While "arts-based" has received increased attention in recent years as a research methodology rooted in an aesthetic framework, less attention has been paid to conceptualizing what arts-based means in the context of particular disciplines of K-12 teaching and learning. This qualitative study recognizes a need to examine sustained and ongoing approaches to the teaching of English through art in an effort to better understand and articulate what art can do for literacy learning. I explore "art as story" as one way of conceptualizing a central role for art in English class where art serves as a tool for engagement and as the material for ongoing inquiry.