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Exploring East Asian Artistic Expressions: Format, Function, and Conservation – NCTA 2026 Summer Program in Seattle, WA

Application for this program has now closed.

Program Details

Educators joined the East Asia Resource Center and the Seattle Asian Art Museum’s Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Conservation Center for an up-close and in-depth exploration of East Asian paintings. Over the course of this five-day institute we studied East Asian painting formats, functions, and the ways in which materials, styles, and conservation impact appreciation and interpretation of East Asian art. Additionally, we considered ceramics and sculptures on display in the galleries of the Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Seattle Art Museum to better understand their historical, religious, and cultural significance.

This program was well-suited for educators interested in learning more about East Asian painting techniques, traditions, formats, conservation work, and cultural transmission. Over the course of the week we moved between the University of Washington campus, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and the Seattle Art Museum. Our exploration of course material occurred through lectures, discussion, study of objects from the Seattle Art Museum collection, and gallery activities.

When: Monday, August 3 to Friday, August 7, 2026

Where: University of Washington (Seattle, WA), Seattle Asian Art Museum, and Seattle Art Museum.

Program Leader

Melanie King, Art historian and educator.

Program benefits

  • Free access to the Seattle Art Museum and to the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
  • Free materials and resources.
  • Free WA OSPI clock hours.
  • Participants who complete the program were also be eligible to receive a stipend for the purchase of additional educational resources and/or to partially cover other expenses.

Application info and timeline

This program was sponsored by the East Asia Resource Center at the University of Washington, and funded by a Freeman Foundation grant in support of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).

 

Image Credits:
Left: Detail of White Path between Two Rivers, 13th century, Japanese. Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk. Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund, 56.128, Seattle Art Museum. Photograph by Alborz Kamalizad.
Right: Detail of a scroll end knob, Seattle Art Museum collection. Photograph by Alborz Kamalizad.
Center / Museum: Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park, Seattle, Washington. Photograph by Rootology, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-SA 3.0).