John Ferry’s Annual Illustration Assignment Featured by “Six-Word Memoirs”
06.25.2025
For nearly a decade, Professor of Illustration John Ferry has made Six-Word Memoirs a staple assignment in his “Image and Form” course with an approach that is simple yet profound: students write several Six-Word Memoirs, then select one (or more) to illustrate.
The editor’s note on the Six-Word Memoirs blog starts with founder Larry Smith writing how one of his greatest joys is opening an email from a teacher sharing how they’ve brought the six-word form into their classroom.
“Every year, I know one such message will arrive from Kansas City: a thoughtful update from Professor John Ferry at the Kansas City Art Institute,” he writes.
What Ferry provides comes from his students, results described as “often funny, sometimes raw, and always revealing.” For close to ten years, Ferry has incorporated Six-Word Memoirs as a key element of his Image and Form class. Students craft multiple six-word reflections and then choose one or more to visually represent.
“The assignment gives me a lens into each student’s personality,” says Ferry, “but it also shows themes that tell the story of the class as a whole.” In recent years, Ferry has noticed a shift in students’ interests—many now use the assignment as a chance to develop character designs influenced by video and board games. “It’s a way for them to showcase something they care about deeply, but filtered through the structure of storytelling.”
In 2006, Larry Smith launched the Six-Word Memoir project by inviting people to describe their lives in just six words, sparking a wave of submissions that ranged from touching to humorous. What began as a simple storytelling challenge grew into a global movement, resulting in a bestselling book series and widespread media attention. With over 1.5 million memoirs shared, including in classrooms like Ferry’s, the project has become a powerful, accessible way to foster self-expression, conversation, and human connection.
At the Kansas City Art Institute, Ferry says that it’s not necessarily the writing that students find difficult. Instead it’s the choosing process.
“Most of the time, they turn in more than one illustrated memoir. They get excited. After they’ve written a few, I’ll ask which ones they can already see imagery for. That helps them decide where to begin, but many go on to illustrate two or three memoirs, even though I only require one. As a professor, that’s what you want: students pushing themselves beyond the assignment.”
Click here to read the full blog post and learn more about Six-Word Memoirs.