Visit the galleries
Schedule a guided or self-guided tour so that your class can learn from what’s currently on view.
Sample gallery activities-Analyze the rhetorical strategies of an exhibition.
-Discuss what the works suggest about a historical event or social theme.
-Have students respond creatively to an object of their choice.
-Identify mathematical concepts that you observe or infer from art objects.
-Consider what the works contribute to discussions about the environment.
Research creatively
As primary sources, art objects make excellent focal points for engaging student research projects.
Recent projects
-An ancient Greek history class curated an exhibition.
-An Asian art class made a podcast.
-A 20th-century art history class created a virtual exhibition.
-A student completed a research project examining West African ceramic objects.
-Anthropology students collected data and conducted cultural research about a Meso-American figurine of their choice.
Bring in a guest speaker
Museum staff are available to give class presentations about objects from the collection and lead learning activities.
Class visit ideas
-Museum staff lead a concept-mapping activity about the economic systems in which a group of objects have participated.
-Students work in teams to analyze what a presented group of objects communicate about the nature of race.
-Museum staff lead a discussion about the historical events and figures a group of objects speak to.
Get hands on
Bring your class to the Mulvane Art Lab to get creative. Hands-on artmaking can support learning objectives across numerous fields of study.
Art activity examples
-Draw botanical samples or insect specimens.
-Make a zine about a social issue your class covers.
-Put principles of geometry into practice with tessellations, origami, or paper polyhedrons.
-Draw a topographic map.
-Create comic strips based on historical events.
Contact us
There are many other ways your class can take advantage of the museum’s resources. Our curator is available to help develop and facilitate activities that fit your course objectives.
Sara SteppAcademic and Exhibitions Curator
sara.stepp@washburn.edu
785-670-2422
