The theater acting class recently went on a field trip to the Saint Louis Art Museum. Students were tasked with a finding a piece of art that inspired them and using that to write a monologue based on the piece of art that inspired them the most.

Noah Block (12) explains how he chooses his piece of art.

“I knew off the bat that it would be based on an American painting from the 1800s or 1900s because I like the landscaping because early American landscape painting is really pretty and I love the paintings that were made of it so I kind of knew right away that my monologue would be based on that,” Block said.

Block details why it is important to mix the two mediums of visual art and acting.

“The art can have its own story to anyone, like the story everyone perceives different art pieces as can be different or they can be the same and I think a monologue out of that can bring that together,” Block said. “It is more of a physical representation of that art.”

All in all, it was an experience that truly taught him about the perception of art and how art can be perceived by each person.

Micki Morris (11) explains what art she was looking for during the field trip.

“I like the Renaissance European style so I wanted to create something based on that,” Morris said. “They have very interesting stories and many different layers to them. So I feel like I have a lot to play with in terms of writing the monologue.”

One of the most interesting aspects of the field trip was that different students had different interests in the type/ time period of art they were looking for. The experience gave students the unique opportunity to draw inspiration from the art that truly grabbed their individual interest.