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Our Students:: 4th-6th Grade Visits New York City
The 4th-6th grade class at the Village School, Royalston, made a lightning day-trip visit to New York City recently, to see an exhibition of paintings by the influential 20th-century painter Vasily Kandinsky. The exhibition was staged at the Guggenheim Museum.
The children had responded so enthusiastically to a Kandinsky poster displayed in the classroom by class teacher George Bennett that he decided to take them to see the real thing. Parents responded enthusiastically to the idea of a day-trip to the city.
With local artist Susan Pepper Aisenberg, and art teacher Renée Malowitz to guide the children around the exhibition, the class left Royalston at 7 a.m. in a rented minibus.
By late morning the children were viewing the comprehensive exhibit of Kandinsky’s life and work. Teacher Bennett said, “The children responded particularly well to Kandinsky’s later work, which was very abstract.”
John Ramsdell, a 6th-grade student from Royalston, noted, “Kandinsky was a great painter. His goal was to paint what music felt like. He also liked to paint horses and their riders. Some horses were very detailed but some were just simple lines, and even hard to find.”
Other students were fascinated by the museum itself, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. “The Guggenheim is built in a spiral,” said 6th-grader Danielle Lilienkamp from Hubbardston. “The paintings were arranged so that Kandinsky’s early work was shown on the lower spirals and the highest spirals had the more abstract paintings from the end of his life.”
After two hours at the Guggenheim, the class ate a brief but chilly picnic before walking through Central Park to the zoo. On the way they paused to admire (and climb on) the bronze statue of characters from Alice in Wonderland.
In sub-freezing temperatures the whole group was glad to explore the zoo’s warm, tropical exhibit before going for dinner in a local pizza restaurant.
The Village School expedition didn’t return to Royalston until 11 p.m., but all agreed that it had been an exciting and worthwhile day. The following week the children made their own paintings in a style inspired by the Kandinsky exhibition.
The Village School is an independent elementary school serving children from preschool through 6th grade, located on Royalston common. The Kandinsky visit was typical of the school’s intention to give children first-hand experience of subjects they are studying.
The Village School welcomes the public to Literacy Night on Wednesday evening, February 3 at 7 p.m. and Open House on Saturday February 6, from 10 a.m. to noon.
