Studio unit · 8 weeks
Art runs this unit. History and literature feed the studio. Writing is wall labels, captions, and one artist statement at the end. Odyssey excerpts at dinner, one at a time. Eight weeks, plus two grace weeks if you slide.
Week 1 · Sept 1–7, 2026 · dates flex
Design your own symbol system in clay or Sculpey. Research cuneiform, who had seals, and Hammurabi’s preamble. Finish the seal plus a 50-word wall label.
Read the preamble aloud once before you start carving. Then jump to the full Week 1 card.
Studio rule
Art is the organizing principle. Read for the idea that gets you to the table.
Odyssey excerpts at dinner. One at a time.
Eight studio weeks. Two grace weeks if the calendar slides.
On the shelf
Due at the end
Stores: Blick, Michaels, Amazon, or any craft store. Costs are ranges.
Core toolkit
Consumables + specials
Weekly consumables subtotal: ~$63–95. One big buy of toolkit + consumables: ~$130–200. Or stage it: toolkit now, each week’s consumables the week before. Scavenge first — check what you already own.
Reference images
Print at home or at a copy shop.
Each card is one studio week. The numbers at the top jump you here.
Week 1 · Sept 1–7
Clay or Sculpey. Design your symbol system. Research: cuneiform, who had seals, Hammurabi preamble.
Writing: your seal + a 50-word wall label.
Supplies: Sculpey 1 lb, carving tools, black ink pad.
Print: cylinder seal examples (British Museum).
Read: Bauer Ch. 1 pp. 10–16 + Ch. 22 pp. 170–177; Strickland ch. 1. Skim for the idea. Check pagination against your copy (editions differ).
“When Anu the Sublime, King of the Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk... the Enlil-ship over the whole world... then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak... to enlighten the land and to further the well-being of mankind.”
Hammurabi’s Code, preamble · L.W. King, 1915 · public domain
Week 2 · Sept 8–14
Art: ziggurat in forced perspective. Technical drawing. Lighter load than Week 1: studio research for a drawing, not a finished gallery piece.
Writing: sketchbook margin notes beside the drawing. Informal. No wall label this week.
Supplies: core toolkit only. Print ziggurat reference photos before you start.
How to draw:
Print ziggurat refs still help (Ur / Babylon).
Advanced (two-point perspective): City street in two-point perspective. Buildings, not a ziggurat. You can still apply the same vanishing-point ideas to the stepped tower.
Read (same two books as Week 1; skim for the ideas below):
Primary source: Herodotus on the Ziggurat of Babylon (Histories Book 1, §181–183). Fifth-century BC Greek historian; the most famous ancient description of a ziggurat (the temple complex of Bel). Summary: a stepped tower in eight tiers, each set back from the one below; a spiral ramp around the outside; a shrine at the top with a golden couch and table, tended by priests, where a god was said to visit.
Read the wording here (public domain):
The drawing point: a ziggurat is an argument in stone that the gods and the state are the same thing, visible from every point in the city.
Week 3 · Sept 15–21
Narmer copy or a personal myth. Pharaoh as god-king; Book of the Dead excerpt.
Writing: palette + 75-word artist note.
Supplies: paint, gold marker, board.
Print: Narmer Palette, full and high-res.
Bauer: not pinned yet. Strickland ch. 1–2 and the week’s source.
Week 4 · Sept 22–28
Egyptian idealism vs Greek naturalism; Herodotus on the Greek body ideal. Canon of proportions.
Writing: figure + caption.
Supplies: 18×24 pad (core toolkit).
Print: kouros statue reference (Met or Acropolis Museum).
Bauer: not pinned yet.
Week 5 · Sept 29 – Oct 5
Black-figure / red-figure. Odyssey Book 9, Cyclops. One touchstone, dinner discussion.
Writing: process sketches + pot label.
Supplies: red/black pencils; optional brown paper.
Print: amphora shapes + black-figure / red-figure examples.
Bauer: not pinned yet.
Week 6 · Oct 6–12
Put a modern figure on the steps. Classical Athens, democracy, Pericles’ Funeral Oration excerpt.
Writing: drawing + 100-word wall text.
Print: Parthenon exterior (west pediment preferred).
Bauer: not pinned yet.
Week 7 · Oct 13–19
Family mythology or an Odyssey scene. Roman domestic life; Plutarch; patronage.
Writing: mosaic + 75-word label.
Supplies: colored paper tesserae; flat base.
Print: Roman mosaic floors (Pompeii or Herculaneum).
Bauer: not pinned yet. Optional Gilgamesh tablets around now. Oedipus Rex waits for the end of the unit.
Week 8 · Oct 20–26
Six pieces with historical labels. How did each civilization shape your choices?
Writing: one-page artist statement. The unit’s only sustained prose.
Supplies: portfolio folder or binder, page protectors, cardboard backings.
Print: none. Optional: Oedipus Rex as the end-of-unit companion.