Art and Writing
By John W. Healy

There is a need to share our personal, unique, seemingly isolated experiences with others. Art and writing are areas of human endeavor that we frequently create alone. Neither art nor writing is a game of Solitaire, however; we have the expectation of reaching out. The size of the audience that satisfies us partially depends on our individual needs and personality. To give a painting to one person who truly appreciates it is perhaps all we need. When we write a well-written correspondence to someone we care about, we are satisfied.

The writing process
"What does writing have to do with art?" This is a sincere question students ask. Writing creates a reasonable standard of communication, a precise way of sharing a thought, a feeling and a reflective moment that makes us whole. There is little misunderstanding in what we write if we focus on clarity as a goal. For those in the arts this can be a refreshing experience. Writing can take us to places our visual art cannot.

We can rewrite until we know for ourselves what we are talking about. Clarity of meaning gradually emerges as each paragraph is reworked. Ask yourself the question: Is this really what I want to say?

Kimie Moisa, age 6, and her 12-year-old brother, Michael, create narratives based on paintings at the Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY.

A museum field trip
The challenge of this lesson is to develop a narration by each student on a painting they have observed and selected on a museum field trip. The narration will tell a story that clearly describes this work of art by a known artist to someone who has never seen that painting before. The painting then becomes the subject or theme of the story. The artist who created the painting is the central character in the narrative. The following instructions are designed to give a clear format gradually unraveling an initial understanding of this work of art.

Artist/painting narrative
In the museum, have students create the notes for their narratives:

1. Today you will see many paintings. Select the one that stops you in your tracks. This painting should command your attention and be very special to you.
2. Spend some time looking at the painting before you write anything.
3. Think how different this painting is from anything you have ever seen.
4. Write down the name of the painting and the artist who created it.
5. Title the narrative you are about to write. This should relate in some way to the painting and its artist. Later, read over your narrative; does the title still fit?
6. Objectively identify and describe what you see in the painting. Create notes on subjects portrayed, the setting, time of day and symbolism, if any. If available, write down when and where the painting originated.
7. Consider the artist as the central character in your narrative. What you think the painting is about becomes the theme of your narrative. The title of the painting may not be clear as to the painting's theme.
8. Now start to create an original short story based on your notes. You may finish this narrative at home. An original short story is also an art form. You will be creating art from art, using words. Each word is a color on your palette. You will only be limited by your imagination and your command of the language.

Back in school

1. When the students return to their next class, ask them to go online and print color reproductions of the painting they've selected. This research can also be accomplished at home prior to class.
2. Collect all painting reproductions from your students and number them. Exhibit the reproductions in your classroom in numerical order.
3. Have the students read their narratives to the class. Have their classmates write down the number of the painting they feel corresponds to the narrative just read.

Conclusion
From time to time we may receive feedback from students who do well in a particular subject area that this is all they need to know. "Why write when art is my message?" was one such question I received. A lesson that approaches painting from a literary viewpoint can significantly broaden students' definition of "art."

Dr. John W. Healy teaches art at Woodland Middle School, East Meadow, NY.

April, 2007, Vol.37, No.7