TIME CAPSULE | IDENTITY LAYER

3rd – 5th Grades (Ideal for Ages 8 – 11 ) 

BIG IDEA

Artists and museums shape meaning by how they collect, arrange, and display objects.  

Personal artifacts can communicate identity, memory, and cultural history when intentionally curated. 

LESSON OVERVIEW 

In this lesson, students explore how artists and museums construct meaning through the collection and display of objects. Inspired by the exhibition Kaleidoscopic: Writing Histories Through the Collection and César Trasobares’ Vitrinas, students investigate how personal artifacts, repetition, pattern, and arrangement communicate identity, memory, and cultural narrative. 

Students design and construct a sculptural or mixed-media Time Capsule Artwork that represents who they are now and what they want their future selves to remember. Through planning, engineering, writing, and installation, students engage in museum-based thinking and curatorial practice. 

KEY ARTWORKS & REFERENCES 

Reference Exhibition:

The Kaleidoscopic: Writing Histories Through the Collection

Reference Artworks:

• César Trasobares – Vitrinas (1992–94/2025) 
  • Display cases filled with personal and symbolic objects 
  • Blurs museum display and devotional shrine 
  • Explores exile, memory, and layered identity 
  • Meaning emerges through juxtaposition 

MATERIALS 

Core Materials for all grades

• Small boxes (shadow box option)  

• Recycled materials  

• Colored, Reflective, Origami papers (varied sizes)  

• Magazines / Collage Materials  

• Markers, Paint, Tempera Sticks 

• Glue (liquid & hot glue supervised)  

• Tape  

• Yarn, beads, fabric  

• Model Magic (optional sculptural additions) 

• Optional: small personal items students want to include in time capsule 

 

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LESSON RESOURCES 

DOWNLOAD LESSON PLAN

DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION

 

Be sure to share your artwork by taking a picture of your project and tagging @BassCreativityCenter and #BassCreativityCenter.   

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