Word & Image : Radical Collaboration in the Book Arts

This article, written in collaboration between Language Arts teacher Lorry Stillman and Visual Art teacher Judy Novey investigates the relationship between the two disciplines when taught in an interdisciplinary classroom. Inspired by the possibilities of these two languages working in concert with each other, the design of the class was based on students creating one-of-a-kind artist's books (both two- and three-dimensional) that combined their own writing and artwork. The article emphasizes the reciprocity of form and content where literacy/ies in both disciplines work together. With photographic examples of student work referencing the visual art and writing, the authors discuss the representation of thematic ideas as they are developed with both disciplines. The authors consider the benefits of interdisciplinary teaching and learning as they examine the complexity of process and problem solving in using a radical approach to teaching the arts. The authors emphasize the personal relevance to students and the deep rewards of this style of teaching for both teachers and learners.