Pottery Meets Poetry

In honor of National Poetry Month in April, Carmel High School students in Trisha Clancy’s ceramics class wrote odes to pottery as part of their art lessons.

“With it being National Poetry month, I thought many of my students would be writing poetry in their English classes, so why not have them write in their Ceramics class as well?” said Clancy.

The assignment had students navigate the Metropolitan Museum of Art digital collections and choose a piece of pottery that they admired. They were then asked to submit a poem about the piece. Some students chose the art pieces because of the color or shape, while others found personal meanings in the art they chose.

“I chose my piece because it is beautiful, and it reminds me of my grandmother who passed away a few years ago,” said student DeAvion Dalton. “Her favorite animal was a hummingbird.”

Through art, Clancy aims to incorporate many interdisciplinary lessons into the curriculum, as she finds it broadens the students learning experience.

“I learned how you could see a piece of art and find a much deeper meaning to it if you really think about it for a while, rather than just looking at it for a couple seconds,” said student Kelsie Tretera, who chose to write about a circular blue, white and gold vase.