Students from Alderwood Elementary School participate in the Museum’s Art FUNdamentals program inside the Lightcatcher galleries.

Art Curriculum for Past Whatcom Museum Exhibitions:

Educator’s Guide to Spineless: Portraits of Marine Invertebrates by Susan Middleton

Educator’s Guide to Reaching Beyond: Northwest Designer Craftsmen at 60

Educator’s Guide to Lesley Dill’s Poetic Visions: From Shimmer to Sister Gertrude Morgan

Educator’s Guide to 1934: A New Deal For Artists

Vanishing Ice: Art as a Tool for Documenting Climate Change

People of the Sea and Cedar Resources:

People of the Sea and Cedar Workshop Guide

Stone, Wood, and Shells Lesson

Musical Instruments Lesson

Cultural Partners:

Allied Arts Education Project: This program provides art, theater, dance, and hands-on history lessons by trained artist/educators to enhance the Museum experience. To schedule a teaching artist or hands-on history program call Allied Arts 360.676.8548. Grant funding may be available.

SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention: When coming with two or more classes, you can schedule tours to rotate between SPARK and the Whatcom Museum. For more information about SPARK tours and schedules, visit their website.

Local History Resources:

Bellinghistory with the Good Time Girls

City of Bellingham Self-guided Historic Tours: Experience the evolution of downtown Bellingham through historic photographs available as a “Desktop Tour” for your computer. You will see how downtown has changed since the first settlers arrived in 1852. Photos are from the Whatcom Museum’s Photo Archives. To take the Desktop Tour visit the City’s website. An audio/mobile tour feature and book are also available!

HistoryLink.org is an evolving online encyclopedia of Washington State and local history. It provides a free, authoritative, and easily accessible history reference for the benefit of students, teachers, journalists, scholars, researchers, and the general public.

Lynden Pioneer Museum

Video tour of Old City Hall: Take a tour of Bellingham’s most iconic architectural landmark with Whatcom Museum’s Photo Archivist, Jeff Jewell. Watch Now.

Western Washington University Washington State Archives

Whatcom County Historical Society

Northwest Native American Resources:

Video of the Lummi Nation Tokitae Totem Pole Homecoming. Watch Now.

Video of Anna Jefferson, Northwest Native American basket weaver. Watch Now.

Video of Bill James, Lummi Nation Hereditary Chief and Master Weaver. Watch Now.

Lummi Nation

National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Indian—Lummi Nation

Nooksack Tribe

Whatcom County Library System People of the Salish Sea Curriculum and Kits

Ornithology Resources:

North Cascades Audubon Society

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Photo Archives and Virtual Exhibitions:

Explore the Whatcom Museum’s online galleries, featuring selections from our photo archives, as well as our art and history collections.

School Tours:

Whatcom Museum provides classroom tours for all ages of students. Tours include current art exhibitions with a hands-on art fundamentals workshop, a regional Native American life and culture tour/hands-on workshop, a Green Building tour of our LEED-certified Lightcatcher building, and visits to the Family Interactive Gallery. For more information and to schedule a tour, click here.

Additional Resources:

Arts Impact teacher training and lesson plans

Burke Museum curricula and lesson plans

J. Paul Getty Museum classroom resources

National Art Education Association

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Whatcom Watch a community forum on government, environmental issues, and media