What piece of advice would you give your younger self?

What is your most treasured possession?

How would you describe yourself in one word?

In her artist residency, Sarah Ronald asked the community for their replies to these and other questions – written, drawn, and stamped. Her project, which explored ideas around how we see ourselves as individuals and how we connect as part of a community, included a colourful school desk located in our Great Hall. If you were curious enough to open the desk, you’d find a question card to complete and deposit in the attached drop box. And you had to stay curious, because Sarah continued to change the cards!

After collecting responses for nearly a year, she shared a compelling collection of advice, musings, and confessions in a gallery installation here at the Roundhouse in 2020.

For Family Day in 2021, Sarah created “Community Portrait”, a temporary art installation on our giant entrance windows. She began by tracing the silhouettes of families though the glass and then filled the outlines with brightly coloured window paint. This COVID-safe project brightened our space and reminded us that, even when limiting our physical interactions, we are still all part of a large and vibrant community.

During her residency, Sarah popped up with other projects and interventions including asking visitors to draw out colourful maps of their visit through our building and offering free jade plants, a symbol of good fortune, in a gesture of community kindness while challenging patrons to pay it forward.