Radcliffe Creek School students experience Monet in 3D

CHESTERTOWN — Fourth and fifth grade students from Radcliffe Creek School recently explored Washington, D.C. to, quite literally, step into the paintings of an artist they have been studying this year—Claude Monet. On Thursday, May 16, 24 students took a bus to the Rhode Island Center in D.C. to experience the immersive Monet exhibit, which included two-story projections of Monet’s most compelling paintings shown in three dimensions, including lights, sounds and VR technology.

Following the visit to the digital art display, the students traveled to Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, the only national park dedicated to the preservation of aquatic plants, where they picnicked. Inspired by the scene around them, the students sat by the pond dotted with water lilies while drawing in sketchbooks: it was a landscape Monet himself may have painted.

Art Teacher Rebecca Emory remarked about the trip, “The exhibit was exhilarating, and the children all expressed how they felt they were ‘in the art they learned of.’ I watched one student so moved by the beauty in Monet’s paintings that he cried! Afterwards, to end the day sitting by the pond, where the students found places to sketch quietly before congregating to share and study nature together, was a unique opportunity as well. It was one of my favorite days as a teacher at Radcliffe Creek School.”

The trip to the Monet exhibit in Washington, D.C. was made possible by a generous Arts in Education grant provided by the Kent Cultural Alliance, as well as a private donation from a student’s grandparents. RCS’ No Child Left Indoors initiative, which is funded by the Robert F. Schumann Foundation, brought the children to the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, where they studied the natural beauty that so often inspired Monet and other artists.

Head of School Peter Thayer explained, “When students are given the opportunity to experience things in three dimensions and move around inside an artist’s paintings, or to draw and picnic at an outdoor scene that would have inspired an artist, their eyes light up. These are the types of immersive experiences that really bring learning to life. Especially for our students, who rely on the multi-sensory instruction we offer at Radcliffe Creek every day, this type of trip is especially important. We are grateful to the Kent Cultural Alliance, the Robert F. Schumann Foundation and the anonymous donors who made these experiences possible.”