Workshop Descriptions

African American Quilts
Learn about quilting patterns, local quilters, and the importance of quilts and the Underground Railroad. Math, geometry, and recycling skills help students create a cooperative class quilt and wall hanging. The project involves cooperative work in partners, gluing know-how, and relies on reusing school-supplied paper.
Recommended grades: 1st and up
Option for participants with sewing experience: Three consecutive workshop sessions at an additional cost for each group can be scheduled, relying on group-supplied fabric scraps and sewing needles.

African American Visionary Artists
Uncover inspirations found in dreams, visions and the imaginations of self-taught artists. Students capture and illustrate their unique inner visions using chalk pastels on paper. This activity encourages students to explore self-expression using only their imaginations, and is a great stepping stone for classroom storytelling.
Recommended grades: All

Ancient Greek Ceramics
Travel back in time to ancient Greece, viewing daily activities and myths painted on pottery. Students learn about clay, kilns, and building techniques, then fashion their own small vessel. Clay building experience is very helpful.
Recommended grades: 3rd and up

Egypt: Down the Nile
(AVAILABLE JULY 2011)
Cruise down Egypt's infamous river stopping at the historic sites and pyramids along the way. Take in ancient history and wander through today's villages, markets, and more. Make a clay cartouche of your name stamped in hieroglyphs - for wall hanging and as a rubbing surface.
Recommended grades: 1st and up

The Art of Japanese American
Internment Camps
Internment camp internees during World War II created beautiful objects from limited resources, lending inspiration for students to do the same with their own found objects. The slide show features artifacts from the Museum's popular exhibition, The Art of Gaman.
Recommended grades: 4th and up

Fantastic Trash—Recycle, Reuse, Recreate
Feast your eyes on exciting found objects and recycled creations from around the world, and discover the art in your own backyard! Kindergarten-2nd grade students fashion hats from grocery bags, while upper grades create recycled sculptures made from objects brought or scavenged from home or school.
Recommended grades: All

The Inca
Ancient Andean traditions still used today help create hand woven clothing lasting a lifetime. We ascend to two-mile high mountain villages to follow the weaving story from llama to finished garment, before students weave their own armbands with multicolored yarn. The project involves knot tying and small-motor skills.
Recommended grades: 1st and up
Adaptation for 1st-2nd is a woven paper pouch decorated with authentic weaving motifs.

India—Palm Leaf Bookmaking
Explore the ancient history and importance of palm leaf books, along with a look at contemporary life in India. Students create a multi-paged book by writing, illustrating, sequencing, and threading all together. The project relies on prepared writing, school-supplied paper, and knotting know-how.
Recommended grades: 1st and up

Option for outdoor activity involves drawing with chalk on your blacktop, yard, or sidewalk simulating rangoli, traditional rice powder or flower petal offerings created at thresholds.

Indonesia—Everyday Art
Experience a culture where art, ritual, and everyday life intertwine, and where every person is considered an artist! Inspired by the significance of live theater, students form shadow puppets with paper, scissors, and hole punches. Your overhead projector provides an instant classroom theater. The project involves profile-drawing, understanding positive/negative space, and school-supplied cardstock.
Recommended grades: 3rd and up

Japan—From Silkworm to Kimono
Follow the centuries-old process of making cloth from beginning to end in the countryside of Kyushu and Shikoku Islands. Learn about cotton, the silkworm life cycle, spinning, natural dyeing, and weaving. Students experiment using the world’s oldest fabric decorating technique, resist dyeing. It’s historic, scientific, unpredictable, and fun.
Recommended grades: All

Mud, Dirt, Sand & Clay
Where does clay come from? Do you know dirt comes in every color of the rainbow? How long have people been making things from mud? There are endless amazing things that regular folks do just with earth and water. Get inspired, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to play with clay. The hands-on activity is determined by the group's experience using clay.
Recommended ages: All

Native America—Southwest
Pueblo peoples from the Four Corners area share their rituals, ceremonies, traditions, and everyday life, and the arts of basket making, weaving, and pottery. Students use the ancient coil-and-scrape method to create their own clay pots like those of the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, and others.
Recommended grades: All
For grades Kindergarten-1st a “pinch pot” project is substituted for coil method.

Native California—Miwok and Ohlone
Ancient local sites of the Ohlone and Miwok and traditional handmade objects are introduced before students create their own toy from plant materials. Involves knot tying and hand strength, and requires scheduling at least one month prior to requested date.
Recommended grades: 3rd and up

The Olmec, Maya, and Aztec
Explore fascinating Mesoamerican civilizations from Mexico to Central America and the contributions of the calendar, mathematics, pyramids, astronomy, and hieroglyphics. Using authentic ancient animal designs, each student creates a clay plaque to use as a wall hanging and rubbing surface.
Recommended grades: All

Rice—Food & Folk Art
Integrate archaeology, science, and folk art as you follow the rice life cycle from seedling to your rice bowl, to its use as a sculpting material, and beyond. The project is forming a small clay bowl and decorating it like those made 11,000 years ago.
Recommended grades: All

Southern China
View daily life, festivals, and folk traditions in the mountainous rural areas of China. Kindergarten-3rd graders make paper "tiger hats" based on traditional decorated hats worn for celebrations. Older students cut the current year's zodiac animal in the folk tradition of Chinese paper cuts.
Recommended grades: All

West Africa
Journey to the West African countryside for a look at everyday village life and traditions, and learn to identify ancient symbols and techniques used in handmade traditional clothing. Students print their own strip of adinkra cloth using authentic symbols representing proverbs.
Recommended grades: All

SPECIAL WORKSHOPS:
– Limited Availability and Age Requirements –

Basket weaving
Basket weaving enhances any Social Studies or world cultures unit. Students weave small paper-twine baskets learning an ancient technique used around the world. The workshop is reserved for 5th grades and up, requires three hours, and is priced $14 per participant.

Papermaking
Papermaking integrates science, art, history, and invention. Based on the ancient technique developed in Asian countries and throughout the world for over 2,000 years, students make sheets of paper using recycled school-supplied paper and water. The workshop is for all ages, requires three hours, and is priced $14 per participant.

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