Art can be a natural prompt for writing in various forms. This can include but not be limited to poetry, storytelling, descriptive or persuasive writing. Writing can be a way to make a personal connection or reflect on a work of art. On your next visit to the Museum, use any of the following activities to help inspire you!
Looking at artwork requires a lot of time and patience. Use the activity sheet, Taking Time to Look, to help get you started.
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ADJECTIVES
When looking at a work of art, practice writing as many descriptive words as you can about it. Use this adjective worksheet during your visit. Share these with your friends, family or classmates. For fun, alternate reading each of your adjectives to each other. Do any of your adjectives repeat?
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DIALOGUE
Artwork can inspire a lot of discussion! Below are activity sheets that inspire all kinds of dialogue in response to an artwork.
- Say What? Gallery Activity (511KB, .pdf)
- Sculpture Character Worksheet (265 KB, .pdf)
- I Remember Gallery Activity (275KB, .pdf)
- Finding a Friend Gallery Activity (348KB, .pdf)
Some other ideas could include:
- Write a play based on an artwork. Pretend you are the artist who created the work and act out what you might convey to your audience about the artist.
- Pretend that you are having a conversation with the artwork or the subject in the artwork. Write down what you might say. What would they say to you?
- Artwork conversation: If two works hanging in a gallery could speak to each other, what would they say? Write down their discussion. Use your imagination!
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POETRY
Experiment with different forms of poetry as you look at artwork. There are many types of poetry that artwork can inspire. Here is sample of just some that you can download for your visit:
- Six Word Memoir (638KB, .pdf)
- Cinquian Poem (419KB, .pdf)
- Biography Poem (337KB, .pdf)
- Stair Poem (588KB, .pdf)
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CREATIVE STORYTELLING OR DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
- Using Your Senses: Looking at an abstract work of art? Explore it with your five senses using this activity sheet.
- Looking at Landscapes: If you are looking at a landscape painting, pretend you are a weather reporter! What can you discover about the climate and weather conditions based on what you see? Use this activity sheet to explore this idea.
- Tell a Story: Looking at a work of art, write a story using this activity sheet.
- Write a Text Panel: Pretend you are a curator of an exhibit. What kind of text panel would you write for an artwork? Try it! Download the activity here.
Other ideas could be to write a journal entry or a postcard to a pen pal describing the work of art that you see.
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CRITICAL OR PERSUASIVE WRITING
Pick an artwork in the museum or one you find online. Would you hang this work in your room? What do you like? What don’t you like? What would you change? Imagine this artwork is a book cover or movie poster and write a pretend book review or movie review.