Art and Poetry Class Projects, Lesson Plans that Connect Art and Poetry

My exposure to both art and poetry has taught me that art gives life to poetry and vice versa. The main elements shared by both art and poetry are symbols and themes that take a vivid imagination to decipher. During a Poetry Workshop that I participated in a few years ago, my classmates and I responded to paintings by writing poems and analyzed poetry paintings where poems were written by professional poets in response to famous paintings. Examples of some of the poetry paintings reviewed in this Poetry Workshop include the poem "Vermeer" by Stephen Mitchell that is dedicated to Jan Vermeer's painting "Young Woman with a Water Jug;" the poem "Van Gogh's Bed" by Jane Flanders written in response to Vincent Van Gogh's painting "Vincent's Bed in Arles;" and the poem "Goya's 'The Third of May, 1808" by David Gewanter that depicts the painting "The Third of May, 1808: The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid (1814). More ideas for Art and Poetry class projects/lesson plans that connect art and poetry are described below.

Field Trip to Art Museum

A great Poetry class project, which I participated as a Poetry Workshop student, is to take a field trip to an art museum and have students choose their favorite painting to write a poem about. My classmates and I wrote sonnets that interpreted the symbols and themes of our favorite paintings by Andre Wyeth. Professors can take pictures of the chosen museum paintings or have a book with a copy of the museum's paintings so that it can be discussed during class.

Attendance to Poetry Event

A wonderful Art Class project to connect the oral nature of poetry with the visual nature of art is to attend a poetry event hosted by the school's Poetry Club or to take a field trip to a local "Poetry Slam" event. Students can take notes on their favorite poem while the teacher records the poetry event on video or audio cassette. During class, the art teacher can play back the reciting of poetry as students draw and paint their interpretation of their favorite poems.

Field Trip to an Art Monument Park

An interesting way for Poetry classes to tie in poetry with 3-D art, is to take a field trip to an art monument park. While there, students can write poems that describe their own interpretations of the sculptures. They can then compare their interpretations with the monument's plaque descriptions; or in reverse they can read the plaque descriptions first and then write poems.

Overall, these are a few hands-on ideas for both Art and Poetry Classes to study the relationship between art and poetry. While the meaning of some art and poetry can easily be grasped, other poetry and art can be abstract requiring more creativity when students are interpreting them. From my experience taking Art History and Poetry classes, I can acknowledge that these projects and lesson plans that connect art and poetry are highly thought-provoking, enjoyable, and memorable.