Kay Ingulli ’18 scattered clues throughout the PMAC. Photo by Pinn Chirathivat/The Choate News
On Monday, September 10, something peculiar caught the attention of Arts Concentration student Josephine Hong ’19 in the PMAC visual arts studio. Amidst student paintings, drawings, and photographs hung a strange, hand-written note, inviting the Visual Arts Concentration students to a scavenger hunt. The identity of the writer was revealed at the end of the letter, signed “Love, Kay” by Choate alum Kay Ingulli ’18.
Beginning with the letter on the wall, Ingulli set up a series of nine clues that sent the Arts Concentration students running around the PMAC. Each hint, written or drawn on small sheets of paper, was meticulously hidden all over the PMAC building.
“We have to gather what we know about the PMAC, because it’s all in there. For example, yesterday we guessed wrong on one of the clues,” Hong said. “It said something about a ‘black lodge’, so we just assumed it was the black box theater. We were there for a half hour trying to look for the clue. Turns out, it was a reference to ‘Twin Peaks,’ one of Kay’s favorite shows.”
Ingulli shared her motives for orchestrating this project: “In the winter, a couple days before Joey [Hong] left for study abroad, I told her that I would do a scavenger hunt before I graduated. I intended this to be a way to say goodbye to the current students, as well as a way to greet new arts con kids.”
Another source of inspiration for Ingulli was a similar activity that Ms. Kalya Yannatos, Director of the Arts, had organized for the Arts Concentration students in the past. “I remember doing a scavenger hunt for one of our general arts con meetings in my junior year. Once a term, Kalya organizes an all arts con activity that pulls together kids from different disciplines to interact with each other. I think that also explains a bit about why I was so determined to do this project.”
Ms. Jessica Cuni, art teacher and Visual Arts Concentration adviser, was Ingulli’s confidant throughout the process of organizing the scavenger hunt. “Kay is a very thoughtful person, and she cares a lot about her community. I think that she wanted to continue to connect with visual arts con, even though she’s off to college,” Cuni said about Ingulli. “I think it is a good reflection of how Choate cultivates community and lasting relationships.
The students have already discovered eight of the nine clues. While some were found in frequented places such as inside the studio or by the PMAC meditation room, others were less obvious. For instance, Ingulli hid one clue inside an art drawer and another on a specific PMAC theatre seat (Balcony Row J, seat 11, to be precise). What will the Arts Concentration students discover at the end of the scavenger hunt? Ingulli stated that she preferred keeping the final prize a secret.
