Virtual Gallery Tours

Discover how artworks from South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and the Himalayas reveal belief systems addressing universal concerns. Students will engage in hands-on activities incorporating close looking, movement, meditation, and drawing to learn about three of the major world religions.

Your confirmation letter will include: links to a NearPod lesson, a Google Classroom lesson, the full tour video, and activities described in the tour.

Content Standards (California): History/Social Science: 6.5. Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the civilizations of India. 7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

See how writing developed, learn about 3,000-year-old bronze technologies, and draw conclusions about how beliefs and ideas spread throughout ancient China. Compare your discoveries to your own daily life.

Your confirmation letter will include: links to a NearPod lesson, a Google Classroom lesson, and activities described in the tour.

Content Standards (California): History/Social Science: 6.6. Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

Ganesha and Why the Moon Wanes

Do you love the sweet Indian treat ladoo as much as Ganesha? Ganesha will never waste a good ladoo. Learn how this Hindu deity’s love for these sphere-shaped desserts influenced the moon to wane.

Winning Without Hands

On his way to a religious festival, Tsukahara Bokuden, a famous two-sword samurai, resolves a conflict between a younger samurai and a farmer in an unexpected way.

Gecko: A Balinese Folktale

GECK-o! One night, Gecko keeps waking up the village head, Elephant. On a mission to help Gecko fall asleep, Elephant talks with the other neighboring animals to find a solution, which becomes more complicated than it first appeared.

Tiger and the Puppy

Yip, yip! The story “Tiger and Puppy” is about a village with five families, where a mischievous tiger would eat all the food. An unlikely hero, a small puppy, comes to the rescue and helps the villagers capture the tiger.

Odon the Giant

Discover how even the littlest of animals can overcome a giant in this story from the Philippines.

The Dragon’s Pearl

In “The Dragon’s Pearl,” a boy wanders the hills looking for food and finds a pearl in a large patch of the most luscious green grass. He discovers that this pearl is magic and can increase and multiply anything it touches.

The Four Harmonious Friends

In this Jataka Tale, a bird, rabbit, monkey, and elephant work together to harvest fruits from a growing tree.

Ganesha Around the World

In a race around the world with his brother, Ganesha thinks of a clever strategy to win that impresses his parents.

The Magic Tea Kettle (Bunbuku Chagama)

This Japanese folktale tells a story about a magical raccoon-dog, or tanuki, who uses its shape-shifting powers to reward its rescuer for his kindness. “Bunbuku chagama” roughly translates to “happiness bubbling over like a tea kettle.”

Why the Rat Comes First

This Chinese Lunar New Year tale explains why the rat comes first in the zodiac.

Discover how artworks from across Asia reveal belief systems addressing universal concerns. Students will engage in hands-on activities incorporating close looking, movement, and drawing to learn about one of the three major world religions.

Content Standards (California): History/Social Science: 6.5. Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the civilizations of India. 7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

Choose from the following:

Hindu Art
Learn to identify key attributes to specific deities, hear their stories, and understand how to decipher the detailed artworks that celebrate them. 

Buddhist Art 
Learn about the historic figure who would become the Buddha and how different cultures adopted Buddhism as it spread across Asia.

Islamic Art
Look closer at Islamic art works to examine how calligraphy and the use of geometric patterns relate to Islamic practice.

See how writing developed, learn about 3,000-year-old bronze technologies, and draw conclusions about how beliefs and ideas spread throughout ancient China. Compare your discoveries to your own daily life.

Content Standards (California): History/Social Science: 6.6. Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

During this one-hour virtual tour, students will look closely at traditional ink paintings from China, Japan, and Korea; learn about the tools and techniques used to create these paintings; and think about what these artworks have to say about our relationship with nature. 

Tour Requirements:

• We require that tours be scheduled at least four weeks in advance, to allow time to receive and distribute materials to your students.
• You are able to distribute art-making materials to all of your students before the tour.

Visual Arts Content Standards for Nature in Art: 

1.1 Enduring Understanding: Creativity and innovative thinking are essential life skills that can be developed; 2.1 Enduring Understanding: Artists and designers experiment with forms, structures, materials, concepts, media, and art-making approaches; 7.1 Enduring Understanding: Individual aesthetic and empathetic awareness developed through engagement with art can lead to understanding and appreciation of self, others, the natural world, and constructed environments; 11.0 Enduring Understanding: People develop ideas and understandings of society, culture, and history through their interactions with and analysis of art.

• What are the patterns on this mural, and how do they relate to each other and to the museum community?
• Who are the Bay Area AAPI artists named on the mural, and what was their impact on the art world?
• How might students notice the meaningful patterns in their own lives?

• How might art help us to think critically about the spaces and places that shape us?
• How do these meaningful spaces change over time?    
• How might we use art to preserve our memories of a particular time and place?

• How might art help us to understand the gender roles and identities imposed by the societies we live in?
• How might art enable us to protest and heal from gender-based inequities and violence?
• How can art help us to broaden and deepen our understanding of feminism?

Note: Some artworks in this tour address cases of sexual violence that have been covered by the media.  Your confirmation letter will include resources where your students can learn more about these cases before or after the tour.

stART  (Grades Pre-K – 1)
For a shorter program, specifically designed for our youngest audiences, we are offering stories with related class activities.  

Animal Tales
Listen to stories from across Asia about animals that spark the imaginations that bring art to life.

Heroes and Sheroes
These stories introduce students to courageous, noble, and self-sacrificing acts performed by ordinary people both young and old.

Tricksters!
Enjoy stories from across Asia that tell how the use of wit and trickery gets folks out of trouble!

Stories from China
Become enchanted with authentic stories from ancient China or celebrate the New Year with stories from the zodiac during this storytelling session.

Stories from South Asia
Immerse your students in the stories of South Asia that celebrate the courage and wit of the Hindu deities as they overcome the challenges and work to restore balance in the universe. 

Stories from Southeast Asia
Delight in the vivid characters of these Southeast Asian stories as they overcome challenges, work together to solve problems, and learn life lessons.

Key Ideas and Details: 2.2. Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson or moral; 3.2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: 4.7. Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text; 4.9. Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics and patterns of events in stories, myths and traditional literature from different cultures.