Shoemaker Speaker: Sapphira Cristál

We were thrilled to welcome Sapphira Cristál to Westtown as our Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer! A classically trained musician with a six-octave range, fourteen drag pageant titles, and international recognition as runner-up and Miss Congeniality on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 16, Sapphira dazzled our community with an aria, a lecture focused on self-love and acceptance, and a show-stopping lip-sync. The next day, she met with our theater students as well as students from the Westtown Affinity Group for Gender and Sexuality (WAGGS).

As Quakers, we’re called to see the Light in every person, with particular attention to those whose identities have been historically marginalized. Guided by educator Elyssa Maxx Goodman’s definition of drag as “performance of the gender spectrum on and off stage,” we’re reminded that the ways we dress, the personas we inhabit, and the ways we show up in the world make drag a deeply human art form—one we all participate in.

See more of Sapphira’s visit here.