On Wednesday, March 21st the third grade class visited the Oskar Reinhart Museum am Römerholz in Winterthur. Mrs. Bitar greeted us and gave us a guided tour of the collection with a focus on animals in art. The students were engaged in discussions about the paintings and sculptures answering many questions about the artworks. The students also posed many excellent and thought provoking questions demonstrating their level of art knowledge which impressed Mrs. Bitar. We learned that Oskar Reinhart collected almost 800 paintings representing the genres of portrait, still life and landscape art. He was especially fond of the works of Renoir, van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, Cézanne, and Corot.

After the visit to the exhibition, we were taken to the workshop, where the students drew pictures of animals which they then turned into sculptures using air-drying clay. They had a great deal of fun and were very creative during this process.

Overall, it was a wonderful field trip and we all came away feeling we had learned something new and contributed to the art discussions in some way. Mrs. Bitar was very knowledgeable and fantastic with the children. She provided us with an extremely rewarding and memorable experience. It was a terrific contribution to our unit of inquiry.

After our visit, we enjoyed a lunch of salad, bread, and spaghetti Bolognese in the Oskar Reinhart Café where we sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the sun. Following the lunch, we walked through the forest to Nico’s house where the students had a chance to play together in the yard and were treated to ice-cream before catching the bus back to school. A wonderful field trip which was enjoyed by all!

A big thank you is extended to Mrs. Yavarone for accompanying us on the trip and to Mrs. Schmid for inviting us to her house for ice-cream. Your efforts contributed to the success of the day and are much appreciated!