b'The Interpretive Arts ShowStepintoaworldwherebrushstrokesmarkimaginativetales,photographssparka writers words, and each artwork becomes a portal into student-crafted narratives. Welcome to the storytelling unfolding within the multidisciplinary canvas of our new Interpretive Arts Show. As art educators, we often meticulously plan curriculum that not only hones technique but also encourages students to express themselves. Additionally, we seek to incorporate contemporary art alongside historical art movements to increase student understandingand instructional relevance. The Interpretive Arts Show experience was designed to do all of this and more, embracing the roles and risks of student-led inquiry and narrative phenomena.As art educators at a suburban STEAM focused middle school, we wanted to create cross-curricularopportunitiesforourstudentsthatwouldprovebeneficialacrossmultiple contexts. We utilized feedback from recent exhibitions, teachers, students, and data to craft this innovative style of art exhibit. Our objective was to provide students with a platform to explore the studio habits of expression and persistence while interpreting stories and creating artworks in a connected, multidisciplinary setting. Similar to Housens (2001) research, we observed that a focus on visual thinking strategies (VTS) in the interpretive process gave us insight into not only how students perceive artwork, but how the practices of visual literacy can transfer skills to other content areas. Throughout the unit, students were encouraged to translate their ideas and narratives into various forms, shaping classrooms and content areas across the school into vibrant and mutualistic storytelling spaces. Designing the interpretive process was fun, complex, and humbling. We aim to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the goals and objectives, the intricacies of the collaborative process, and the exemplars and logistics we found necessary to support facilitation.Goals and ObjectivesWe knew we wanted to prioritize the relationship between visual and written literacy. Throughout the curriculum design process, we aimed to address two fundamental questions: How can we effectively teach art content and skills while nurturing individual artistic expression? What collaborations with other educators can enhance the interconnectedness of learning?CharmanandRoss(2004)assertthatthereisanintimaterelationshipbetween interpreting art and making art (p. 2), and it is the space in-between that provides a meaningful experience for our students. We did not, at the beginning of this experience, know where it would lead or how it would be received by students. In our interpretive pilot year, we were pleasantly surprised by the way in which embracing the space between art interpretation and art making transformed not only the students learning experience, but also our identities and philosophies as teachers.TRENDS 202515'