Forest Arts Music Hub

Composing to Pictures 2026

A project of musical creativity throughout the Spring Term

About the Project

‘Composing to Pictures’ is all about encouraging students to create music inspired by artworks. Participating schools visit the New Art Gallery Walsall (NAGW) where they learn from an expert about selected Artworks picked specifically for the project.  Following this, students then receive a musical workshop on Composing from one of the Walsall Music Education Service (WMES) music educators.

In the following weeks, students and staff must then create pieces of music inspired by the artworks. During the process, schools will receive two visits from the WMES music educator involved. The first visit is to oversee, mentor and help craft the student compositions. The second visit is to record or video the student compositions.

The project is then concluded with a video presentation on the WMES YouTube channel, which is shared with all the participating schools. The view the full timeline of the project, please see the next page for a more detailed outline. All ages and abilities can be catered for as the teaching content will be differentiated accordingly, and as a result the project is suitable for KS2, 3, 4 and 5.

Whilst the project is primarily known as ‘Composing to Pictures’, last year we also incorporated a Rock’n’Pop element known as ‘Picks to Pics’, which maybe more suitable for some schools. 

How to participate in the 2026 project

Please download the 25/26 Information Pack for more details and costs, and complete the booking form included.