soundscapes this spring, and as such, she sat in on a rehearsal on Monday morning and also fielded questions from the class. Kraning then held a talk with the entire Middle School student body during the day Monday, and with the Upper School art students.
“I was really impressed that the students had so many questions,” Kraning said. “They were very respectful questions, but they were very curious questions. And so having a large group of students ask questions about how somebody else perceives the world—that’s a really lovely thing. That’s a thing we need more of in this world.”
Learn more about Kraning by visiting her website or her Instagram page. Learn more about the Grum Project by clicking here.