Resources

Understand the importance of Carlos Villa’s work to prioritize and spotlight artists who are underrepresented.

Lesson: Interview a grandparent, parent, guardian, or community member about their childhood, immigration story, family traditions or celebrations.

Lesson: Compare and contrast experiences between Kay Sekimachi and the characters of When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka during Relocation and the Internment Camps to draw themes about the treatment of American and Japanese cultures and the erasure of individuality during World War II. 

Lesson: Students will take inspiration from Sekimachi and write a short essay on the cultures, celebrations, and traditions that represent them.  They will then create a poster, slideshow, or video that illustrate your essay.

Lesson: Wong’s memoirs—Fifth Chinese Daughter (1950) and No Chinese Stranger (1975)—offer students many opportunities to examine issues related to Asian American identity, history, art, and storytelling.  Depending on how much time you have, you can assign one or both books or specific passages; no matter the length of the reading, Wong’s stories and reflections lend themselves to provocative discussions.

Lesson: Watch and discuss the film Jade Snow Wong to understand the cultural conflicts experienced by Chinese American women during the 1930s-40s and how similar tensions still exist today.

Lesson: Students will 1) learn some of the hallmarks of Wong’s ceramics and enamels; 2) gain a general understanding of the ceramics- and enamel-making processes; and 3) understand some of the scientific processes involved in art.

Activity: In the following activity, you will make your own orihon to use as a journal. What stories might you record in it?

Lesson: Students will 1) understand how Wong was viewed by her community as a rebel in her choice of career and in her artistic style; 2) practice using compare/contrast skills to identify the hallmarks of art from the Qing and Song dynasties, to understand how Wong’s work was initially judged; and 3) hone discussion skills through the use of Project Zero’s Artful Thinking Routines.

Asian Art Museum storyteller, Liz Nichols, tells a Japanese story about a boy who was only one inch tall.