Art into Words: Developing Young Writers Through Art and Visual Thinking
“Painting is mute poetry, and poetry a speaking picture.” — Aristotle
Inspired by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle’s idea that paintings are “silent poetry” and poetry is a “speaking picture,” Year 8 students explored how visual art can ignite creative and critical thinking, and original writing.
Using Visual Thinking Strategies, students developed their skills of observation, interpretation and analysis through artworks from a range of artists and cultures, including Pablo Picasso’s anti-war painting ‘Guernica’, Vincent van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’, Katsushika Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’, Mark Rothko’s colour field paintings and Shirin Neshat’s photography. These works prompted rich discussions around themes and global issues such as war and conflict, peace, identity, belonging, freedom, resilience, mental wellbeing, nature and the relationship between individuals and society.
Drawing on their insights, students crafted original poems in a variety of forms, including free verse, prose poetry, anaphoric poems, cinquains, haiku, concrete visual poems, ‘Where, When and What’ poems and many more. Along the way, they analysed high-quality model texts, developing their understanding of poetic craft, language techniques and literary choices.
The interdisciplinary unit culminates in students authoring and designing their own poetry collections, thoughtfully considering language, typography, layout and illustration to enhance meaning and impact. They also bring selected poems from page to performance, developing confidence and communication skills through spoken-word delivery.
In an age of AI-generated content, this project champions the uniquely human skills of curiosity, close observation, imagination and creative expression, reminding students that some of the most powerful ideas begin with simply looking, thinking, making meaning for themselves, and finding their own voice.
The project draws on activities from Secondary English teacher Purnima Ghogar’s book, ‘Inspired English: Creative Writing and Critical Thinking Through Art’, alongside classroom approaches from an upcoming resource exploring how visual art can deepen engagement with poetry writing. Copies of the book are available in the Secondary Library for students interested in exploring the approach further.
