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ART CLASS CURATOR

Hands-on and Minds-curious Art Learning

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

EXPLORING NARRATIVE IN ART

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the Art Curator for Kids - Exploring Narrative in ArtOne of the best ways for a student to connect with art
is through narrative, or story. Really, it’s not just appropriate for just students–we all connect through
narrative. Narrative is how all of us see the world and how we connect with each other. We put together
stories in our heads for situations in our lives. We try to fill in the blanks. And when we see a first work of
art for the first time, we often go straight to narrative (if the strong emotions in the work don’t grab us
first!).

The benefits of including narrative writing in your curriculum are many: from emotional expression to
social and cultural awareness and understanding to developing creativity. Hearing others’ stories and
telling your own story are powerful.

Art is a natural fit for narrative, because much art tells a story, but that story is up for interpretation from
the viewer. The story and the art itself changes depending on who is looking at it. The artist leaves us
clues and descriptors and emotions, and we are left to put the pieces together. It is exciting and creative
and challenging.
I say it is challenging, but really our kids don’t find it as daunting as we do as adults. They are primed for
story creating, and all we need to do is help guide them through the process. The rest of this post gives
you a step by step guide to exploring narrative through art.

ANALYZE THE PAINTING: VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES

This human focus on the narrative is what led Abigail Housen and Philip Yenawine to develop Visual
Thinking Strategies (or VTS). I’ve briefly mentioned them before on the blog here. VTS was created in
response to Housen’s stage theory of Aesthetic Development (source). Don’t click away; I won’t bore you
with the details, but she discovered that there are five stages of how people interact with artwork. In the
first stage or Accountive stage, viewers of art focus on narrative.

Accountive viewers are storytellers. Using their senses, memories, and personal associations, they make
concrete observations about a work of art that are woven into a narrative. Here, judgments are based on
what is known and what is liked. Emotions color viewers’ comments, as they seem to enter the work of
art and become part of its unfolding narrative. (source)

So, what is VTS?

vts imageWith VTS, you use three questions only: “what’s going on in this picture?, “what do you see
that makes you say that?” and “what more can you find?” That’s it! You basically just keep poking and
prodding the student for more information and connecting his or her ideas together. Starting with that
key question, “what’s going on?,” will spark a lot of ideas and stories in the student. The question hints at
narrative but doesn’t limit the student’s response. I was really skeptical of this strategy when we
discussed it in grad school, but honestly, I find it to be a very effective way of talking about art with
students.

DEVELOP THE STORY

While I think VTS is useful and works very well, sometimes you want to go deeper into the interpretation
of the work. Remember, this is YOUR or your student’s story. Don’t look up the “right answer.” You
interpretation is just as correct as whatever you might find to read about the work.

The first step of interpreting narrative in art is fully exploring the painting–taking an inventory of all of
the things, emotions, places, actions, and people present in the work. The artist makes a lot of choices
that impact the story, so make sure you and your student have discovered an analyzed these choices
fully.

Next, you can work together or alone through writing to figure out what happened before the moment
depicted in the painting. Figure out the motives and personalities of the characters. What were they
doing in painting, and what did they do to get to that point? What were they reacting to? Why were they
feelings those emotions? Create a back story.

After developing the back story and present story, create what will happen next. Back up ideas that you
have with clues from the painting, but feel free to get creative.

Outline the story and flesh out the details. Study parts of a story to make sure you have all the elements
of a good narrative and to connect with your language arts curriculum.

DOCUMENT THE STORY AND CREATE

Once you have figured out your story, take it further with one or more of these activities.

Draw, paint, or storyboard the story. Create new paintings of moments in the story before or after the
painting in question. Or, create a storyboard with all of the key points illustrated as if preparing for an
animated movie on note card or a template printed from online.

Write it out. Depending on the age and ability of the student, write out the story. You could have the
student write a short story or a screen play. If your student is unable to write yet, take a video of him or
her telling the story out loud or write it down for her.

Act it out. Have students work with other students to put on a play or make a video. Make costumes and
props, develop the script, and practice the emotions.

Create a tableaux vivant. If you have multiple students, create a series of tableaux vivants, or living
pictures. Have them create the story using their bodies with props if you’d like. This is basically like a
freeze frame. You could have them do one point of the story as a freeze frame which morphs into
another freeze frame for the middle of the story which then morphs into the end of the story. Snap
pictures of each tableaux to document the learning experience. It may sound like a silly activity, but the
students I have done this with always get a good laugh out of it and it helps them make a deeper
connect with the artwork.

SUGGESTED ARTWORKS

I have selected some artworks to get you started on this activity. To download a PDF and a PowerPoint go
Artworks with a Strong Narrative Component, click here.

Download Powerpoint

YOUR TURN!
Let’s try it out. Take a close look at this artwork.

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, 1787

Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates, 1787

Develop the story based on clues from the painting, and tell me your story in the comments. �

This article was originally published on June 18, 2014.

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FILED UNDER: ART, LOWER ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE SCHOOL, NOT GRADE SPECIFIC, PDF RESOURCE,
POWERPOINTS, SECONDARY, UPPER ELEMENTARY

TAGGED WITH: BARTOLOME ESTEBAN MURILLO, CARAVAGGIO, EUGENE DELACROIX, GANESHA, GIAN
LORENZO BERNINI, HINDU ART, INDIA, JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID, JAPAN, NARRATIVE, PDF, POWERPOINT,
THEATRE, VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES

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Please subscribe to my e-mail newsletter to receive the free Art Appreciation Printable Worksheet
Bundle which includes 8 ready-to-use art worksheets designed to work with almost any work of art.

COMMENTS

Annie Kate says

October 16, 2014 at 6:11 am

Thanks for this post. It brings a whole new dimension to picture study.

Reply

artcuratorforkids@gmail.com says

October 16, 2014 at 8:48 am

You’re welcome! �

Reply

Debra Strandberg says

September 6, 2015 at 11:51 am

Just a note to thank you for this lovely post. I used your tableaux vivant idea while presenting
Caravaggio’s The Cardsharps to my 4th, 5th and 6th grade art classes. It was fantastic and we had such a
great time. Thanks for the great idea.

Reply

Cindy, The Art Curator for Kids says

September 6, 2015 at 2:24 pm

Awesome! I’m so happy it worked out for you. It’s always fun (with ANY age!). �

Reply

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Cindy Ingram has the awkward habit of crying in front of artworks, and she wants the rest of the world to
do it too. This noble quest has culminated in the creation of Art Class Curator, where she shares how to
creatively teach art appreciation and art history in a way that will spark a lifelong love of art. Read
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