Creative writing students took a trip to the Norton Simon Museum on April 27 to integrate their understanding of poetry with the art exhibits. English teacher Maral Guarino has made this into an eye-opening field trip in which students learn about the connection between art and the written word. “We talked about tone, impressionism, emotion and other ways artists communicate their ideas through art,” said senior Gian Rivera. “I think the takeaway here was that there are different forms of art, of ways to project a creative idea and it’s really cool to see the artist’s message expressed through their work.”

Students were given an hour long tour by a museum docent and were showed various art exhibits including Picasso, Manet, and Van Gogh. “My favorite painting was the Ragpicker by Manet because he seemed almost lost which made me more curious about his life,” said senior Hripsime Eghiazarian. “Manet used warm colors and a solid background to focus the attention on this man who was also feared during the 1800s in Paris.”

The tour concluded with students writing a poem about an art gallery piece. They were to analyze it and try to express their understanding between modern poetry and modern art. “Students were able to write about it as they stood in front of the painting but beforehand we had lessons that incorporated some artwork with poets,” Guarino said. “They felt comfortable doing that and were able to understand the fluidity between the two domains.”