Unpack Art in Your Classroom: Outreach Suitcases

Suitcases contain artifacts that students may handle, examine and discuss. Each suitcase has a curriculum guide with descriptions of the objects, lesson plans and art activities. To reserve any of the following suitcases, please use our online suitcase order form or call 206.654.3186.

New

• Bridging Ancient Cultures
  Explore the diverse cultures and artistic traditions of the ancient world, including Mexico, the Mediterranean region, India and China. This suitcase includes replicas of ancient art objects, background information, questions to consider, suggested activities, a CD of images of works in the Seattle Art Museum’s permanent collection, and Washington State curriculum connections.

Now Available

• A Competitive Spirit: Images of Games and Play in Art
  Investigate the relationship between play, games and art making. This suitcase contains overhead transparencies of eight lesson plans and a teacher guide. The cultures represented include ancient Mayan, Japanese, Liberian and Northwest Coast Native American.
  
  
• Art of Our Time: Twentieth-Century American Art
  Examine the art of a period characterized by great technological and social change. Students explore formal and expressive elements of the art. Activities vary according to grade level. This suitcase contains four large reproductions, felt boards, felt pieces for four artworks, art palettes, postcards, colored pencils, view finders, slides and a curriculum guide.
  
  
• Explore the Daily Lifestyles of a Korean Family
  Imagine and learn about everyday life in Korea. This suitcase contains objects typically found in a Korean home, including clothing, toys, masks and other household items. Books, pamphlets and postcards provide images and descriptions of Korean culture. Hands-on activities include puzzles and games.
  
  

• Ganesh and Family: Arts and Games of India
  Compare images of Ganesh, the elephant-headed deity of India, created in different media. Try out several different traditional board and card games from India. Includes books, a CD-ROM version of an Indian epic, transparencies of Indian sculptures at the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and a teacher guide with activities.
  
  
• Personal Strength, Personal Beauty: Personal Adornment of the Peoples of Africa
  An introduction to the art of adornment in many different African cultures. Students will examine how adornment and clothing reveal a person's status, personality and customs. This suitcase contains Maasai and Egyptian collars, a papyrus painting, a Ndebele doll, a Fante shrine sculpture, a comb, Kente, Adire and Bakuba cloths, transparencies, and a curriculum guide.
  
  
• Tea in Japan: A Window into the Arts
  Explore Japanese culture by handling various objects associated with the tea ceremony. This suitcase contains a hanging scroll, a kimono, tea and calligraphy sets, lacquer trays, a curriculum guide, and transparencies that describe the importance of this social and cultural event.
  
  
• Values To Live By: A Presentation on Important Life Lessons as Told by Northwest Coast Elders Updated for S'abadeb—The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists starting in November 2009.
  Examine the values of the Northwest Coast peoples, passed down by elders with different tribal affiliations, and relate these values to artwork by contemporary Northwest Coast artists. This suitcase contains a cattail mat, a button blanket, a hand-painted drum, a carved mask, a basket, a wool blanket robe, a video, prints and a curriculum guide.
  

Available in 2009

Currently, we are updating these suitcases with new teacher guides and objects, and adding CD-ROMs with images of objects in the Seattle Art Museum's permanent collection. Check back over the next few months for descriptions of these changes.

• Scholars, Merchants and Ladies of the Court: People and Arts of Traditional China
  Introduce your students to three important characters in Chinese art. The roles of the scholar, merchant and court lady reveal a context for the art objects. This suitcase contains shadow puppets, a basket, an embroidery panel, a painted scroll, a calligraphy set, rice and dragon bowls, transparencies, and a curriculum guide.
  
  
• Woven in Spirit: Traditional Textiles from the Philippines
  This “mini suitcase” is filled with textiles from the three major regions of the Philippines: Visayas, Luzon and Mindanao. This suitcase contains a Maranao Langkits bag, an Illongot blouse, a Malong (dress), North Luzon Kalinga tapis (skirt), an Illongot barkcloth, a Mindanao blouse, a Mangyan blouse and tapis, a yo-yo, and a teacher guide.
  

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