Learning Resources

SAM Talks: Patti Warashina

Hear from one of the most influential figures in modern ceramics and sculpture, Patti Warashina, facilitated by Carrie Dedon, SAM Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, adult

Art of Empathy Curriculum

Use Social and Emotional Learning as a framework to guide four lesson plans. Each lesson includes close-looking questions and an art activity based on an object in SAM's collection. Aligned with Washington State Social-Emotional Learning Standards, National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

SAM Talks: Calder Symposium Panel Discussion

Contemplate Calder's innovative techniques, artistic evolution, and ongoing influence on the art world through the extensive research and studies of art critic Jed Perl, Dr. Vanja V. Malloy, and Elizabeth Hutton Turner.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, adult

Exploring Calder's Process Lesson Plan

Use these looking questions to guide an art activity inspired by the artist Alexander Calder. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home, classroom

grades K-5, grades 6-8, for school and educators

Calder in Motion Bibliography

Recommended reading related to artist Alexander Calder.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, for school and educators

Ecosystem Trading Cards Art Activity (Spanish)

Draw and learn all about diverse plant life and artworks using this instructional art activity handout during self-guided School Tours or before you visit the Olympic Sculpture Park. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards, Next Generation Science Standards.

Spanish

Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Ecosystem Trading Cards Art Activity (English)

Draw and learn all about diverse plant life and artworks using this instructional art activity handout during self-guided School Tours or before you visit the Olympic Sculpture Park. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards, Next Generation Science Standards.

English

Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Ecosystem Trading Cards Art Activity (Chinese)

Draw and learn all about diverse plant life and artworks using this instructional art activity handout during self-guided School Tours or before you visit the Olympic Sculpture Park. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards, Next Generation Science Standards.

Chinese

Olympic Sculpture Park

grades 9-12, grades 6-8, grades K-5, for school and educators

Ecosystem Trading Cards Art Activity (Vietnamese)

Draw and learn all about diverse plant life and artworks using this instructional art activity handout during self-guided School Tours or before you visit the Olympic Sculpture Park. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards, Next Generation Science Standards.

English

Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Drawing from Nature Bibliography

Recommended poetry and instructional texts for sculptural art-making techniques inspired by and utilizing nature.

English

Olympic Sculpture Park, classroom

grades K-5

Teaching with Graphic Novels Bibliography

Recommended reading for integrating illustration, storytelling, and graphic arts into life and classrooms.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Art is Not a Noun, It's a Verb: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas on "Carpe Fin"

Hear from the artist behind "Carpe Fin." Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas describes it as “Haida manga.” His unique approach blends several artistic and cultural traditions, including Haida formline art, Japanese manga, Pop Art, and graphic novels.

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for researchers, for teens, for school and educators

Find, Sketch, Share Art Activity (English)

Follow the in-gallery art activity prompts to identify and draw works of art that resonate with lived experiences as part of self-guided School Tours at any SAM location. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Find, Sketch, Share Art Activity (Spanish)

Follow the in-gallery art activity prompts to identify and draw works of art that resonate with lived experiences as part of self-guided School Tours at any SAM location. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards.

Spanish

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Find, Sketch, Share Art Activity (Vietnamese)

Follow the in-gallery art activity prompts to identify and draw works of art that resonate with lived experiences as part of self-guided School Tours at any SAM location. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards.

Vietnamese

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Imaginative Portraits Art Activity (English)

Follow along with a SAM Museum Educator to make portraits based on Jung Yeondoo's "Bewitched #2 Seoul" in this instructional six-minute video. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standard, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for families

Imaginative Portraits Art Activity (Spanish)

Follow along with a SAM Museum Educator to make portraits based on Jung Yeondoo's "Bewitched #2 Seoul" in this instructional six-minute video. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standard, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

Spanish

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for families, for school and educators

Imaginative Portraits Art Activity (Vietnamese)

Follow along with a SAM Museum Educator to make portraits based on Jung Yeondoo's "Bewitched #2 Seoul" in this instructional six-minute video. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standard, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

Vietnamese

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for families, for school and educators

Imaginative Portraits Art Spotlight (English)

Practice close-looking and respond to looking questions with this six-minute video exploring how Jung Yeondoo, a contemporary artist from South Korea, brings together ideas of identity, clothing, and storytelling in his portrait photography. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standard, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for families

Imaginative Portraits Art Spotlight (Spanish)

Practice close-looking and respond to looking questions with this six-minute video exploring how Jung Yeondoo, a contemporary artist from South Korea, brings together ideas of identity, clothing, and storytelling in his portrait photography. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standard, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

Spanish

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for families

Imaginative Portraits Art Spotlight (Vietnamese)

Practice close-looking and respond to looking questions with this six-minute video exploring how Jung Yeondoo, a contemporary artist from South Korea, brings together ideas of identity, clothing, and storytelling in his portrait photography. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standard, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

Vietnamese

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for families

Imaginative Portraits Lesson Plan

Pair this lesson with the Imaginative Portraits Art Activity and Art Spotlight videos to engage with concepts of identity, close listening, and self-expression through a portraiture exercise in the classroom or during self-guided School Tours. Aligned with National Visual Arts Standards, English Language Arts Common Core State Standards.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for families

Emotions and Art Lesson Bibliography

Enhance lessons on empathy with reading and online resources that connect art and emotions for many ages and teaching contexts. Aligned with Washington State Social-Emotional Learning Standards, National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for researchers

Figuring History: Kerry James Marshall on "Vignette (The Kiss)"

Hear from Kerry James Marshall on the painting he created for "Figuring History: Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas" at Seattle Art Museum. Learn about the scene that inspired him and how it fits into his larger body of work as well as art history.

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for school and educators, for teens

Dawoud Bey & Carrie Mae Weems: In Dialogue Bibliography

Recommended reading about artists Dawoud Bey and Carrie Mae Weems. "In Dialogue" was an exhibition of works by these significant photo-based contemporary American artists.

English

Seattle Art Museum

for researchers, adult

SAM Talks: Carrie Mae Weems

Beloved contemporary artist Carrie Mae Weems visits SAM! In this intimate talk, she shares her approach to photography, dissects her explorations into other disciplines, and discusses her decades-long friendship with Dawoud Bey.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, adult, for school and educators

Race & Social Justice Lesson Bibliography

Discover books and online resources for learning and teaching about race and social justice.

English

home, classroom, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for researchers

Lift Every Voice: Responding to Lawrence's Struggle Series

Watch Seattle Public School students and Delbert Richardson, founder and curator of the American History Traveling Museum: The Unspoken Truths, share insights in this nine-minute video on Jacob Lawrence’s "Struggle: From the History of the American People." Created in partnership with South End Stories and Mr. Santos Creations and aligned with National Core Arts Standards: Visual Arts.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades 9-12, grades 6-8, grades K-5, for school and educators, for teens, for families

What is American Art? A New Installation of the American Art Galleries at SAM

Watch how the reinstallation of SAM's American Art galleries unfolded. SAM asked the question that only opened up more questions—and more possibilities. After a two-year-long exploration with artists, community leaders, scholars, and students, "American Art: The Stories We Carry," was installed in 2022.

English

Seattle Art Museum

for teens, for school and educators, adult

Northwest Coast Native Art Curriculum

Expand your understanding of Northwest Coast Native art and culture with five activities that feature artwork information, close-looking questions, and discussion and drawing prompts, Designed for use in the galleries or the classroom and aligned with Washington State Arts Standards, National Visual Arts Standards, Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts, National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Modern & Contemporary Art Bibliography

Recommended reading for students and educators to unpack deeper understandings of modern art and how it relates to contemporary issues.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Make Your Move: Responding to Cunningham's Retrospective

Watch three dancers from Baile Dior Studios respond to Imogen Cunningham's photography through movement and photography in this five-minute video. Aligned with National Core Arts Standards: Visual Arts.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for teens, for families

Nick Cave Curriculum

Introduce students to the art and life of contemporary sculptor, dancer, visual artist, and entrepreneur, Nick Cave with this collection of three lesson plans focused on performing arts, language arts, and science. Aligned with Washington State Social-Emotional Learning Standards, National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Larry Ossei-Mensah: Curating the Soul of Black Folks

Watch as Ossei-Mensah discusses what drew him to Amoako Boafo's artwork, the collaborative process in developing "Soul of Black Folks," and what he hopes viewers take away from encountering Boafo's powerful portraits.

English

Seattle Art Museum

for school and educators, adult, for researchers

Amoako Boafo Bibliography

Recommended reading to become more familiar with the themes and references in "Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks," the debut solo museum exhibition of this influential Ghanaian artist.

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for researchers

Mesoamerican & Andean Art Activity (English)

Take inspiration from the ancient art of Central and South America using five in-gallery activities to design vases, shirts, or sculptures during self-guided School Tours.

English

Seattle Art Museum

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Mesoamerican & Andean Art Activity (Spanish)

Take inspiration from the ancient art of Central and South America using five in-gallery activities to design vases, shirts, or sculptures during self-guided School Tours.

Spanish

Seattle Art Museum

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Mesoamerican & Andean Art Activity (Vietnamese)

Take inspiration from the ancient art of Central and South America using five in-gallery activities to design vases, shirts, or sculptures during self-guided School Tours.

Vietnamese

Seattle Art Museum

grades 9-12, grades 6-8, grades K-5, for school and educators

School Tours: How to Visit SAM (English)

Preview the guided School Tour experience at SAM from the student perspective. Watch this video before you visit to set expectations and explain the format of visiting any of our three locations.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

for school and educators, grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12

School Tours: How to Visit SAM (Spanish)

Preview the guided School Tour experience at SAM from the student perspective. Watch this video before you visit to set expectations and explain the format of visiting any of our three locations.

Spanish

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

for school and educators, grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12

School Tours: How to Visit SAM (Vietnamese)

Preview the guided School Tour experience at SAM from the student perspective. Watch this video before you visit to set expectations and explain the format of visiting any of our three locations.

Vietnamese

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

for school and educators, grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12

Three Decades of Día de los Muertos: Fulgencio Lazo

Watch Fulgencio Lazo and Theresa Papanikolas, SAM's curator of American Art, in conversation on Lazo's art practice. Fulgencio Lazo is an internationally recognized artist whose vibrant abstract paintings and sculptures are an exploration of cultural identity and the power of community. He is also the artist behind SAM’s annual tapete installation!

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for researchers, for school and educators

Día de los Muertos Bibliography

Recommended reading for learning and teaching about the Day of the Dead and the history, culture, and art of Mexico.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Seattle Asian Art Museum Curriculum

Everything you need, including close-looking questions and discussion prompts, to provide an introduction to Asian art for students in the classroom or during a self-guided School Tour. Aligned with Washington State Social-Emotional Learning Standards, National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Seattle Asian Art Museum Lesson Bibliography

Learn more about Asian art with readings and online resource suggestions for students and teachers.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators, for researchers

Anatomy of an Artwork: Dr. Sarah Thompson on Katsushika Hokusai

Watch this close-looking video with Dr. Sarah Thompson, Curator of Japanese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, sharing insight about a work the artist completed in the final year of his life: “Li Bai Admiring a Waterfall.” Katsushika Hokusai continued to create art until his death in 1849.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum

for researchers, adult

Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence Bibliography

Recommended reading related to artist Katsushika Hokusai.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, home

for researchers, for school and educators

Lunar New Year Bibliography

Recommended reading for kids on the customs, traditions, food, and symbols related to the Lunar New Year.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, preschool, for school and educators

Character Brainstorm Lesson Plan

How can characters from our own lives be represented through visual art? Practice close-looking in the classroom or during guided and self-guided school tours. Aligned with Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts, National Visual Arts Standards.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, classroom

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Saturday University: Knowledge, Transmission, and Embodiment in East Javanese Performing Arts

Explore the spiritual knowledge, or ilmu, that performers imparted on UW professor Christina Sunardi while conducting fieldwork on gamelan music and dance in Malang, east Java from 2005–2007. The presentation is accompanied by a musical performance by Ki Midiyanto.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, home

for researchers, adult

Saturday University: Buddha in the Redwood Temple

Tune in for a lecture with Professor and recent Chair (Fall 2020-2023) of the UC Berkeley Department of History of Art, Greg Levine. In 1892, the San Francisco Bohemian Club constructed a giant statue of a Buddha (modeled after the Daibutsu in Kamakura, Japan) in the forest that would become Muir Woods in 1908. This talk positions the statue in relation to material and visual history, modern transnational Buddhism and visual culture, and race and environment.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum

for researchers, adult

Saturday University: The Digital Afterlife of Chinese Painting

Watch this lecture to hear Yomi Braester (scholar of visual culture and editor-in-chief of Journal of Chinese Cinemas) introduce developments in digital art in China over the past fifteen years. He shows how these artworks mesh with other technologies that mediate the digital environment, such as Artificial Intelligence and “smart city” algorithms.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum

for researchers, adult

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic Bibliography

Recommended reading related to artist Kehinde Wiley.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, for school and educators

Northwest Coast Native Art Bibliography

Recommended reading related to SAM's collection of Northwest Coast Native Art.

English

Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, for school and educators

Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith Bibliography

Recommended reading for learning about one of the most innovative and powerful artists of her generation, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (b. 1940, citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation).

English

Seattle Art Museum

for researchers, for school and educators

Shirin Neshat: Tooba Bibliography

Recommended reading related to artist Shirin Neshat.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, home

for researchers, for school and educators

Artistic Choices Bibliography

Recommended reading including advice and interviews with artists to motivate the artistically inclined and burgeoning artists.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

for school and educators, grades 6-8, grades 9-12

Living Art: Anida Yoeu Ali on Performance Art & Public Encounters

Watch our interview with the artist behind "Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence" to uncover the origins of her performance-based artworks and the significance of bringing them to life through public encounters.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum

adult, for researchers

Anida Yoeu Ali Bibliography

Recommended reading for learning about Tacoma-based international artist Anida Yoeu Ali's solo exhibition, "Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence."

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum

for researchers, for school and educators

Perspective in Art Bibliography

Recommended reading related to teaching and learning about the role of math in art to create perspective.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth​ Bibliography

Recommended reading related to the Ikat exhibition at Seattle Art Museum.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, home

for researchers, for school and educators

Yirrkala: Art from Australia’s Top End Bibliography

Learn more about the art and artists of Australia's north coast. "Yirrkala: Art from Australia’s Top End" exhibits art from SAM's collection that meditates on environmental cycles and our connections to them.

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for researchers

Poke in the Eye Bibliography

Recommended reading for learning about the art of the West Coast counterculture.

English

Seattle Art Museum

for researchers, for school and educators

The Art of Symmetry Bibliography

Recommended reading for learning and teaching about patterns, shapes, and math in art.

English

Seattle Art Museum, classroom, home

grades 6-8, grades 9-12, for school and educators

From Hong Kong to Seattle: A Conversation with Artist Lam Tung Pang

Tune in to hear from the remarkable Hong Kong-born artist Lam Tung Pang about his pandemic-inspired kinetic installation, "The Great Escape" (2022), and what it means to bring classical Chinese practices into the modern era.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum

adult, for researchers

Beyond the Mountain Bibliography

Recommended reading about contemporary Chinese artists on the classical forms.

English

Seattle Asian Art Museum

for researchers, for school and educators

Arts Integration Bibliography

Recommended reading for integrating art into life and education.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park, classroom, home

grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12

Latinx Artist Panel: Our Blue Planet

Join artists Joiri Minaya, Carolina Caycedo, and Frances Gallardo in a conversation with curator Suzanna Tempkin. Each of these Latinx artists responds to social, cultural, and environmental issues through various mediums to provoke us to think about our interactions with our natural environment and with each other.

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for researchers

Our Blue Planet: Global Visions of Water Bibliography

Read up on ecology-focused art related to SAM's collection and local loans on view during "Our Blue Planet," an exhibition that encouraged taking a step back from statistics and viewing how artists are contemplating the future of water.

English

Seattle Art Museum

Renegade Edo and Paris Bibliography

Recommended reading on how art helps reveal challenges to the status quo from the rising middle classes in Edo-period (1603–1868) Japan and fin-de-siècle Paris. "Renegade Edo and Paris: Japanese Prints and Toulouse-Lautrec" highlighted the shared subversive hedonism that underlies both Japanese prints and Toulouse-Lautrec’s work.

English

Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum

for researchers, adult

Alberto Giacometti Bibliography

Recommended reading to learn more about Giacometti's major achievements during the postwar years including sculpture, painting, and drawing.

English

Seattle Art Museum

adult, for researchers