Asian Art at the San Diego Museum of Art

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

WEBSITE REVIEW - San Diego Museum of Art, East Asia Collection and Lesson Plan ideas

I chose this local (for me) museum because I have taken students here and am somewhat familiar with their collections and programs. I've had great experiences with the docents there who have led interesting and engaging programs helping students learn how to view and consider the art in this and other collections.  But also, the lesson plan ideas (linked above) for creating art in the classroom are well-constructed and, I believe, feasible for most teachers to do in the classroom (not sure about distance learning?) and are adaptable to any grade level.  And even if a teacher does not have the resources to visit the museum, the access to the images in online form could be useful.

This year in distance learning I would use this website at the beginning of my east Asian unit (in World History, grade 7) to project various landscape paintings from East Asia and then side-by-side with landscape photographs.  I would teach students to consider what is painted, and what is left out, and lead a discussion on ideas as to why the artists of east Asia might choose this style.  Depending on my time constraints, I might ask students to sketch their own version of the landscape, either before or after the above discussion.  We would then use the art as a springboard to study the geography of the region(s).  If I were in the classroom and had the time and materials, I would schedule a class period for brush painting an Asian-style landscape.  If painting is not an option, I might at least have them do a "real" drawing in pencil on good paper.

Later, in learning about trade and technology, I think I would use the cloisonné, celadon, porcelain, ivory, and jade pieces to project virtually, and discuss their construction, use, and trade value.  We would use the earthenware camel to talk about trade along the Silk Road as we also study primary sources from Ibn-Battuta and Marco Polo, and at the end I would love to teach the cloisonné art lesson in the PDF file.  I don't know how feasible that is in distance learning, but in the classroom I could probably get the materials and make it happen.  It says it's designed for K-2, but they also provide ideas for adapting it to upper grades all the way through high school.  I know my students enjoy creating art as part of our history lessons, so even the K-2 lesson would be good for engagement, and these days our students get so little opportunity in school to create art, I don't think this would be too easy for them. 

 

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