9^th Graders Take Trip to Ringling

Every semester, Major Gillotte accompanies ninth grade English students to the Ringling Museum of Art on a docent led tour of classical art entitled “A Feast of Myths and Legends.”  The museum tour coincides with students’ reading of The Odyssey and their study of mythology, ancient Greece, and the influence of Greek culture on western civilization. As part of this curriculum, students learn the Greek origins of English words and how written language in that area of the world developed from the pictorial scripts of the Minoan civilization to the early Greek alphabet. During their tour of the Ringling museum, students are exposed to early narrative art in Hellenistic murals and pottery that reflects the characters and themes they are studying in epic poetry. As their exploration of Greek mythology continues, students will begin to analyze the use of symbolism and metaphor in narratives and myths across cultures, including the development of cultural archetypes and heroes.

 “As an English teacher,” Gillotte says, “I focus on art as one of man’s earliest forms of communication. Prehistoric cave drawings such as the ones found in Lascaux, France, reflect some of primitive man’s first attempts to use symbolism and to tell a story through drawing. As oral language developed, the art of narrative evolved, resulting in oral traditions of storytelling by minstrels and bards. Ultimately, dramatic presentations such as The Iliad and The Odyssey were reduced to writing. They remain important classics for today’s study by virtue of the artfulness with which they were written.”

Four years ago, Gillotte discovered that her students enjoyed using art as a tool for learning, so she conceived a project whereby students could paint their own personal narratives on canvas. She envisioned a modified curriculum where students could learn to see the narrative in art, and conversely, the art in narrative. Inspired by a three-day summer institute training program for teachers at Ringling, as well as her subsequent work at a triptych booth during the museum’s Sacred Treasures Exhibit and Family Festival, Gillotte developed the idea of incorporating triptych painting into her unit of instruction covering mythology and epic narratives. A triptych is a form of painting that is characterized by three separate panels of wood containing separate artistic representations that are related, connected, or thematically associated. Triptychs are an early form of narrative art that, in addition to expressing religious or spiritual themes, served as traveling altarpieces during the Middle Ages.

“Whether expressed as visual or literary art, the purpose of narrative is to relate a particular story or stories to the viewer or reader. While many art forms rely heavily on the use of allegory, symbolism, and metaphor to convey messages, the use of such figurative mechanisms in earlier times was critical due to the inability of most people to read or write,” explains Gillotte. “I want my students to learn the power of symbolism and to incorporate it into their own personal narrative triptychs.”

Gillotte’s unit of study will culminate in a four day class project where the classroom will be transformed into an art room. Applying the “hero’s journey” theme from The Odyssey to their own hero’s journey through adolescence into adulthood - complete with the potential obstacles and pitfalls a teen might encounter on his or her journey - students will paint their own personal narrative triptychs and use symbolism to convey their beliefs, emotions, and other abstract concepts.

To prepare for the project, students will engage in a number of exercises. They will identify terms and creative techniques common to both art and literature, and then compare how choice of words in literature and choice of color in art can be used to create mood, tone, and atmosphere in a work, as well as express an author or artist’s point of view. Students will apply these principles equally to the processes of writing and painting. For example, after painting their personal narratives, students will be asked to create “masterpiece” sentences. Using pen instead of brush, and choosing words instead of color, students will use the process to create a literary canvas so vivid and descriptive that it forms an imaginary world into which readers are drawn. In this manner, students’ experiences in both art and literature will be enriched.