Pilot draft, in development. This program is being tested with teachers and is not final. Anything marked [TO CONFIRM] is still being checked.

Plan a visit · Teacher guide · Pilot draft

Beautiful Things: a field trip for art classes.

A room full of things real people designed and made: typewriters you can type on, a movie viewer you crank by hand, TVs from the 1940s, video games back to the 1970s, and about 40 paintings. The visit has three parts: old, beautiful design, then paintings (including a whole wall of cats and dogs), then a short drawing session, all in 60 minutes. This is the full guide: every station, longer lessons and a project. Written for grades 3 to 8.

Short on time? Plan a visit in three steps: a short video, 60 minutes here, one drawing after.

Plan a visit: three steps Open the classroom deck

Print and project

Classroom deck, grades 3 to 5
One story in five chapters, with short clips from the gallery. The printed copy links to each clip.
Open PDF
Classroom deck, grades 6 to 8
The same pictures and story, with questions for older students.
Open PDF
Field journal
Student sketch sheet for the stations. One per student.
Open PDF
Drawing skills sheet
For part 3: contour, big shapes, a pet portrait and a value scale. One per student.
Open PDF
Looking hunt
Twelve real objects to find, with a teacher answer key.
Open PDF
Chaperone sheet
One page for each adult with a team.
Open PDF
For teachers and schools
A one-page summary to share with your principal.
Open PDF
Note for your principal (draft)
A one-page note to fill in and hand over.
Open PDF
This teacher guide
The whole guide as a printable file.
Open PDF

The visit at a glance

Where: Occidental Fine Arts Center, 311 Occidental Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104, in Pioneer Square. The visit starts on the first floor; Beautiful Things is upstairs.
Cost: Free admission. [TO CONFIRM]: that school-group visits, including staff help at the stations, are free too.
Length: 60 minutes at the gallery, door to door. Two classes can come the same day: the second arrives 25 minutes after the first, so only one class is upstairs at a time.
Bus: We can help pay for your school bus (details TBD).
Group size: About 20 students plus their adults per visit, with one adult for every 5 or 6 students.
When: Public hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 12 to 5. [TO CONFIRM]: whether school groups can come in the morning, before public hours.
Who runs it: Kirsten, who leads school visits and is your contact, with Noy and Neal. They're Foundation staff, not trained teachers.
Booking: [TO CONFIRM]: how to reach Kirsten and how booking works. For now, use the gallery's contact page. Contact page
Getting there: [TO CONFIRM]: bus drop-off, parking, and where to eat lunch. Occidental Park is a short walk away.
Accessibility: Beautiful Things is up one flight of stairs, and there's no elevator right now. A ground-floor version of the visit is to come; it isn't built yet. Please tell us about any access needs ahead of time so we can plan. A second emergency exit from the 2nd floor is planned. [TO CONFIRM]: accessible restrooms and seating. The room gets loud when the machines run; the paintings room is quieter.

What to expect

The class starts on the first floor with a short talk and video, goes upstairs for design (typewriters, movie machines, TVs and games) and art (cat and dog paintings and a guess-the-original game), then comes back down to draw.
One big floor of real old things: radios, phones, typewriters, movie machines, TVs, a game desk, signs, tools, and about 40 paintings.
Some stations are made to be used. Students can type, crank, dial and play where staff say it's OK. Everything else is eyes only.
Some machines are loud, and old movies and music may be playing.
The room also has slot machines, a few bar items, and some joke videos made for adults. This route skips them, and chaperones can steer around them.
Some objects have short AI-made videos where the object "talks." The objects are real. The videos are made up, and labeled that way.

Which grades

Best fit: grades 4 to 7. Third graders do well with an adult at each station, and eighth graders do well with the design-critique version. Fourth to seventh graders are old enough to read a label, sketch from life and talk about why something looks the way it does, and young enough that cranking a movie or typing on a 1926 typewriter still feels like magic. Many Washington schools also teach state history in grade 4 and again in middle school, which fits a room about Seattle's first hundred years.

Before the visit

The short version

Play the kids’ videos in order (about 7 or 8 minutes), then ask three questions. The player shows the questions at the end. Grades 3 to 5 · Grades 6 to 8.

Want more? Two longer lessons. Both use the classroom deck and need only paper and pencils. Do them in the week before the trip.

Lesson 1 · about 45 minutes

A real person designed this

Goal. Students see everyday objects as things a real person designed, and practice notice and wonder.

You need. The classroom deck (the radio and telephone slides at the start, and "Try it now"), pencils, paper, and one ordinary classroom object per table (stapler, tape dispenser, pencil sharpener, chair).

Show the globe radio slide. Ask only two questions: What do you notice? What do you wonder? Write the answers on the board in two columns. (10 min)
Tell them: a man named Raymond Loewy designed that radio in 1933. Show the telephone slide: a team led by Henry Dreyfuss designed that phone, and it was made for more than thirty years. Designers are real people with names. (5 min)
Each table gets one classroom object. Draw it three ways: from the front, from the side, and one close-up of a detail. (15 min)
Under the drawing, answer: What job does it do? What did the designer do to make it look good, or feel good in your hand? What would you change? (10 min)
Share two or three drawings. (5 min)

Exit ticket. On a sticky note: one thing at home that somebody designed well, and why.

Lesson 2 · about 40 minutes

Look slowly, then draw what's really there

Goal. Students practice slow looking and the drawing steps they will use in Part 3, and get ready for the field journal and the stations.

You need. The classroom deck (the Art and Drawing slides), the field journal and the drawing-skills sheet (one each per student), pens for the warm-up, pencils.

No-undo warm-up: with a pen, write a three-line note to a friend without crossing anything out. Talk about it: that's what typing on a typewriter is like. (7 min)
Show the AWWW Wall slides. Everyone looks at Cats for one full minute without talking, then lists as many things as they can in two minutes. Find all four kittens. (5 min)
Drawing practice with the deck's drawing steps: a slow contour of the typewriter, eyes mostly on the picture, then the TV from big shapes. (10 min)
Walk through the field journal and the drawing-skills sheet together. Show what a good sketch box looks like: not perfect, just really looked at. (8 min)
Go over the three rules and the station list. Make teams. (10 min)

Exit ticket. On the back of the journal, each student writes one question they want answered at the gallery.

During the visit: stations and a route

The class starts on the first floor with a short talk and video. Then everyone goes upstairs to Beautiful Things. In part 1, design, four teams, each with at least one adult, rotate through four stations (A to D). In part 2, art, the class splits in two: half at the AWWW Wall (H), half at Guess the Sargent (I), then switch. For part 3 the class comes back down, likely to the mezzanine, for a short drawing session, sitting down, with the drawing skills sheet (J). At every station students look closely, say what they notice and wonder, and sketch one thing.

The 60-minute visit

0:00Arrive. First floor: coats and bags in team bins, bathrooms, head count.
0:05Sit together. First floor: a short talk and a short video about what's upstairs (the video is still to come), then the three rules and four teams, each with one adult.
0:15Part 1, Design. Upstairs to Beautiful Things. Teams rotate through four stations (A to D), about 4 minutes each: typewriters, movie machines, TVs, games.
0:31Part 2, Art. Still upstairs. Half the class at the AWWW Wall of cat and dog paintings (H), half at Guess the Sargent (I). Switch after 4 minutes.
0:40Part 3, Drawing. Back down, likely on the mezzanine. Everyone sits and draws one pet portrait from a printed copy of a painting they just saw.
0:55Share and go. Hold up a drawing and name one thing you really looked at. Head count, then out to the bus.

About 20 students plus their adults per visit. Two classes can come the same day: the second arrives 25 minutes after the first, so only one class is upstairs at a time (class 1 comes down to draw as class 2 goes up). Teams that finish a station early can use the looking hunt.

Three rules to say at the door

Hands-on only where staff say. Type, crank, dial and play at the stations. Everywhere else: eyes close, hands off.
Walking feet, normal voices. Talking about what you see is the whole point.
Stay with your team. Your adult is your home base.

What to skip. Walk past the slot machines and the bar corner, and skip the joke videos made for adults. Nothing on this route needs them.

Part 1 · Design · about 16 minutes

Old, beautiful design

Typewriters, movie machines, TVs and games. Real people designed every one of them, and decided how it should look, feel and work.

Rotate through A to D, 5 minutes each.

The typewriter table

Hands-on

The design idea. Every letter on a typewriter was drawn by a person and cut into metal. On most typewriters every letter takes the same width, so a skinny i gets as much room as a wide W.

Try it. Type your name and one short line. There is no undo: a mistake stays on the paper. [TO CONFIRM]: which machines students may type on, and whether paper is provided.

Look for

Look at the keys. Are they round or square? What is printed on them?
Find the fan of thin metal arms. Each one carries one letter.
Find the maker's name. Was it painted, stamped or stuck on?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the letters look like...” “I wonder who drew these letters, and why that shape.”

Sketch. Draw one key at its real size. Then copy your name the way the typewriter printed it.

Objects at this station

Corona Four portable typewriter, in its case
about 1926. Corona Typewriter Company, Groton, New York · object 4284
A typewriter made to travel. It packs into a case with a handle, so a reporter or a student could carry it.
Royal and Remington typewriters
about 1938 to 1955. Royal Typewriter Company and Remington · object 4270
Office and portable machines. Big black desk machines like these filled offices for decades.
Brother Correct-O-Ball and Smith-Corona electric typewriters
mid-1970s. Brother and Smith-Corona · object 3986
Electric portables from fifty years later. Compare the keys and the shape of the case.

For the chaperone: Let each student type one line. Ask: what happens when you make a mistake?

Movies you crank by hand

Hands-on

Inside the hand-cranked Mutoscope movie viewer: a round reel of picture cards — Still from Andrew Conru's tour video. Andrew Conru, June 2026.

The design idea. A movie is many still pictures shown fast. In the crank viewer each picture is printed on its own card, so students can see exactly what a frame is.

Try it. Turn the crank and watch the cards flip. Then watch a minute of an old film on a projector. [TO CONFIRM]: whether students may crank the Mutoscope (and if coins are provided), and which films play for school groups.

Look for

Watch the edge of the reel. Can you see the separate cards?
On the lantern slides, look for brush marks. Someone painted those by hand.
On the lobby card, how many colors did the printer use?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the picture moves when...” “I wonder how many cards it takes to make one second of movie.”

Sketch. Draw a four-frame strip: something simple that moves a little in each box, like a ball bouncing.

Objects at this station

Mutoscope, a coin and crank movie viewer
[TO CONFIRM]
Put in a coin, turn the crank, and a reel of photo cards flips past a window. In his tour Andrew says not every town in the 1920s could afford a theater, and machines like this showed movies one person at a time.
Not in the catalog yet. The plate on the machine reads "Mutoscope, New York." Its date, maker and the film on its reel are [TO CONFIRM].
Laterna Magica toy magic lantern set
about 1900. Attributed to Johann Falk, Nuremberg · object 4200
A small lamp, a lens, and glass slides painted by hand. It threw a picture on the wall for the whole room.
Ampro Paramount 20 film projector
about 1947. Ampro Corporation, Chicago · object 4281
A portable 16mm projector with sound, the kind schools and clubs used to show films.
Daniel Boone lobby card
for the 1936 film · object 3929
A printed card that hung in a theater lobby to sell the movie. Look at the lettering and the bright colors.

For the chaperone: Ask: how is this like a flip book? How is it different from a video on a phone?

Television as furniture

Looking

Small 1940s and 1950s television sets on a table under framed movie posters — Still from Andrew Conru's tour video. Andrew Conru, June 2026.

The design idea. The first home TVs were built to look like furniture, or molded in Bakelite, an early plastic. Designers had to decide what a brand-new machine should look like in a living room.

Look for

Find the smallest screen. Measure it with your fingers.
Which sets look like furniture? Which look like toys?
Read the knobs. What words did they need to print on them?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the screen is shaped like...” “I wonder why people wanted a TV to look like furniture.”

Sketch. Draw one TV from the front. Then draw a quick redesign made for your own room.

[TO CONFIRM]: which sets show a picture, what plays on them, and that it is fine for students.

Objects at this station

Pilot TV-37 "Candid" television
1948. Pilot Radio Corporation · object 8927
A screen only three inches across. It was the first American TV to sell for under $100.
Admiral 19A11 television
about 1948 to 1949. Admiral · object 8929
A 7-inch screen in a molded brown Bakelite case.
Philco console television
about 1948. Philco · object 3893
A 10-inch round-cornered screen in a mahogany cabinet on tapered legs, made to stand in the living room like a piece of furniture.

For the chaperone: Ask: if you were the designer in 1948, what would you want a TV to look like?

Games and the first home computer

Hands-on

Catalog photo, object 8878. Beautiful Things antiques catalog.

The design idea. Early video game pictures were built from big square blocks, because the machines had very little memory. Artists had to say a lot with a few blocks and a few colors.

Try it. Play a short turn on the Atari. [TO CONFIRM]: which games are set up, how long a turn is, and whether the VIC-20 is switched on.

Look for

Look closely at the screen. Can you see the blocks?
Find the wood grain on the Atari. Is it real wood?
Hold the joystick. How did the designer make it fit a hand?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the characters on the screen are made of...” “I wonder how the artist made a picture with so few blocks.”

Sketch. In the 8 by 8 grid, design a game character. Fill in only the squares you need.

Objects at this station

Atari 2600, the "woody" four-switch model
made about 1980 to 1982. Atari, Inc., Sunnyvale, California · object 8878
The 2600 first came out in 1977. This one has a wood-grain front, on a computer, so it would look at home next to the furniture.
Commodore VIC-20 home computer
1981. Commodore · object 8937
It plugged into the family TV. In his tour, Andrew says it was his first computer.

For the chaperone: Keep turns short so everyone plays. Ask: how is this picture made differently from a painting?

Also in the room: E, F and G

Fast finishers, a longer visit, or a second trip. Teams that finish early can stop at one of these, and the looking hunt includes them.

The radio wall and the phone table

Hands-on

The radio wall: dozens of wooden and Bakelite radios stacked under old soda signs — Installation photo, Beautiful Things. Occidental Fine Arts Center (photographer [TO CONFIRM]).

The design idea. Designers have names. Raymond Loewy shaped a radio like a globe. Henry Dreyfuss's team designed the black desk phone that sat in most American homes.

Try it. Dial a number on the red rotary phone. Dial 0 and feel how long the dial takes to come back. [TO CONFIRM]: which phone students may use.

Look for

Find the globe radio. Where is the speaker hiding?
Find a radio made of wood and one made of plastic. How can you tell?
On a phone, look at the holes in the dial. Why are they round?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the radios are shaped like...” “I wonder why a radio needed to be beautiful to sound good.”

Sketch. Draw the front of one radio as simple shapes: circles, arches, grids. Then give it a name.

Objects at this station

Colonial "New World" globe radio
1933. Designed by Raymond Loewy for the Colonial Radio Corporation · object 2419
A radio shaped like the whole planet. The speaker hides in the base.
Atwater Kent Model 82 cathedral radio
1931. Atwater Kent, Philadelphia; designed by Charles S. Bradley · object 2655
The pointed wooden case looks like a church window, which is why people call these cathedral radios.
Western Electric Model 500 desk telephones
made 1950 to 1984. Designed by Henry Dreyfuss Associates for the Bell System · object 4263
For more than thirty years this was the phone in most American homes.

For the chaperone: Ask: which radio would you put in your room, and why?

Made by hand

Looking

A tall gray stoneware crock with one blue brushstroke — Catalog photo, object 3938. Beautiful Things antiques catalog.

The design idea. Before factories did everything, people made and decorated useful things by hand. You can still see the marks they left.

Look for

Find a worn or shiny spot where hands touched something for years.
Find the blue brushstroke on the crock. How many strokes did it take?
On a duck decoy, count the painted colors.

Notice and wonder. “I notice a mark a hand made here...” “I wonder who made this, and if they ever thought it would be in a gallery.”

Sketch. Find one handmade mark and copy it big, in one stroke if you can.

Objects at this station

Spinning wheel
about 1875 · object 4125
Turned from hardwood. A foot pedal spins the wheel, which twists flax into thread for linen.
Red Wing stoneware crock with a blue "bee sting"
about 1885. Red Wing, Minnesota · object 3938
One quick stroke of cobalt blue, brushed on by a worker's hand, made a plain storage jar look special.
Four duck decoys
about 1940 to 1970 · object 4034
Cork bodies, carved wooden heads, and feathers painted on with a brush.
Folk-art model wagon
about 1940 to 1970. Maker unknown · object 4039
A hand-built model loaded with tiny grain sacks, kegs and a carved saddle.

For the chaperone: Eyes only here. Ask: how can you tell a person made this, not a machine?

Signs, boxes and lunchboxes

Looking

A tin sign for Norka Orange soda — Catalog photo, object 4317. Beautiful Things antiques catalog.

The design idea. Real people designed every old sign and box: the lettering, the few bright colors, the mascot. That job is called graphic design.

Look for

Pick one sign. Count the colors the printer used.
Find two different styles of lettering.
Find a mascot or a face. What is it trying to make you feel?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the lettering on this sign is...” “I wonder why they used so few colors.”

Sketch. Copy one word from a sign in its own lettering style. Then write your name in that style.

Objects at this station

Norka Orange tin sign
mid-1950s. Norka Beverage Company, Akron, Ohio · object 4317
Read the name backward: Norka is Akron, the city where it was made.
Kayo chocolate drink tin sign
about 1950 · object 4320
A cartoon face and big lettering, made to catch your eye in a store.
Jerome B. Rice seed box
about 1900 to 1910. Jerome B. Rice Seed Company, Cambridge, New York · object 3964
A wooden store display with a color printed picture inside the lid.
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet lunchbox and thermos
1952. Aladdin Industries · object 4143
A metal lunchbox printed with a TV space hero.

For the chaperone: Ask: if you had to sell lemonade with a sign like this, what would yours look like?

Part 2 · Art · about 9 minutes

Paintings made by real people

The AWWW Wall of cat and dog paintings, then Guess the Sargent. Painters make choices too: what you look at first, how fur feels, how an eye shines.

Half the class at H and half at I, then switch.

The AWWW Wall: cats and dogs in paintings

Looking

A gallery wall hung with framed paintings of dogs, cats and puppies — Still from Andrew Conru's tour video. Andrew Conru, June 2026.

The art idea. Before cameras, people who loved their pets asked painters to remember them. Painters made fur look soft and eyes look alive, one small brushstroke at a time.

Look for

Count the kittens in Cats. Where is each one hiding?
Find a tiny white dot of light in an eye. What does it do to the eye?
Find fur painted with many small strokes. Which way do the strokes go?

Notice and wonder. “I notice the painter made the fur look...” “I wonder who this pet belonged to, and what its name was.”

Sketch. Pick one pet. Draw a circle for the head and an oval for the body. Then add ears, fur strokes, and a dot of light in each eye.

[TO CONFIRM]: the titles and painters of the other paintings on this wall, and that the three listed here are hanging on it now.

Objects at this station

A Red Rose
about 1880. Horatio Henry Couldery, English painter, born 1832 · artwork 3330
Three tabby kittens, a straw hat and one red rose. Couldery painted so many cats that people nicknamed him Kitten Couldery.
The collection record marks the date as an estimate, and gives two different years for Couldery's death ([TO CONFIRM]).
Cats
[TO CONFIRM]. Jules Leroy · artwork 1526
Four kittens making trouble: two on a little cabinet, one in the drawer, and one tangled in blue yarn. Follow the yarn with your eye.
[TO CONFIRM]: the date, and the painter's dates. The collection record does not give them.
Girl with Dog
1873. Gustave Walther, German painter, 1828 to 1904 · artwork 1572
An oval portrait of a girl holding her small dog, which wears a red bow. Look for the tiny dot of light in her eyes.
The St. Bernard at the desk
[TO CONFIRM]
A big dog sitting at a desk piled with papers. In his tour, Andrew jokes that it shows dogs paying the bill.
[TO CONFIRM]: the title, the painter and the date. This painting is not in the public collection records.

For the chaperone: Ask: which pet would you take home, and what would you name it? Then: how did the painter make the fur look soft?

The paintings room: guess the Sargent

Looking

Three versions of the same portrait of an older man, hanging side by side on a gray brick wall — Still from Andrew Conru's tour video. Andrew Conru, June 2026.

The art idea. Painters learn by copying the masters. Here three versions of one portrait hang side by side, and students try to tell the original from the copies.

Look for

Stand back, then step close. What changes?
Look at the edges of the face and the hands. Which are soft and which are sharp?
Find one brushstroke you can follow with your eye.

Notice and wonder. “I notice this version is different because...” “I wonder how long it takes to copy a painting this well.”

Sketch. Draw just the hands or just the eyes from one portrait, as carefully as you can.

Objects at this station

Guess the Sargent: three versions of one portrait
[TO CONFIRM]
In his tour, Andrew says one of these three portraits is by John Singer Sargent and the other two are copies.
[TO CONFIRM]: which one is the Sargent, the sitter and date, and who painted the copies. The catalog lists a "Copy after John Singer Sargent" by Emma Garay (2025, oil on linen), which may be one of them.
The Fishmongers of Pike Place Market
2026. Jackson Wrede, oil on linen · object 4392
A new painting of fish sellers at Seattle's market.
[TO CONFIRM]: that it is still on view.

For the chaperone: Have the team vote on which one is the original, with one reason each. Don't give away the answer.

Part 3 · Drawing · about 15 minutes

Draw what you see

Back downstairs, likely on the mezzanine, sitting down: a pet portrait drawn from a printed copy of one of the paintings, starting from big shapes.

Seated, with clipboards and the drawing skills sheet.

Drawing studio: draw what you see

Hands-on

A brown Bakelite Motorola television with a round screen inside a gold ring — Catalog photo, object 8930. Beautiful Things antiques catalog.

The drawing idea. Artists don't draw what they think something looks like. They draw what they see. Four quick exercises, done sitting down, use the things students just met.

Try it. Four short exercises on the drawing-skills sheet, about 20 minutes in all: a blind contour of your own hand (2 minutes), a contour of a typewriter (4), a TV from big shapes (4), and a pet portrait from a painting (8). Then sign it. [TO CONFIRM]: where the class can sit, and whether the gallery can lend clipboards.

Look for

Look at the thing more than at your paper.
Squint. The details disappear and the big shapes are left.
Find the lightest spot and the darkest shadow.

Notice and wonder. “I notice the shape under this is a...” “I wonder how the painter started this picture.”

Sketch. Use the drawing-skills sheet: one box for each exercise.

Objects at this station

Corona Four portable typewriter
about 1926 · object 4284
For a contour drawing: let your eyes travel slowly along the edges, and let your pencil follow.
Motorola VT-71 "Golden View" television
about 1949. Motorola · object 8930
For big shapes: it is a box with a circle inside. Draw the box, then the round screen, then the knobs.
A pet from the AWWW Wall
· artwork 3330
For a pet portrait: circle head, triangle ears, oval body, fur strokes that follow the fur, and a dot of light in each eye.

For the chaperone: Sit with your team and draw too. Praise looking, not perfect: point to one thing they really saw.

After the visit

The short version: draw it from memory, then make it yours

About 30 minutes. Paper and a pencil.

From memory, draw one thing you saw at the gallery. Make it big.
Label one choice a real person made to make it beautiful.
Next to it, draw it again, redesigned for today and for someone you know.

Grades 6 to 8: add three labels to the redesign: who it's for, what they need, and one idea you kept from the original.

Want more? My beautiful useful thing

Every object in the gallery was useful and also made to look good. Students design and build a model of an everyday object for someone they know, and make it beautiful on purpose.

Two or three class periods of about 45 minutes.

Materials

Cardboard from cereal and snack boxes, collected from home, free
Paper, pencils, erasers, classroom supply
Markers, crayons or colored pencils, classroom supply
Masking tape and glue sticks, classroom supply
Bottle caps, jar lids, buttons, string, foil, collected, free (knobs, dials, handles)
Index cards for labels, about $2

About $0 to $15 for a whole class, mostly tape and glue if you're out.

The museum label

Like the labels in the gallery. On an index card, write:

Name of the object
Made by (your name), year
Made of (materials)
What it's for, and who it's for
What I did to make it beautiful

Steps

Pick a job and a person: something to wake Grandma up, play music for a little brother, carry lunch, send a message, or play a game.
Pick a look from your field journal: the arches of a cathedral radio, shiny Bakelite, wood grain, or tin-sign lettering.
Draw three small thumbnail ideas. Pick the best one and draw it from the front and the side.
Build it from cardboard and tape. Use caps and lids for knobs and dials.
Add one handmade mark: a pattern, a painted stroke like the blue bee sting, or your own lettering for the brand name.
Write a museum label and set up a class gallery walk.

One class period

Short option: design a tin sign

Invent a product: a soda, a cereal, a toy.
Use only three colors, one lettering style, and one mascot or picture.
Bonus: hide a secret in the name, like Norka (Akron spelled backward).

Words to know, and grade bands

design:: a plan for how something will look and work, made before it is built
designer:: a person whose job is to plan how things look and work
industrial designer:: a designer of everyday products, like radios, phones and toasters
graphic design:: designing with letters, pictures and colors, like signs, boxes and posters
form:: the shape of an object
function:: the job an object does
decoration:: something added to make an object look good, like a pattern or a painted stroke
material:: what something is made of: wood, metal, glass, plastic
Bakelite:: an early plastic, pressed into molds to make radios, phones and TVs
lettering:: letters drawn by hand or designed for a sign or a product
typeface:: one design for a whole set of letters, like the letters on a typewriter
frame:: one still picture in a movie; many frames shown fast look like motion
pixel:: one tiny square of a screen picture
craft:: making something useful by hand, with skill
maker's mark:: a name, stamp or sign that shows who made something
patina:: the soft wear and shine an object gets from years of use
master copy:: a careful copy of a famous painting, made by an artist to learn
contour drawing:: drawing the edges of an object slowly, looking more at the object than the paper
portrait:: a picture of one particular person or animal
texture:: how something feels, or looks like it would feel, like soft fur or smooth glass
catchlight:: the tiny dot of light a painter puts in an eye to make it look shiny and alive
value:: how light or dark something is; press lightly for light values, harder for dark
notice and wonder:: say what you see, then what you are curious about

Grades 3 to 5

Strong fit. The stations are short and physical, and the journal asks for drawings more than writing.

Before: In Lesson 1, draw two views instead of three. Read the vocabulary words aloud with the deck pictures.
During: Teams with an adult. Students may draw instead of writing the notice and wonder lines. Do the hunt as a team. In the drawing studio, skip the blind contour if it frustrates them and go straight to big shapes.
After: Build the object from one box. The label can be three lines: name, made by, what it's for.

Grades 6 to 8

Strong fit for art classes. Older students can argue about design choices, brands and copies.

Before: Add a design critique: compare the globe radio with the cathedral radio and argue which is the better design, and why.
During: Pairs instead of teams. Each student adds one question for the designer at every station. At the paintings, list three pieces of evidence before voting. In the drawing studio, add a value scale and shade the pet portrait.
After: Write a short design brief first: who it's for, what they need, and two rules for how it must look. Add a labeled side view, like a patent drawing.

Arts standards

Codes and wording are from the Washington State K-12 Arts Learning Standards for Visual Arts and for Media Arts (OSPI, 2017), which use the National Core Arts Standards codes. The letter at the end of each code is the performance standard within that grade.

Grades 3 to 5

Code	Standard	Where it happens
VA:Re7.1.3a	Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.	Made by hand; lantern slides; how painters made fur on the AWWW Wall
VA:Cn11.1.4a	Through observation, infer information about time, place, and culture in which a work of art was created.	Every station; the looking hunt
VA:Re7.2.4a	Analyze components in visual imagery that convey messages.	Signs station; tin-sign option
VA:Pr6.1.4a	Compare and contrast purposes of art museums, art galleries, and other venues, as well as the types of personal experiences they provide.	The visit; the share circle
VA:Cr2.3.5a	Identify, describe, and visually document places and/or objects of personal significance.	Field journal; drawing studio; after-visit project
MA:Re7.1.4a	Identify, describe, and explain how messages are created by components in media artworks.	Movies, TV and games stations

Grades 6 to 8

Code	Standard	Where it happens
VA:Cr2.3.6a	Design or redesign objects, places, or systems that meet the identified needs of diverse users.	After-visit project; TV redesign sketch
VA:Cn11.1.6a	Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses.	Wood to Bakelite at the radio wall and TV table
VA:Re7.1.7a	Explain how the method of display, the location, and the experience of an artwork influence how it is perceived and valued.	Guess the Sargent; the AWWW Wall; everyday things in a gallery
VA:Cr1.2.7a	Develop criteria to guide making a work of art or design to meet an identified goal.	Design brief for the after-visit project
VA:Cr2.3.7a	Apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce a work of art, design, or media that clearly communicates information or ideas.	Tin-sign option; museum label
VA:Cr1.1.8a	Document early stages of the creative process visually and/or verbally in traditional or new media.	Field journal thumbnails; drawing-skills sheet

Still being checked

This is a pilot draft. Before any class visits, we are confirming:

How to reach Kirsten for bookings, and the contact to print (email or phone).
Whether school-group visits and staff help at the stations are free.
Where the class sits on the first floor for the talk and video, and the mezzanine for drawing.
The short welcome video about what's upstairs (not made yet).
Whether school groups can visit in the morning, before public hours (Wednesday to Saturday, 12 to 5).
Accessible restrooms, seating and a quiet spot. There's no elevator yet, and the ground-floor version of the visit is still to come.
Bus drop-off, parking, lunch spot, and where coats and bags go.
Whether students may take photos.
Exactly which things are hands-on: which typewriters, the Mutoscope crank (and coins), which phone, which games and for how long.
Which films and TV programs play for school groups, and that they are fine for kids.
The Mutoscope's date, maker and reel subject (it is not in the catalog).
Guess the Sargent: which portrait is the Sargent, the sitter, the date, and who painted the copies.
That The Fishmongers of Pike Place Market (Jackson Wrede) is still on view.
Who took the installation photos, for the credit line.
Mermaid painting: curtain or move to ArtLove Salon before school visits.
The AWWW Wall: the titles, painters and dates of the paintings not in the public collection records (including the St. Bernard at the desk), the date of Cats by Jules Leroy, Couldery's death year (the record gives two), and that A Red Rose, Cats and Girl with Dog are on the wall now.
Printed copies of the AWWW Wall paintings to draw from on the mezzanine, and whether the gallery can lend clipboards and pencils.
That the tour clips and the pilot videos in the deck are fine to show in classrooms.
Catalog conflicts: object 2168 is titled Victor III but described as a Zon-O-Phone; 4225 is listed as Zenith but described as Philco; 4372 is titled 'Peacock' but described with a swan grille; 4321 is titled Sentinel but described as Silvertone.

Background materials

Our first classroom guide has history stories for each era, a walkthrough video, and more handouts. It is useful background, though its visit details are not confirmed for school groups.

Photos: catalog photos are from the Beautiful Things antiques catalog, with object numbers. Stills are from Andrew Conru’s tour video (June 2026). Installation photos are from the Occidental Fine Arts Center; photographer to be confirmed. Object dates marked “about” are catalog estimates.

Beautiful Things: a field trip for art classes.

Short on time? Plan a visit in three steps: a short video, 60 minutes here, one drawing after.

Code

Standard

Where it happens

VA:Re7.1.3a

Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

Made by hand; lantern slides; how painters made fur on the AWWW Wall

VA:Cn11.1.4a

Through observation, infer information about time, place, and culture in which a work of art was created.

Every station; the looking hunt

VA:Re7.2.4a

Analyze components in visual imagery that convey messages.

Signs station; tin-sign option

VA:Pr6.1.4a

Compare and contrast purposes of art museums, art galleries, and other venues, as well as the types of personal experiences they provide.

The visit; the share circle

VA:Cr2.3.5a

Identify, describe, and visually document places and/or objects of personal significance.

Field journal; drawing studio; after-visit project

MA:Re7.1.4a

Identify, describe, and explain how messages are created by components in media artworks.

Movies, TV and games stations

Code

Standard

Where it happens

VA:Cr2.3.6a

Design or redesign objects, places, or systems that meet the identified needs of diverse users.

After-visit project; TV redesign sketch

VA:Cn11.1.6a

Analyze how art reflects changing times, traditions, resources, and cultural uses.

Wood to Bakelite at the radio wall and TV table

VA:Re7.1.7a

Explain how the method of display, the location, and the experience of an artwork influence how it is perceived and valued.

Guess the Sargent; the AWWW Wall; everyday things in a gallery

VA:Cr1.2.7a

Develop criteria to guide making a work of art or design to meet an identified goal.

Design brief for the after-visit project

VA:Cr2.3.7a

Apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce a work of art, design, or media that clearly communicates information or ideas.

Tin-sign option; museum label

VA:Cr1.1.8a

Document early stages of the creative process visually and/or verbally in traditional or new media.

Field journal thumbnails; drawing-skills sheet