2.11 Practicing Art Talk

Let’s learn how to use “Art Talk” when discussing abstract art so that you can make comments beyond “This looks nice, I like it.” But first, we need to get comfortable using these art terms ourselves and model it for our volunteers. There are three components of an art talk:

• Point at the section of the painting that we are referring to;
• Use the art terminology;
• Define in concrete and simple terms what the term means.

We NEVER say what something looks like to us, such as, “It looks like a bird in the garden to me.” This is because we don’t want to limit their creativity by imposing what we see in their painting. Let them take time to explore their own abstract art and see what they see in it. Watch this video on how to engage in Art Talk. Remember to model this for your volunteers and provide them with the art talk handout below.

Use this handout to teach volunteers how to do Art Talk: